Next year’s Dunedin premier club competition will have an early series of games, followed by one full round and three weeks of finals.
A proposal to have a combined competition with Southland clubs has not gained traction but may be played in the future.
The competition would start on April 10, three weeks later than the planned start this year, and would begin after Easter.
The Council of Metropolitan Rugby Clubs had been investigating if it could play four weeks of early season fixtures with Southland clubs.
But Southland did not support the idea as it works to get more teams into its top grade.
The council then decided there would be four rounds at the start of the season. The sides would play three games and then the two top teams would play each other for the Speight’s Jug. Other teams would still play games on that day, although one team would have the bye. No points from these opening rounds would be carried over
One full round would be played beginning on May 8.
The competition may end on July 24 or a week later, although much depended on when the representative season started. This may allow clubs to have Queens Birthday weekend off, but it has to be confirmed.
All up, some teams may play 15 games, while others may play just 12.
A top six playoff system, similar to this year, would be played, with three weeks of playoffs. A double round had been played for many years up to this season but most clubs agreed the playing window was too tight to fit in two full rounds.
The colts grade would also begin on April 10, but with a break for university holidays there was a concern players would not get enough rugby. Some teams may play fewer than 10 games.
There was a proposal to play either an under-21 competition or under-85kg competition in August to give young players more rugby.
