When will the 2016 NRL Draw be released ??

IanG

Darren Treacy
Any word on when it will be released?

Was a few year ago it was released the week of the previous year's Grand Final but last year was closer to Christmas.
 
NRL Season 2016 to kick off on a Thursday night in Townsvile


October 20, 2015 8:00pm
Phil Rothfield
The Daily Telegraph



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The NRL will launch the 2016 season with a Thursday night spectacular in Townsville to cash in on the phenomenal popularity of Johnathan Thurston’s Cowboys.

Channel Nine will broadcast a live 8pm coverage of the recently crowned NRL premiers against one of the top-rating Sydney clubs, probably either the Parramatta Eels or the Canterbury Bulldogs.

The opening round kick-off has been scheduled for Thursday March 3 with games going all the way through to the Monday night Fox Sports match.

Nine is keen to cash in on Kieran Foran’s multi-million dollar signing at Parramatta and a first-up assignment against Thurston and Michael Morgan to attract the big ratings in NSW and QLD.

There is enormous interest in the Eels for 2016 with Foran and Origin enforcer Beau Scott on deck to try to lift the club into finals contention.

Scott came under fire in his last appearance in Townsville for the Newcastle Knights when he took Thurston out and smashed the champion playmaker with a highly questionable late tackle.

The Cowboys captured the imagination of footy fans the length of the eastern seaboard with their memorable victory over the Broncos in what has been described as the greatest grand final ever.

Channel Nine and Fox Sports still retain full control of the NRL draw until the new broadcasting deal comes into play in 2018 when the governing body will determine its own schedule.

NRL executive staff have been meeting regularly with Nine and Fox Sports since the grand final to with the aim of finalising the schedule much earlier than last year when frustrated fans were kept waiting until almost Christmas.

This year the aim is to try to match rivals the AFL, who always produce a draw by early to mid November even with the two extra teams and complicated broadcasting commitments.

Not all Cowboys fans will be happy about the Thursday night kick-off.

The game will be played in daylight saving time in NSW, meaning a 7pm local kick-off for members and supporters who regularly travel for three hours or more from North Queensland outposts.

Also the average temperature in March in Townsville is 31 degrees which will make it difficult for the players.


http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...ght-in-townsvile/story-fni3g8pa-1227576183521
 
I hope we get the Tigers early on in the year and that grub Billy Mcconnachie gets picked. Payback will be a *****.
 
I think we were supposed to have the "easiest" draw this year, playing the top 8 teams from 2014 least amount of times, plus both draws the week before origin and the only game we played the week before origin was a depleted Broncos squad.
I don't see us being that lucky next year but fingers crossed
 
I think we were supposed to have the "easiest" draw this year, playing the top 8 teams from 2014 least amount of times, plus both draws the week before origin and the only game we played the week before origin was a depleted Broncos squad.
I don't see us being that lucky next year but fingers crossed

That is because our team sucks major s***, Ryan. Depressing, I know.
 
2016 NRL Draw

I think a big issue was stone, with him gone I think we have a good squad to compete with the best of them.
Maybe I'm just optimistic haha
 
New 6pm Friday night game part of overhaul of NRL broadcast deal


7 minutes ago
Rebecca Wilson and Nick Tabakoff
The Daily Telegraph



A NEW 6PM Friday night game would be scheduled under a proposed NRL broadcast deal that would also see Super Saturday return to Fox Sports.

Fox Sports could seize as many as five live games in a deal currently under negotiation between News Corp, the NRL and the Nine Network, which could deliver the game $1.85 billion and be sealed as early as this week.

The new deal has taken shape in the weeks since former League boss Dave Smith’s resignation last month, with talks making significant progress in the last week.

Under the proposal, Nine gives up its Saturday night prime-time game to Fox Sports (wholly owned by News Corp) for around $30 million a year, or $150m over five years, after that game was taken away from Fox in the deal Smith negotiated with former Nine chief David Gyngell earlier this year.

That deal also included the loss by Fox Sports of its exclusive Monday night games.

