Ben Hunt grudge match to kick off 2018 NRL
The 2018 NRL draw has been released, and the very first game will pit Ben Hunt against his former club.
St George Illawarra will open the season against Brisbane on March 8, with Red V recruit Hunt facing the prospect of a frosty reception from his former club's fans.
North Queensland will only have to wait until round three to try to avenge their grand final loss to Melbourne, while Aaron Woods and Josh Reynolds will face their former clubs when Wests Tigers host Canterbury on the Sunday of round 12.
The Cowboys will visit the Storm at AAMI Park on March 22, as part of the reduced 25-round competition which sees each team receive one bye and a full week off for the stand-alone Origin weekend.
Clubs will be given their byes either side of the stand-alone Origin match in Sydney, meaning only two rounds will be shortened across the season.
In a bid to reclaim crowds, the NRL has also scheduled four double-headers across the season, including the first in Sydney at ANZ Stadium since the 2013 finals series involving South Sydney, Manly, Parramatta and Cronulla on March 24.
There will also be Sunday afternoon games in Sydney on all but three of the 25 rounds.
"There are more blockbusters in family-friendly timeslots," NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg said.
"We have more control of the schedule for 2018 and we believe we have been able to deliver some wins for everyone, but particularly the fans."
Better control over the draw from television broadcasters has also allowed 11 teams to have at least 10 free-to-air matches across 2018, up on the five teams who received the same figure in 2018.
But Brisbane will still play 13 games on Thursday and Friday nights.
There is also an increase to 23 Thursday night games, while the unpopular 6pm Friday night timeslot also remains.
The announcement marks the first time the NRL has revealed the full draw, including the final six rounds, since the inception of the competition in 1998.
KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THE 2018 NRL DRAW:
With the NRL now having control of the draw rather than broadcasters, there is a far more even distribution of timeslots.
Brisbane remain a popular option for marquee Thursday and Friday night games, but they have only 13 fixtures in those timeslots compared to 18 last season.
The Broncos will open the season on Thursday March 8, against St George Illawarra at UOW Jubilee Oval.
The grand final rematch is set for round three, with Melbourne hosting North Queensland on a Thursday night.
Eleven teams will play at least 10 games on free-to-air TV in 2018, up from five in 2017.
There are 24 five-day turnarounds, down one from last season, with no team having more than three.
A focus on Sydney derbies means the likes of St George Illawarra, Sydney Roosters and Canterbury only play outside NSW four times all season.
The Roosters do not leave Sydney until round 10, while they only leave Sydney once over their closing seven games -* away to Canberra in round 23
The Cowboys make just four trips to Sydney all season, while they also visit Cains, Darwin, Bathurst, Auckland and Melbourne.
with AAP