NRL draw facing chaos in 2023 as FIFA Women’s World Cup comes to Australia

The NRL is facing one of its trickiest scheduling dilemmas in history with a number of clubs expected to get kicked off their home grounds next season.

The NRL is facing one of its trickiest scheduling dilemmas in history with a number of clubs expected to get kicked off their home grounds next season.

That’s because of the impending arrival of the world’s best female soccer stars on Australian shores. .

They’ll be competing in the ninth edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, which will take place across nine cities in Australia and New Zealand between July and August next year, with NRL stadiums and training grounds required for both games and preparation.

The final of the tournament will be played at Sydney’s Accor Stadium.

“I was speaking to the NRL’s Graham Annesley and Andrew Abdo in the last couple of days,” News Corp’s Phil Rothfield told Big Sports Breakfast Radio.

“So they’ve got to put a draw out for 17 teams next year with three byes and five day back-ups right.

“Now there are eight grounds unavailable Kogarah (Oval), Leichhardt (Oval), Campbelltown (Stadium) and Gosford (Stadium), where a lot of clubs play.

“They’re out of this for nine weeks, so that’s some Round 17-25.

The Storm will be kicked off their home ground for weeks. (Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)

“AAMI Park’s out for 57 days, Accor Stadium 52 days, Allianz 48 and even Suncorp’s out for 48 so the Broncos are going to have to take three games to the Gabba.

“Melbourne Storm, they can’t even train at AAMI Park it’s got to be a clean stadium, they can’t use the gym there even so they’re looking at Marvel Stadium under the roof, they might even go to the home ground of the Geelong Cats in Geelong and play a game.”

But that’s not the only major challenge for the NRL, with the draw also having to factor in a growing schedule of concerts, rugby union and A-League games down the eastern seaboard of the nation.

Adding to the nightmare jigsaw puzzle is the impending arrival of the Dolphins as the NRL’s 17th team, meaning more teams and more games to fit in.

The Daily Telegraph has declared it will be the toughest playing schedule to draw up in the history of the NRL.

Sam Kerr and the Matildas will get the priority at some of Australia’s biggest stadiums in 2023. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

The paper reports some of the biggest challenges facing NRL administrators are:

• The Melbourne Storm having to move out of AAMI Park for a number of weeks, with a need to play home games at either Marvel Stadium or in Geelong around a packed AFL schedule
• The Broncos needing to play three games at the Gabba
• The Roosters having to move out of both Allianz Stadium and their high performance centre at Moore Park
• Accor Stadium will also be out of action for a number of weeks due to concerts and the AFL’s Magic Round in Sydney

NRL CEO Andrew Abdo speaking during the announcement NSW will host the 2022 NRL Grand Final, during a press conference today at Rugby League Central in Moore Park. Picture: Jonathan Ng

There are a number of other pain points in the schedule that you can read in The Daily Telegraph.

It all amounts to a season in which NRL boss Andrew Abdo and his executive team will have to fight tooth and nail just to organise a full schedule of games.

While it may not be as stressful as organising a schedule amid the Covid chaos of previous seasons, there’s no doubt the game has more other sports and events to battle with than ever before.

NRL clubs will return to pre-season training as early as this week ahead of the 2023 season, with a number of stars demanding an early return in order to get their bodies right for next year.

Raiders halfback Jamal Fogarty has told Ricky Stuart he wants to return to pre-season training two weeks early in order to prevent some of the injury woes that derailed the first half of his 2022 season.

James Tedesco of the Roosters looks dejected after defeat during the round 15 NRL match between the Parramatta Eels and the Sydney Roosters at CommBank Stadium, on June 18, 2022, in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Brett Hemmings/Getty Images)

“We’ll have our train and trial guys, our NYC players and our NSW Cup players back for our first day next Thursday,’’ Stuart told The Daily Telegraph last week.

“However, both Jamal Fogarty and Tom Starling have both asked if they could return earlier.

“I love that type of attitude.’’

Brisbane meanwhile will kick off their training schedule next week, with star fullback Reece Walsh among 10 first-graders to attend the first week.

Originally published as NRL draw facing chaos in 2023 as FIFA Women’s World Cup comes to Australia