Overview

• Melbourne Storm will host either the Raiders or Sharks on Friday, September 26 at AAMI Park, with Brisbane Broncos to face the Bulldogs or Panthers on Sunday, September 28 at Suncorp Stadium (4:05pm AEST).
• The format returns a Sunday afternoon preliminary final for the first time since 2007 and breaks with the usual practice of staging prelims on consecutive days.
• The winner of Friday's match will have nine days to prepare for the grand final, compared with seven for the Sunday winner, prompting public debate over competitive balance.
• NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo defended the setup as fair after consulting clubs, arguing a seven-day turnaround meets recovery standards and noting strong audience appetite for daytime games.
• To mitigate travel and precinct constraints tied to the AFL decider in Melbourne, the NRL is planning charter flights for Sydney teams and has scheduled NRLW preliminaries with the Roosters in Gosford on Saturday and a Broncos-led double-header in Brisbane on Sunday.