Once the Nine deal was announced, Fox advised the NRL that it was not interested in negotiations unless Super Saturday was back put on the table.

Fox would also pay Nine about $15m a year for the simulcast rights to screen Nine’s Thursday, Friday and Sunday games under the deal.

Negotiations are also underway to fast-track any new broadcast deal to as early as next year, although talks are still ongoing on this issue.

If all parties agree on these measures, the NRL could attract up to $1.85b for its overall rights, or about $360m a year.

Nine could see the original $925m cost of its deal over five years reduced to $700m for its three free-to-air games each week, as compensation for its reduced coverage.

If Fox Sports gets everything that it wants, it could now pay up to $800m.

The rest of the $1.85b figure would come from digital rights (about $200m), international TV rights ($100m) and naming rights for the competition ($50m).

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A Friday night game kicking off at 6PM would be a key sweetener for Fox Sports, which would televise those matches from Auckland, Brisbane or Townsville from 2016.

This would ensure games held in the earlier timeslot would also attract a crowd because arriving early for matches in peak hour on a Friday night in Sydney would be too difficult in peak hour traffic.

The $925m deal agreed between Nine and Dave Smith earlier this year gave Nine all four of the top games each weekend, including Saturday.

The Friday 8PM game would remain the clash of the week, followed by Saturday 7.30PM game, Sunday 4PM, Thursday 8PM, Saturday afternoon games, Friday 6PM and Sunday 2PM.

In another sensational development, Fox Sports has formally given up its Monday Night game, so it can retain three matches for Super Saturday.

Nine will commence Thursday night games next year if all parties agree.

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The free-to-air league broadcaster has also agreed to the simulcast plan for a share of the ad revenue on Fox Sports. Pay-TV subscribers can expect a similar coverage to the AFL, which has simulcast all matches for several seasons.

Sources close to the negotiations say the new deal, expected to be trialled next year, is on tenterhooks but huge progress had been made in the last week.

The departure of Dave Smith last month and the exit from Nine of David Gyngell early in the week were seen as a sweetener for Fox Sports to re-enter talks with the NRL and Nine.

Fox Sports swung into negotiations with Nine and the NRL to shore up their position but insiders say the monetary value of the entire deal is still short of the record breaking $2.2 billion AFL negotiation, announced earlier this year.

However, the AFL’s deal runs over six years and includes an extra game per round.

The new NRL broadcast deal will not commence until 2018 but The Daily Telegraph understands that all parties would prefer to start the new programming next year.

It is unclear when the handover of the contract money will take place.

PROPOSED SCHEDULE

Thursday

8pm: Nine

Friday


6pm: Fox Sports
8pm: Nine

Super Saturday


3pm: Fox Sports
5.30pm: Fox Sports
7.30pm: Fox Sports

Sunday


2pm: Fox Sports
4pm Nine

*To potentially start in 2016


http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...l-broadcast-deal/story-fni3fbgz-1227603719769
 
This seems like complete nonsense from News Ltd.

6pm Friday would be possibly the stupidest timeslot imaginable, nobody would be home to watch it. Another report on the same subject from News says it would be played in Queensland to take advantage of them not having daylight savings - so this means it would kick off there at 5pm Friday? A truly bizarre idea.

Monday night is already gone in favour of Nine's Thursday night match, so Fox haven't formally given up anything there.

$800m would be a rip off for the NRL if it came with losing $225m of Nine's money. It would basically be signing the rights over to Fox for $575m, which is $115m a season.

The NRL has hung it's hat on the four free to air games, which is exposure any code would kill for. I sincerely hope it remains.

Overall I think News are now in panic mode because they've lost the EPL and suddenly have competition for the rights.
 
Pretty sure everyone I know is complaining about it haha
And it's good to see the competition
 
They'd probably call the idea of a 6pm Friday night game a thought bubble. More like a brainfart. What a stupid idea. Some people are only getting home from work at 6pm Friday Nights
 
As soon as anyone knows, it will be posted here. All anyone knows at the moment is that it's this week.
 
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