The NRL has been left with egg on its face after agreeing to lock in this year's draw before a ball was kicked this season.
In an embarrassing repercussion of the NRL's decision to neglect Fox Sports from its original broadcast negotiations with Channel Nine, the top-of-the-table showdown for the minor premiership between Melbourne and Cronulla won't be shown on free-to-air TV this weekend.
The NRL's approach to negotiate a broadcast rights deal with the Nine Network without including Fox Sports upset the pay TV giants, who were then forced to negotiate a deal of their own with Nine to win back the rights to Saturday night football.
As part of the compromise, Fox Sports wanted to pencil in the final six rounds of the season as far back as last year, creating the dilemma the NRL faces on the final weekend of the regular season with non-pay TV subscribers denied the best matches of the round.
The Channel Nine Sunday afternoon match this weekend will feature two teams – the Warriors and Parramatta Eels – who are unable to reach the finals.
Fox Sports, who are the big winners, will air the blockbuster top-of-the-table clash between the Storm and Sharks at AAMI Park on Saturday night.
If the Gold Coast Titans lose to North Queensland on Saturday, Fox Sports will also broadcast the mouth-watering Sunday afternoon match between the Raiders and Tigers, who would need to win to reach the finals for the first time since 2011.
Traditionally, the NRL would wait until mid-season to gauge form and interest before locking in the final six rounds of the year, however they surrendered that right as part of its controversial broadcast negotiation strategy.
The schedule drawn up nine months ago didn't take into account Parramatta's salary cap crisis or the form woes of the Sydney Roosters and South Sydney, all of whom feature in the three free-to-air matches this weekend.
The NRL kept the draw secret from the 16 clubs, making just three changes to the final six rounds of the season to alleviate the stress of five-day turnarounds when they officially announced the remaining schedule at the end of June.
The end of Monday night football after this season will give the NRL the option of waiting until later in the year to fix the final six rounds in 2017.
The following year the broadcasters lose the right to choose matches with the NRL to gain complete control of the draw.
Meanwhile, Cronulla's Jack Bird has accused the NRL of double standards, questioning why Canberra can host a final at their home ground while the Sharks have to trek into Allianz Stadium.
"A home semi is a major key, where a lot of fans come to watch. If we had a semi here at Shark Park, there'd be people on the roof, probably," he said.
"Down there I could picture the same thing. I just think it'd be fair that they came to Sydney and played at Allianz or ANZ."
According to the NRL's finals venue policy: "The highest qualifying teams after 26 rounds will host each match at their normal home venue, with exception to any Sydney-based NRL club, which will play their 'home game' at either the Allianz Stadium or ANZ Stadium."
