The World Club Challenge is set to be scrapped for 2025 as the Penrith Panthers face the daunting prospect of shortening their already shortened off-season by opening 2025 in Las Vegas.
The four-time back-to-back premiers are no stranger to having the shortest pre-season of all teams in the NRL.
Under the NRL's agreement in place with players and their union, the Rugby League Players Association, players are entitled to a minimum rest period after their final game of the season.
While the last players to return - those who play internationals - won't be required to commence their pre-season until the New Year, the Panthers, as a club alongside their grand final opposition, will be the last team back once again as a unit.
That is even tougher in 2025, though, when they start their campaign to defend the premiership again a week before 13 of their 16 opposition, commencing 2025 a week ahead of the rest of the competition in Las Vegas.
News Corp is reporting that the Vegas game made any trip to England untenable, and the NRL instead explored the idea of playing the World Club Challenge in Australia.
But now the Panthers are understood to have scuppered that idea, too. The short pre-season, combined with internationals and several players heading in for off-season surgery, meant they were against the idea of an extra competitive match in February, whether it was going to be played in Australia or England.
The date of the match - likely on the weekend of February 14 - would likely have meant just eight or nine weeks of training for players not playing internationals and even less for those who are.
The date being brought forward so far was down to the fact the Panthers will jet off to the USA early the following week, and chairman Brian Fletcher told the publication they couldn't put the players through it.
“You couldn't put the players through it. We can't play it, we don't have the time span,” Fletcher told the publication.
“It's impractical. There's no way in the world we could fit it into the schedule. Our coaches and football department have said the players couldn't stand up to it.
“The amount of football that they've played and then a World Club Challenge before we go to Vegas – it becomes too much. Player welfare is the biggest problem. We have 20-odd players in the Pacific Test matches as well, and we have a lot of surgery to be done on players over the off-season."
Penrith, who have never won the World Club Challenge, became the first NRL team to win a premiership after playing the match in England during the pre-season this year.