Should the NRL consider adding a week off prior to the Grand Final?
The debate of a week off in some variation throughout the 2023 NRL Finals Series has dominated many of the headlines, sparked by the recently added 11-day concussion stand-down policy.
Following the AFL model of a week off before finals has been the most strongly supported but with a plethora of injuries throughout this finals series, a bye before the Grand Final has grown legs.
1999 Clive Churchill Medallist, Brett Kimmorley has backed the idea of a week off before the decider, stating that the game needs to have each side’s best players on the day.
“I think now, and this is the first time all week that I’ve thought this,” Kimmorley told SEN 1170 Mornings.
“I think, not so much for the fairness of the competition but for fans, I’d love to see us get to Grand Final qualifiers and have a week off.
“To allow the best teams to rest, we talk about a bye before the semi-finals, why don’t we have a bye before the Grand Final?
“We can have all of our awards and a celebration of rugby league (in that week) and allow the two sides that have done extremely well for 30 weeks of the season to have their best team available to win a competition.”
The notion of a bye either before finals or the Grand Final has been proposed multiple by former players, including SEN’s Scott Sattler who suggested the NSW Cup winner should face the Queensland Cup winners the week before the season finale.
“It is an 11-day if a player gets a (Category 1) concussion, that denies players an opportunity to play in the Grand Final,” Kimmorley added.
“We don’t want coaches or players lying about concussions, knowing the fact that they want their players to play in a Grand Final.
“Winning the Grand Final is the hardest thing you can do and sometimes it is about who has the healthiest roster but from a spectacle point of view that would put the best players on the field.
“It would be a showcase, a bit of a festival of football during that week we have off… I don’t think there is ever going to be a right or a wrong way.”
“I think it’s just trying to look after the players and the fans so we can have the best Grand Final possible.”