NRL Fixturing Under Scrutiny Amidst Club Concerns and Player Absences

St George Illawarra are coming off a bye.

The Dragons have just one win this season, but it was recent.

In fairness, the Dragons have played some of their best footy in their past two outings.

A stunning 30-26 win over the Broncos at Lang Park in round 13 was the highlight of the year to date.

In round 14, they led 12-6 at half-time against the Cronulla Sharks, but then faded in the second half to lose 34-12.

Dragons five-eighth Daniel Atkinson said his side will be trying to replicate the good moments of their recent form in their bid to achieve a second win tonight.

"We had a really strong 40 minutes against the Sharks at Shark Park, but we didn't come out of the sheds in the second half," he tells Fox League.

"I think we just need to replicate the first 40 [against Sharks]. stick to our process, know the footy we can play and just stick to what works for us."

The Knights and the Dragons played each other six weeks ago.

Knights winger Greg Marzhew scored five tries in a 44-10 win.

But Newcastle halfback Dylan Brown is not putting much stock into that this evening.

It is a new day, and in his mind, the Dragons are a different side.

"It was a big performance last time, but they've changed a lot,' Brown told Fox League.

"It's been a month since then, they've grabbed a win since then, so their confidence is high.

"They've been very close at half-time with almost every single team they've played."

— reporting by AAP

Superstar Dolphins halfback Isaiya Katoa has been ruled out of the NRL clash against Wests Tigers with a minor knee injury.

Brad Schneider will start in the halves next to Kodi Nikorima in place of Katoa, who hurt his knee in last Friday's defeat of the Sydney Roosters.

Katoa played through the pain and had been running at training during the week, only to report soreness closer to Saturday's game at Campbelltown Stadium.

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The 22-year-old is having a great season and had been on stand-by to come into NSW's squad for State of Origin II had Mitch Moses succumbed to his hamstring injury.

Kristian Woolf is "very confident" the fourth-placed Dolphins will have Katoa back for their heavyweight clash against the Warriors in round 17.

"He's a really important player for us, so it's a smart decision just to give him a week there," the Dolphins coach said.

"He'll be right for next week, it's not a major injury at all.

"But I didn't want him out there worried about an injury or worry about re-hurting something and to have that in the back of his mind and not play at his best."

Katoa's absence further depletes the Dolphins, who are resting Origin representatives Selwyn Cobbo, Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, Tom Flegler and Max Plath.

The Tigers' lone Origin representative, Api Koroisau, did not make it onto the field for NSW on Wednesday night so will start at hooker as planned.

Maroons forward Kulikefu Finefeuiaki and NSW's Jack Bostock will line up for the Dolphins, with the former making his debut with a cameo in Origin II and the latter an unused substitute.

Evening Michael. Gotta say, Hannay has a point but isn't the first to make it. NRL scheduling rationale is highly questionable, to be diplomatic. Women's State of Origin, U19 State of Origin, Warriors' road trip, etc. Yet the NRL never seem to be called to account for their decisions. Why is that ?

- Old timer

G’day Michael. Your comment re ‘commercialisation’ hits the nail on the head for all sports these days . Fans come down the list . The NRL would have had first dibs on Robina Stadium and I would think some ‘compensation’ was involved to get the Asian Cup on there. At least we don’t have the new ‘hydration breaks’ like soccer World Cup (yet).

- Phillip

It appears we have struck a chord with the readers.

There are few messages that have come in about the scheduling of rugby league.

I'm not sure there is much for the NRL to be held accountable for, because scheduling is a very difficult assignment.

I wouldn't want that job.

And it should be said that whatever the NRL is doing at the moment, as a whole, is working.

TV viewership is very strong. Match day attendance seems to be better than in other seasons.

There will always be head-scratchers.

The Titans and Warriors, having long stints away from their home grounds, are great examples: It must be said the Titans couldn't have their stadium at the start of the year, and the Warriors' stint away from Mt Smart Stadium included a sell-out home game in Wellington.

Like I said earlier, I think the Women's State of Origin is the big one.

Viewership for the Women's Origin is outstanding, and the NRLW TV viewership enjoys healthy numbers.

If the NRL decide to pull the trigger and extend the NRLW, making it a really solid professional comp, I reckon a lot of other sports in this country will be very nervous about losing kids to rugby league.

Evening Michael. Do you think the NRL will consider Origin scheduling in the future to prevent disruption to the competition? Its getting harder to have faith in your club team fielding their best team during this period.

- KB

G'day KB.

Thanks for joining me on the NRL live blog.

You bring up a topic which I reckon we could debate all night, and still not come up with the perfect answer.

The NRL competition certainly takes a back seat during State of Origin. No doubt about that.

And I can see the difficulty in having faith in your club, especially when they are missing players in the middle of the season.

Some would argue that this time of year allows young and emerging players to have a go and give fans a glimpse into the club's future.

However, if the only match you can take your kids to falls in June, then I think those fans deserve to see the best players on the field.

Could the NRL pause for three weeks to play the Origins back-to-back-to-back? Maybe, but that would extend the NRL season by three weeks, which would put the end-of-year Test matches in jeopardy.

The current model is certainly a commercial hit, and I doubt anyone would want to mess with that.

The women's season is a more pressing issue, in my opinion.

Having the women's Origin series around the same time as the men's works, because we now have an Origin season from May to July.

The big problem is the NRLW has not started, and all three matches really are pre-season games.

It is a tall order to ask these women to show off their talents when it is in their pre-season.

Do you move the Origin series to August and risk losing some of the spotlight and excitement?

Or can you move the NRLW forward, or even extend the competition and make it more than a single round-robin?

— reporting by AAP

Josh Hannay has been left baffled by the NRL's fixturing as Gold Coast prepare for their first game at their home ground in 49 days.

The first-year Titans coach joked he had to use a navigation app to get to the team's last training session for their clash with ladder-leading Penrith.

The Panthers' State of Origin trio Isaah Yeo, Brian To'o and Nathan Cleary will be rested, but Gold Coast representatives Jojo Fifita and Tino Fa'asuamaleaui are a chance to back up.

Saturday's match is the Titans' first at Robina Stadium since losing to Canberra on May 2, so long ago that rookie halfback Zane Harrison had not yet debuted.

"I had to chuck [Robina] Stadium in the nav this morning to kind of remember where it was," Hannay joked.

The 16th-placed Titans have played only four home games in 2026, with one of those at Brisbane's Lang Park for Magic Round.

Each of the NRL's 16 other teams have played at least six through 15 rounds, with Wests Tigers and Cronulla (8) playing twice as many as Gold Coast.

The AFC Women's Asian Cup meant Robina Stadium was unavailable for the first three rounds of the NRL season.

But the fixturing since then has been frustrating and confusing for the Titans, who have travelled to Auckland and Townsville among 14 flights in total for the year.

"We're in an entertainment industry, right? Just for the club as a whole, it's hard to connect with your supporters when you're not playing at home," Hannay said.

"The club does a tremendous job, given that fact. But ultimately, home games are where you get that true connection. The supporter connects with the team, they can see it live and we just haven't had that opportunity."