Nathan Cleary asks NRL to sort out scheduling quirk
Jasper Bruce |
Star halfback Nathan Cleary has called on the NRL to learn from Penrith’s recent travel conundrum before the inclusion of the Perth Bears and PNG outfit exacerbates the issue.
NSW representatives Cleary, Isaah Yeo, Dylan Edwards, Brian To’o and Liam Martin all missed the round-16 match against the Warriors in Auckland that kicked off only 67 hours after State of Origin II in Perth, more than 5,300km away.
It marked the first time a team had been forced to play in Auckland within a week of an Origin match in Perth.
The Panthers determined it would be impractical to rush their Origin stars onto a six-hour flight immediately after their recovery session, particularly given they would have to return to Sydney and back up against Canterbury five days later.
The Panthers won both games against the Warriors and Bulldogs, but were privately frustrated by the messy scheduling, which will be avoided in an Origin context until at least 2028 when Perth next hosts.
But managing tight turnarounds from long flights will soon become a much more regular issue for the NRL as teams from Perth and Port Moresby enter the competition in 2027 and 2028 respectively.
It’s left Cleary to call for the NRL to pay particular attention to situations like the one the Panthers faced this Origin period.
“That’s probably going to be something that needs to be looked into, just the scheduling,” Cleary said.
“In terms of teams like Townsville (North Queensland), the Perth team now, New Zealand (Warriors), they shouldn’t really ever be playing short turnarounds, or if you travel you shouldn’t be on a short turnaround.”
Currently, the longest non-stop flight for a team travelling to another’s regular home ground is from Auckland to Brisbane at around four hours, with North Queensland flying via Brisbane for that trip as well.
But a flight from Auckland to Perth would be almost twice that at seven-and-a-half hours, given prevailing westerly winds makes the trip longer heading east to west.
Teams will also face long travel times heading to Port Moresby, with commercial flights from the east coast currently stopping via Brisbane en route to PNG.
The NRL has previously entertained purchasing its own jet to facilitate easier travel, but those plans have not yet come to fruition.
No team has more than three five-day turnarounds this season, with the 21 scheduled across the league an improvement on the 26 and 30 from the previous two seasons.
Cleary said he was unsure how best to accommodate Perth and PNG into the already complex fixturing process.
“There’s been a few things with the schedule this year, definitely not just for us but for other teams,” said the Penrith co-captain.
“I think they need to put more consideration into it, particularly for teams like Perth when they’re around, Townsville and the Warriors.
“I obviously don’t know the perfect way to do it but it’s going to have to be a consideration for those teams in particular.”
AAP
