Senior club rugby will revert to a proper double round in 2017.
The clubs voted to trim a game from each of the two rounds for the 2016 season but the change proved unpopular and the old format will be reinstated.
Otago Rugby Football Union rugby operations administrator Clint Austin said the format was ''still to be confirmed'' but he acknowledged the clubs had voted 7-1 to return to two full rounds.
It is understood Dunedin was the only club against re-establishing two full rounds, while two clubs were not represented at the meeting.
''We are just working out dates and whatnot now and what we can offer,'' Austin said, adding the draw should be available in early December.
By dropping from 18 round-robin games to 16 this winter, the clubs were able to avoid playing the odd game mid-week and had its Otago contracted players available for the semifinals and final.
But with each team missing out on one game per round, the draw suddenly included an element of luck. For example, top contenders University and Harbour avoided each other during the first round.
March 25 looms as the most likely date for the opening day of senior rugby, with the competition wrapping up on August 5, two weeks later than in 2016.
The two-week extension means it is unlikely the Otago contracted players will be available at the final stages of the tournament.
That trade-off was obviously more appealing to the clubs than a reduced round robin, even if keeping the best players involved was a major reason the clubs opted for a reduced round robin in 2016.
Two Otago players have been named in the 49-player group to attend the New Zealand under-20 development camp. Slade McDowall, of club champion Kaikorai, and Josh Buchan, of Southern, will attend the camp in Palmerston North from December 1-7. University midfielder Thomas Umaga-Jensen was among those not considered due to injury.
