NRL's new finals format, planned for two years, includes a Sunday afternoon game for broadcasters.
NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo says the change in finals format next week wasn't a knee-jerk reaction and had been in the works for two years, with the preliminary final schedule yet to be locked in ahead of a potential clash in Melbourne with the AFL decider.
The NRL will have a Sunday afternoon game in the second week of the finals for the first time since the Cowboys beat the Warriors in 2007, with the Wests Tigers also thrashing the Broncos in 2005 in a day game.
Matches at night suit the broadcasters but both Fox League and Channel 9 have jumped on-board with the earlier kick-off-time that will likely mean the loser of Sunday's Raiders-Broncos game will take on either the Sharks or the Roosters.