NRL CEO Andrew Abdo insists the league’s draw is as fair as it possibly can be after Cronulla emerged as the biggest winners out of the globetrotting 2024 schedule.
The NRL announced its fixtures on Monday, with South Sydney and Parramatta handed two of the toughest draws as they fight to return to the finals.
It came as the NRL heralded a new era for the game, with Manly and the Rabbitohs kicking off in a Las Vegas double-header on March 2 with close to 20,000 tickets already sold.
Newcastle host Canberra in the first match in Australia on March 7, while matches will also be played in Christchurch, Bundaberg and Darwin.
Perth will again host a fixture, but it has gone from a double-header to a single game after Souths pulled out.
The Warriors will host a game on Anzac Day in New Zealand for the first time since 2015, as one of three matches to be played on April 25.
But it is the Sharks who should walk away from Monday the happiest, after bowing out of the first week of the finals this year.
Craig Fitzgibbon’s men only have nine games against 2023’s top-eight teams, the least of any club in the draw.
They also only play the Warriors twice out of last season’s top four, while facing all of the bottom four from 2023 two times.
In contrast, Melbourne have suffered the toughest run.
Craig Bellamy’s perfect round-one record will face its sternest test against Penrith on March 8.
And in what looms as potentially the coach’s last season in charge, the Storm only play one team from outside last season’s bottom nine in the opening eight rounds.
Melbourne also cop all other teams from last season’s top four twice, while playing 12 of a possible 14 games against the 2023 finalists.
Parramatta and Souths have also been handed a rough path back to the finals after last season’s disappointments, with 13 games against the top eight from 2023.
Making matters worse for the Eels is an uncanny sense of deja vu.
After they were handed three straight games against fresh clubs early in 2023, Parramatta have the equal-most next year with five across the whole of 2024.
Clubs such as Manly and St George Illawarra have no such match-ups.
The Sea Eagles also have no five-day turnarounds, while the Eels are one of six clubs with three spread throughout the season.
Newcastle, meanwhile, have walked away as the biggest winners on the commercial front.
On the back of 2023’s Kalyn Ponga mania, the Knights have increased from seven free-to-air games last season to 12 in 2024.
South Sydney have also ended Brisbane’s long-standing run as the game’s most watchable team, claiming 14 free-to-air games to Brisbane’s 13.