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Should the NRL expand to a 20-team competition?
Nicholas Quinlan • August 2nd, 2025 9:16 pm
SEN’s Scott Sattler and Andrew Webster have discussed the strengths and weaknesses of the NRL expanding to a 20-team competition.
It was recently reported by the Sydney Morning Herald’s Michael Chammas that the NRL was sitting down with broadcast partners about what the competition would look like with that arrangement.
If it were to go ahead as Chammas reported, it would see the 20 teams split into four conferences based on geographical location and play a total of 23 games a season.
This means that each team would play each other once, with the four remaining matches being against their divisional rivals again.
Webster believes that if the ARLC decides to bring in a 20th team into the NRL, it will allow for a fairer competition amongst the sides.
“I was less worried about the conference system as the 20-team competition,” Webster said on SEN’s Saturday League Kick-Off.
“I mean, the fact we would have 20 teams, and you can shorten the season. It’s a fairer draw because everyone plays each other once.
“But for mine, anyone who loves watching the game long enough, we all love Rugby League to death.
“But you can love something to death if you have too much of it. I think the (current) season is too long; a 20-team competition allows you to shorten that season.”
But for Sattler, he feels that having 20 teams in the competition will dilute the quality of the competition and affect the finals, using the 1998 season as an example.
“I played in a 20-team comp back in 1998,” Sattler noted.
“It was ugly at times.
“It was a top 10 and Doggies fans would remember that you came from ninth that year to get to the grand final against the Brisbane Broncos.”
“So, what it would mean with a ten-team finals system is that you would have clubs with a losing season. What I mean by that is you’ve lost more games than you’ve won.
“It’s a very NFL-style system.”
