The Dolphins have been reportedly guaranteed a spot at the 2023 edition of magic round alongside the other three Queensland teams, as the NRL prepare to begin the process of working out which team will miss out altogether.
The addition of the Dolphins, which will take the competition to 17 teams, creates plenty of headaches for the competition, including making a decision on which team will start their season with a bye and which team will end their season with a bye.
Next year's draw will also see more games played during the State of Origin period, when it's believed there will be up to six or seven games in each week without Origin stars playing, with all three games of the interstate series reverting to the Wednesday night format.
But possibly the biggest question of the lot is determining which team will have to miss magic round.
According to The Sydney Morning Herald, the NRL have already made assurances that all Queensland-based teams will be involved, with the Dolphins reportedly seeing the weekend as a big opportunity to grow their fan base.
It can also be bet on that the Melbourne Storm will also be there given the size of their fan base in Queensland.
It means that a New South Wales-based team - or the Canberra Raiders - would have to miss out on the trip to Brisbane for the annual event which sees all teams play at the same location on the same weekend.
It's understood that all of the Bulldogs, Sea Eagles, Warriors, Titans, Storm, Sharks, Roosters and Tigers make significant commercial gains out of hosting a match on magic round, while away clubs also receive a small fee.
It's tipped that one of those clubs would have to lose a home game though, with the Dolphins unlikely to be allowed to play an "away" game at their predominant home venue as the Broncos do each year thanks to the Sea Eagles' long-running partnership with Suncorp Stadium and the Queensland government, which dates back to well before the beginning of magic round.
That means that one of those clubs, as well as the non-Queensland based away clubs - the Knights, Rabbitohs, Dragons, Panthers, Raiders and Eels - would be in line to potentially be handed the bye for magic round in 2023.
The NRL have previously flagged their intentions to take the competition to 18 teams at the first opportunity given the scheduling headaches created by a bye, as well as the additional revenue opportunities created by playing a ninth game each weekend.
It's understood a bid in Perth, as well as a second New Zealand team, are the leading candidates to join the competition in the coming years once it moves to 18 teams.
Nine games on magic round could create a headache of its own however, given playing three games on a Friday night would be an impossibility, and four games at the same ground on one day could be too big of a program to stomach.
