Stand alone weekend for rep games?

[Madman]

There has been talk of playing Test and State of Origin matches on a stand alone weekend to ease player burn out.

IMO this should be done because rep games are the pinnacle of the game and should be showcased. Furthermore this way there would be a full 8 NRL games each round. It would also allow all teams to field their full contingent of fit players rather than the situation now where some teams have byes and some teams have to play regardless of having players in origin camp.

What do you guys think?

 

[Vallabinho]

Talk about stand alone weekends for rep games comes up every year near SOO time. IMO, I agree. I would be more fair for all teams to have they most powerful team on the pitch. You see teams like the Tigers who have no rep players in SOO and then you see the Dragons who have 7. It is unfair.

 

[Novocastrian90]

Having 4 standalone weekends in the season sounds a bit much. Fair enough for the 3 origins, provided the number of regular season games (24) is kept the same. Would mean making it a 27 week regular season and having 3 byes per team as opposed to a 26 week season.

As for City v Country, get rid of it. Its outdated and really not needed anymore. The Anzac Test should either be played on ANZAC Day or not at all as well.

 

[Madman]

As for City v Country, get rid of it. Its outdated and really not needed anymore. The Anzac Test should either be played on ANZAC Day or not at all as well.

I completely agree. City v Country has little benefit and a lot of risk. And the Anzac Test was played around 2 weeks after Anzac day, and the match lost all its meaning.

 

[MattyM]

I like the idea. IMO it should be used purely because the players that are a part of Tests/Origin sides should be able to back up after the game with a period of time to rest if they'd like to play their next game for their club.