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NRL torched over bizarre draw detail as Roosters forced into Panthers and Broncos double-up

The Roosters will face the Panthers and Broncos twice each in the opening seven rounds.

ben talintyre
Sports Reporter
·6-min read

The NRL has been slammed after it released a highly controversial draw for the 2025 season. Numerous coaches and fans quickly took aim at the fixture list which was released on Thursday, with many clubs feeling hard done by.

But no club's fixtures are more strange than that of the Roosters. The Tri Colours face the Panthers and the Broncos twice each in the opening seven matches. And despite the ugly-looking start to the season, the Tri Colours are actually heavily favoured by the draw which has drawn the ire of many fans who feel the Sydney club is routinely looked after.

Pictured James Tedesco left, Nathan Cleary middle and Reece Walsh right
The Roosters will face both the Panthers and Broncos twice in the opening seven rounds of the 2025 NRL season. Image: Getty

While facing the four-time defending champions Penrith and Broncos twice before their annual ANZAC Day clash against the Dragons is a tough start to the campaign, the Roosters have been looked after through the difficult to navigate Origin period, where all three of their byes drop between round 10 and round 17.

Trent Robinson's men will also have to do very little travelling outside of Sydney for the entire 2025 campaign, just 10,371 km. Only the Bulldogs (8,213 km) will do less travel next season. And to put it into perspective, in the 1920 minutes of footy, the Roosters will play in the 2025 regular season, almost 1440 of those minutes will take place in Sydney.

And veteran league commentator Andrew Voss has torched the NRL's peculiar fixture less which he believes is anything but fair and equal. "So we put a man on the moon in 1969, allegedly, 55 years ago and we still have a draw, and not to Rooster bash at all but wow," he told SEN on Friday.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - JUNE 30: Roosters coach Trent Robinson and James Tedesco of the Roosters speak to the media following the round 17 NRL match between Sydney Roosters and Wests Tigers at Allianz Stadium, on June 30, 2024, in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)
The Roosters have favourable fixtures through the State of Origin period in 2025. Image: Getty

"If you are not aware in the first seven rounds of next season they have come up with a draw where the Roosters play the Broncos twice and the Panthers twice. So four of their first seven games are against two teams. How the hell does a computer system spit that out? That's not even close to everyone playing each other once before you play a team twice.

"They're big games. I don't know what the explanation is for that. How does a computer system spit that out? Surely the NRL looked at that and went that's not right, surely." And many NRL fans were equally unhappy with the NRL draw, in particular the one handed to the Roosters.

While the Roosters' draw largely looks after them, the same can't be said for the Canberra Raiders. In a horror start to the NRL season, Ricky Stuart's men are set to clock up to 48,000km of travel in the all-important early rounds of the 2025 campaign.

Following a 26,000km trip to Las Vegas to help the NRL once again attempt to win over the US market, the Raiders will then pack their bags from the Nation's Capital for games in Townsville, Darwin, Gold Coast, Brisbane and Auckland in the first three months of the season.

In the first 12 rounds, the Raiders will play at home just five times. It is the most exhaustive away schedule of any of the 17 clubs, with the Sharks also doing it tough early on, being drawn to play the Cowboys in Townsville in round two after heading to the US in round one and being made to make the trek to Canberra and Perth in back-to-back weeks in rounds five and six.

CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA - JUNE 09: Raiders coach Ricky Stuart watches on during the round 15 NRL match between Canberra Raiders and New Zealand Warriors at GIO Stadium on June 09, 2023 in Canberra, Australia. (Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images)
Ricky Stuart is furious with the 2025 NRL draw as he states it is the worst he has ever received in his time as an NRL coach. Image: Getty

And Stuart didn't hold back when delivering his thoughts on the 2025 fixture list which he said was the toughest in his NRL coaching career. "I find it inconceivable that someone could think it’s fair to ask our players to travel to Sydney, Townsville, Darwin, Gold Coast and Brisbane in the space of six weeks. Then we’re off to Auckland soon after and you can add a trip to Mudgee (against Penrith) later in the season also," Stuart said on Thursday after the release of the draw.

"It’s the most imbalanced draw that I’ve had since I started coaching. I’ll get labelled a whinger. I’m okay with that. Because I know that every other coach, outside Andrew Webster at the Warriors, would feel the same way if they were handed this.

"We’re being asked to do upwards of 40,000km of travel when some other teams have got 7000km. I will keep standing up for my club and players whilst ever I am their coach and this is wrong what they have been handed. It smells of “oh well, it’s only the Raiders’. I can’t complain about Las Vegas, we put our hand up for that and are excited by it. But what follows on after that has left me stunned.’"

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NRL CEO Andrew Abdo said he understands Stuart's frustration and says he will work with the Raiders to help them navigate their upcoming travel stress. Abdo also pointed out that the club has been handed a favourable 18 seven-day turnarounds between matches - the most of any other team.

“Ricky is entitled to his commentary and I understand his position,’’ Abdo said. “The fact remains the draw is an extremely complex process and the Raiders have many positive elements to their draw, including turnarounds between games. We will continue to work with clubs on any measures we can undertake to ease the travel challenges as much as possible."