🤯 Nathan Cleary and Co. Cop Toughest Schedule Amid AFC Women’s Asian Cup Conflict
The official release of the NRL 2026 draw on Friday confirmed a nightmare scenario for the Penrith Panthers and superstar halfback Nathan Cleary. The reigning dynasty has been handed what is arguably the most brutal draw of any of the 17 teams, primarily due to a major scheduling headache caused by the presence of Mary Fowler’s Matildas and the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2026.
The showpiece women’s football tournament, scheduled from March 1-21 next year, gives the Matildas and tournament organizers priority access to key major venues in Sydney and on the Gold Coast. This preemptive booking has directly impacted multiple NRL clubs that use these stadiums for home games, forcing several teams—including the Panthers—to start their season on the road.
Stadium Lockout: Panthers Forced Out of Home
The Matildas have rightly been given priority for the prestigious event, utilizing major venues like Accor Stadium (Sydney), CommBank Stadium (Parramatta), and Cbus Super Stadium (Gold Coast). For the Panthers, who are already playing their home games at CommBank Stadium in Parramatta while Penrith Stadium undergoes major renovations, the conflict is particularly severe.
The CommBank Stadium blackout means that Ivan Cleary’s side will be forced to start the season on the road, having no games scheduled at their temporary home until Round 4. This displacement is the start of a challenging campaign where the Panthers will have a stretch of seven weeks where they play just a single game at CommBank.
To compensate for the stadium unavailability, the club will be forced to take “home” games to regional areas, including Bathurst and Mudgee, further adding to their travel burden early in the season. They also face a distant away match in Darwin against the Dolphins, magnifying the geographical challenge imposed by the Asian Cup conflict.
The Cleary Conundrum: Facing the Top Four Twice
Beyond the logistical nightmare created by the Matildas prioritizing key venues, the NRL draw handed the Panthers an immense competitive challenge.
The Panthers are the only club slated to face each of last season’s top-four teams twice. This includes the formidable challenge of double matches against the Canberra Raiders, the Brisbane Broncos, the Melbourne Storm, and the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs. The only finalist from 2025 that the Panthers will not face twice is the Cronulla Sharks.
This difficult match-up rotation, coupled with the early-season travel and lack of genuine home fixtures, means Nathan Cleary and his team must display the same resilience and champion quality that has defined their dynasty to navigate the opening rounds successfully. The combination of losing their home-ground advantage and facing the league’s strongest competitors repeatedly makes the Panthers’ path back to the top a rugged one.
While the NRL draw has introduced improvements such as reducing five-day turnarounds and eliminating repeat fixtures within a short window, the unavoidable scheduling clash with the AFC Women’s Asian Cup has created a definitive competitive imbalance, placing the burden squarely on the shoulders of the Penrith club.