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The ARL Commission is exploring one of the biggest scheduling shake-ups in the code’s history in a move that could see the NRL have a 19-round premiership draw.

This masthead can reveal the NRL is considering cutting the number of premiership rounds from 27 to 19 as part of the code’s march towards a 20-team league by the 2032 Brisbane Olympics. The reduction would represent one of the most significant changes to the premiership draw in 40 years, when the Winfield Cup expanded from 13 to 16 teams with the addition of Newcastle, Gold Coast and the Broncos in 1988.

Under the plan:

• State of Origin could become a stand-alone series following repeated calls for the NRL premiership to be suspended during the code’s $100 million showpiece;

• The international calendar will be expanded with the NRL keen to capitalise on a Test match boom after the success of the recently-completed Ashes and Pacific Championships;

• Byes will be scrapped and the regular-season shortened to enable more scheduling flexibility under a 20-team league; and

• The NRL is mulling over a conference system - successfully used in American sports - to maximise rivalry matches, gates and revenue for clubs.

The NRL released its 2026 premiership draw on Friday and for the fourth consecutive season, the 17 clubs will play 24 games each across a regular season spanning 27 rounds.

But there is a view 27 rounds is too long, onerous and a potential injury-hazard to NRL stars in a gruelling calendar that saw the code’s elite playing Test matches in England and Australia in early November.

A 20-team league would enable clubs to play each other once per season, alternating home-and-away fixtures over two years, ensuring equality after decades of criticism over unfair and unwieldy draws under a 27-round format.

The NRL’s current TV rights deal expires at the end of 2027, the year in which the Perth Bears enter the league. The following season, Papua New Guinea will become the NRL’s 19th franchise in the first year of the NRL’s new broadcast deal, expected to be formalised in 2026 and tipped to be worth north of $3 billion.

But it’s the addition of a 20th team, as early as 2030, that will have game-changing ramifications for the premiership draw and the future direction of the league. The challenge for the NRL is whether broadcasters will accept a major reduction in rounds given that more rounds means more games, more content and more visibility for the clubs’ commercial partners.

The Rugby League Players Association is mindful of the NRL’s 500-plus contracted players suffering burnout with a 27-round draw.

The NRL’s most experienced mentor, Souths super coach Wayne Bennett, hopes a cutback in rounds doesn’t cost the ARL Commission millions at the broadcast negotiating table.

“I don’t care how many rounds we play, but it’s about the money,” Bennett told this masthead. “Players won’t accept being paid less and clubs won’t want to get less with NRL grants and if we play less games. If you go from 27 rounds to 19 rounds, it’s a pretty fair reduction. If the broadcasters are happy to pay the same amount of money, fair enough, but I’m not sure if it will really happen. Less games certainly means players aren’t as tired at the end of the season, but they tend to recover pretty well now. It will be a decision made by the clubs and the RLPA because at the end of the day it (reducing rounds) could have an impact on the amount of money they get paid now and what that means for the salary cap down the track.”

The slashing of rounds would not be as marked as it seems. This year, the 27-round NRL delivered 204 regular-season games, plus nine finals fixtures for 213 premiership matches. A 19-round, 20-team competition would produce 190 regular-season games and 199 fixtures, only 14 fewer than the 2025 Telstra Premiership.

More matches won’t necessarily guarantee more broadcasting bucks. The NRL’s record for fixtures came nearly three decades ago in 1998, when the 20 clubs played 24 matches apiece, plus finals, in a whopping 253-game calendar.

The NRL has played 201 matches in 15 of its past 19 seasons, a workload in line with a prospective 19-round, 20-team, 199-game competition.

The 17 clubs currently have contracts in place to stage 12 home matches a season that would have to be renegotiated under a revised NRL competition draw.

South Sydney chief executive Blake Solly said the existing clubs are open to dialogue with broadcasters and ARL Commission bosses on changes to the draw as the code prepares for the entry of Perth and PNG. But he warned of the dangers of major surgery to the premiership draw, which saw reduced rounds of 18 and 22 respectively during the Super League and ARL war in 1997.

“Reducing the number of games in search of draw equality is a mirage that is unachievable,” Solly said. Particularly when we are playing Origin mid-season and with a schedule that disrupts the NRL regular season so badly. There will also be a huge financial impact on club commercial programs and venue-hire deals, and potentially broadcast revenue from less games. Everyone has to remember that the NRL competition provides the ARLC with 90 per cent of its revenue, too. The clubs are always open to any discussion that improves the season schedule and player recovery.

But it has to be sensible and based on the economic reality of our sport.”

In a wide-ranging interview with this masthead last month, ARL Commission boss Peter V’landys confirmed 20 teams is on the code’s agenda amid speculation the NRL would be capped at 19 clubs.

“Yes, we are looking at 20 teams, absolutely,” he said. “That is the Commission’s aim, because 20 teams opens up so many doors. It’s the perfect format for all elements of the game. We don’t want to lose the integrity of the competitions because when Origin is on, we are hellbent on growing the international game and having the 20 teams helps us to achieve all that. But we won’t be rushed into it, it has to be the right fit and it has to meet the business plan.”