Why the NRL finals should start next weekend
A shortened regular season to ease player workloads and potentially create a representative window for Origin and the international game is a key element of the code's billion-dollar broadcast deals.
The 2025 run home might be as compelling a reason as any to trim the season by five weeks.
By this masthead's infallible calculations and working from the typical top-eight cut-off of 32 competition points, we've already got our top eight sorted. Only minimal shuffling of the decks may be expected - start the finals next weekend and get an early start on Mad Monday for those not involved.
Don't believe us? Have a look at your team's run home.
Current position: First - 34 points, 15 wins, three losses, two byes, +132 points differential
Games against top 8: two.
Games against top 4: none.
Wins to make top eight: none.
Predicted finish: first.
The hard work is done for the Raiders, they could lose most of their final eight games and still play finals in 2025, but with the minor premiership theirs for the taking and a cruisy run home, that won't be happening. Ricky Stuart's biggest task now is keeping his young side healthy and focused as the surrounding hype continues to grow.
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Sydney Morning Herald
39 minutes ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
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The Age
39 minutes ago
- The Age
Bulldogs complain to NRL after Tigers flip fans the ‘Arab middle finger'
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News.com.au
2 hours ago
- News.com.au
‘Low key filth' now tainting Panthers legacy
COMMENT Penrith have bullied the NRL all decade yet still feel it appropriate to keep dunking on our sorry arses with juvenile terrorism and gutter flexing. Isn't consigning the rest of the NRL to a cowering heap after four premierships enough to satisfy these power drunk megalomaniacs? Why do they feel the need to resort to the type of antagonism and pubescent cheating you'd usually associate with carnival folk or Mick Ennis? FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every game of every round in the 2025 NRL Telstra Premiership, LIVE with no ad-breaks during play. New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1. You'd think after holding the competition to ransom that the members of this tyrannical juggernaut would be too preoccupied with polishing their own rings. But no, they still feel the need to wet our balls, antagonise opposition players and fluster the goal kickers of lowly clubs already blindly struggling to identify their tryline, let alone the black dot. For those who missed it, Penrith extorted an undeserved victory on Saturday by denying Jayden Campbell a fair opportunity to clinch the Titans a famous comeback victory. Lining up for a critical sideline conversion to stretch the Gold Coast's lead to four, Panthers trainer Corey Bocking stuffed any chance for the Titans kicker by gallivanting across his line of sight with all the subtlety of a Moulin Rouge can-can. Bocking's high-vis shirt and flailing utility belt was virtual tear gas to Campbell, an image that would've been less distracting if it were a group of Meter Maids cartwheeling with lit flares blazing from their backsides. Of course the rattled Titan scuffed his kick and no retake was permitted, and Penrith predictably levelled the scores before pinching the win in golden point. Whoever you support in this fiasco, we can all agree on one fact: The Gold Coast were surging to victory until Penrith proverbially stabbed Campbell in the eyeball. And while Ivan Cleary did offer an apology for the 'honest mistake', his explanation was so painfully vague that he was clearly unconvinced - or maybe just lacking concentration because someone was skipping in front of him too. Why does a defending four-time premier need to resort to such low-key filth when they're marching to another premiership this year with such menace you can already get $1.90 on a six-peat? We've seen trainer Shane Elford malevolently wetting balls in Townsville, strapper Peter Green illegally halting play in an elimination final against Parramatta in 2021 and then doubling down the following season by veering out of his lane by gobbing off at Souths players. Even the coach is in on the act, with Cleary blatantly exploiting a cheat code every week by continually selecting his son. And with the players allegedly laughing it up in the sheds on Saturday and praising Bocking's act as good bants, the Panthers are dumping a paper bag of flaming dog poo on the doorstep of their own legacy. If you trace back through their recent history, the Panthers are hurtling on a dangerous trajectory that began with Jarome Luai and will end in tears. Just like Donald Trump started with innocent financial swindling and ended up in election fraud, it's only a matter of time before Liam Martin is caught shining a laser pointer at Cameron Munster or robbing a child care centre. Nevertheless, we all agree calm heads must prevail and that Penrith should be stripped of all their premierships and their licence. In addition, the NRL needs to ban Bocking for the season and enforce tighter restrictions on trainers beginning with a rule forcing all Panthers staff to be fitted with some kinda leash. But also let's be clear on one thing: Every team in the NRL cheats. However, it's where they sit on a spectrum of cheating that ranges from pushing the envelope up to anything Melbourne does. Some will seek a competitive advantage by holding down a ball carrier whereas others have been standing three metres offside and dislocating necks since the 90s. But while we all welcome the occasional subversion of laws, cheating is never acceptable if you do it and win. And if there's one thing Penrith do, it's win. For a four-time premier that's jacked in every facet, shithousing is like trash talking a walnut before smashing it with a sledgehammer. - Dane Eldridge is a warped cynic yearning for the glory days of rugby league, a time when the sponges were magic and the Mondays were mad. He's never strapped on a boot in his life, and as such, should be taken with a grain of salt.
