Fans will rejoice the noticeable absence of early season "double headers" after the NRL made a conscious effort to remove the quirk from the 2026 draw, with the assistance of artificial intelligence.

One of the fixture issues most despised by fans in recent seasons has been the propensity to meet the same opponent twice within weeks, even in the first two months of the season.

The dreaded "double headers" are gone from the pre-Origin period next season, with the NRL completely eradicating repeat fixtures within four and five week windows, and limiting the number of repeat fixtures within a six week window to just five occurrences - four of which take place after round 20.

As a comparison, in 2025 there were seven instances of return match ups within four weeks and eight instances of r

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