NRL finals schedule pits Warriors against All Blacks
Jasper Bruce |
The Warriors will be pitted against the All Blacks in a cross-code ratings war after the NRL scheduled their elimination final against Penrith to overlap with a hotly-anticipated rugby Test.
After speculation about the week-one finals schedule, the league confirmed the Warriors’ knockout clash with the four-time reigning premiers would kick off at 4:05pm AEST (6:05pm local time) on Saturday.
Some seven-and-a-half hours drive away in Wellington, New Zealand’s beloved national rugby union team will host world champions South Africa for a 5:05pm AEST kick-off (7:05pm local).
The clash will force Kiwi sports fans to choose between either their only NRL team’s biggest game of the season, or the All Blacks facing their fiercest rivals in another clash of the 2023 World Cup finallists.
But the NRL appeared to have few alternatives other than that timeslot, given shifting the Warriors game any earlier would’ve meant clashing with another rugby union Test.
The Wallabies host Argentina in Sydney from 2pm AEST in the other Rugby Championship match, with Rugby Australia only agreeing to the early kick-off so Channel Nine could show that game plus Saturday’s two NRL matches.
Hosting the NRL game on Friday was off the table, with that day reserved for a qualifying final to allow the loser a long turnaround into week two of the finals.
Minor premiers Canberra had also pushed for the sole Sunday timeslot to allow players a seven-day turnaround from their loss to the Dolphins.
Coach Ricky Stuart rested players en masse from round 27 but at least six are expected to back up from Sunday’s Dolphins game and face Brisbane at GIO Stadium.
But Stuart insisted the minor premiers had earned a full week off before their game, with the NRL granting that wish in confirming the finals schedule.
The coach had also pointed out the fourth-placed Broncos would’ve entered a Saturday fixture on a nine-day turnaround, much longer than the Raiders’ six days of rest.
The Raiders will therefore round out week one of the finals with a 4:05pm kick-off.
As expected, Melbourne will host Canterbury on Friday night to begin the finals series.
Cronulla will face the Sydney Roosters in an elimination final at Shark Park on Saturday night, less than two hours after either the Warriors or Panthers’ season comes to an end.
FINALS WEEK ONE FIXTURES (all times AEST)
Friday, September 12
Qualifying final: 2-Melbourne v 3-Canterbury, 7:50pm, AAMI Park, Melbourne
Saturday, September 13
Elimination final: 6-Warriors v 7-Penrith 4:05pm, Go Media Stadium, Auckland
Elimination final: 5-Cronulla v 8-Sydney Roosters, 7:50pm, Shark Park, Cronulla
Sunday, September 14
Qualifying final: 1-Canberra v 4-Brisbane (4:05pm, GIO Stadium, Canberra)
AAP
