Sunday’s in the Shire, a handful of Monday’s and five games on Super Saturday are amongst the features of the Sharks 2016 Telstra Premiership Draw as announced on Friday.
The Sharks have been draw to play eight times on a Sunday afternoon, five times at home and three away, while fans will be forced to wait until Monday nights in what is a Fox Sports preferred timeslot on five occasions.
The first 20 rounds of the home and away season, complete with days, venues and kick-off times has been released, with the specifics for the final six games to be determined at a later date.
Overall, while there is an emphasis on Sunday’s for the Sharks, the draw has delivered a variety of days and timeslots in 2016 and a couple of Shark Park blockbusters to look forward to in the season ahead.
While the local derby clash with the Dragons was leaked a few days ago, a round two match-up which is set to kick-start the Sharks home season in style, further Shark Park clashes with the Storm, Broncos, Sea Eagles, Cowboys and Roosters add up to an exciting schedule of games for local Shire fans.
Following the unveiling of the draw, Group CEO Lyall Gorman was one to be excited by the prospect of hosting some of the NRL’s leading contenders.
“We have some outstanding rivalry games at home against teams such as the Dragons, Roosters and Sea Eagles, while we also host some of the competition heavyweights in the Broncos, Storm and Cowboys,” Gorman said.
“Some of those teams have been the benchmark for some time and they are games our fans can look forward to. I know the coaching staff and players look forward to the challenge of playing against them.”
Coach Shane Flanagan didn’t look too far into the draw, but the first four and the last four rounds certainly got his attention.
“We’ve got a pretty hard start and finish with four tough ones,” was his frank assessment.
In dissecting the Sharks draw, over the first 20 rounds eight games fall on a Sunday, five on a Saturday night and five more on Monday. They have no Thursday or Friday night games.
The Sharks byes fall in rounds 12 and 15 and the last six games, with days, dates and times yet to be determined, sees two games at Shark Park and four away from home.
The draw also reveals six teams each club only meets once during the season, with two of those six out of Sydney teams in the Broncos and Warriors.
For a more detailed look at the NRL draw and how it affects the Sharks, see below.
Days of the week
Thursday – none
Friday – none
Saturday 3.00pm – none
Saturday 5.30 – 1 home game, 1 away
Saturday 7.30pm – 2 home, 1 away
Sunday 2.00pm (Fox Sports) – 2 home, 2 away
Sunday 4.00pm (Channel 9 free-to-air) – 3 home, 1 away
Monday – 2 home, 3 away
Teams to play just one
Broncos at home
Eels at home
Warriors at home
Bulldogs away
Tigers away
Rabbitohs away
