Mid-season league test likely to be scrapped

14:43, Jan 31 2009
TOO MUCH: There will no longer be a mid-season rugby league test match between New Zealand and Australia due to concerns over player availability and burnout.
Reuters
TOO MUCH: There will no longer be a mid-season rugby league test match between New Zealand and Australia due to concerns over player availability and burnout.

Australia and New Zealand will scrap the mid-season test match from 2009, with next year's Centenary test at the Sydney Cricket Ground to be the last before reverting to end-of-season fixtures.

The Kangaroos and Kiwis will meet at the Sydney Cricket Ground on May 9, the exact date the very first test was held 100 years ago, with the two countries to wear heritage replica jerseys.

It will be the last time a mid-season test will be held, with the New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) seeking to have the current Anzac test moved until the end of the National Rugby League and Super League season so the Kiwis can use their English-based players.

Australian Rugby League chief executive Geoff Carr yesterday confirmed the April test was unlikely to return in 2009, with next year's one-off Centenary Test to be the final mid-year test.

"It's probably going to move to the end of the year because the NZRL have a problem with the fact they can't field their best side in April," Carr said.

"After next year we might just have two tests at the end of the year."

AAP