NRL: Five-night feast to celebrate footy’s return

The NRL is planning a one-off Monday night western Sydney blockbuster as part of a five-night TV footy feast.

Rabbitoh Latrell Mitchell will be on show in a grudge match against the Roosters. Picture: NRL Photos

The NRL is planning a one-off Monday night western Sydney blockbuster between Parramatta Eels and Wests Tigers as part of a five-night TV footy feast to celebrate the return of the rugby league season.

Footy-starved fans may also see the Rabbitohs and their superstar signing Latrell Mitchell against his old club the Roosters in a grudge match on the Friday night, the original Round 3 blockbuster that was abandoned when the game was shut down a month ago.

The plan is to resume the season on May 28, subject to approval from health officials.

“We think it would be a great celebration to relaunch the NRL season with big games five nights in a row,” Fox Sports head of television Steve Crawley said on Monday.

“Remembering it’s not our call and we realise it would be a one-off, but you can hear the cheers from the lounge rooms now.”

The NRL will talk to broadcasters Fox Sports and the Nine Network about a competition restart this week, including the rescheduling of the Easter Monday Eels v Tigers match at Bankwest Stadium on Monday June 1 at 7.30pm.

Monday night football was scrapped in 2016 and replaced with Thursday night football.

The Eels are loving the idea.

“Our club welcomes any ideas that will celebrate the return of rugby league by building on the strong rivalries of two big Sydney teams,” Eels chief executive Jim Sarantinos said.

“The Easter Monday game against the Tigers has become a modern Sydney tradition so we are pleased that there may be an opportunity for us to play this fixture once the season returns.”

If the ratings are strong, Monday night football could replace Thursday nights from next season, especially as Nine is keen to drop the Thursday night match.

The return to rugby league would be played over five days — Thursday night (one game), Friday night (two games), Saturday night (two games), Sunday (two games) and Monday night (one game).

A number of draw options will be put to the broadcasters at a meeting to be held later this week once the independent commission has signed off on a new schedule.

At this stage a 20-round format is favoured with a grand final in late October, followed by the State of Origin series.

The Eels and the Tigers opened Bankwest Stadium last year on Easter Monday in front of a sellout crowd.

Nine boss Hugh Marks said on Monday the game needed to restart from its coronavirus shutdown to help life return to normal.

“Rugby league restarting is one of those things we need to make sure happens as part of getting through this and getting out the other side into a recovery,” Marks told radio 2GB. “Those discussions are ongoing.”

The ARL Commission is expected to meet on Tuesday to discuss broadcaster discussions before rugby league’s Project Apollo committee reconvenes on Wednesday.

Marks was complimentary of Peter V’landys, with the pair likely to engage in broadcast deal negotiations in the coming year.

It comes despite Nine publicly questioning the NRL’s management earlier this month, accusing it of wasting the “hundreds of millions” the network had invested for decades.

The broadcast network blamed a “bloated head office” that it said had left clubs with little to fall back on during the ­pandemic. NRL clubs are currently paid $13m in grants per year, more than $3m in excess of the salary cap.

“One thing I want to see come out of this is that investment goes back into club footy,” Marks said.

“It’s the tribalism of rugby league that is its greatest strength.

“Investment in clubs, players and those communities I think has been underdone for some years.

“That’s something I’m agitating to make sure is part of the recovery so we can see a sport that we think has a great long-term future that warrants our investment in it.”

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH