The war between the AFL and the NRL always seems to heat up at this time of the year.
This time, it's a preliminary final change of schedule that has people fired up, with NRL supremo and Canterbury Bulldogs boss Phil Gould making his feelings known.
Preliminary finals are usually played one day apart; however, due to the AFL's Grand Final date, the NRL opted to shift the schedule to avoid a clash.
The move will now result in one squad getting an extra two days of rest ahead of the NRL's Grand Final next week.
While his side has been eliminated from the finals, Gould was heated about the league's decision to shuffle the schedule, citing an unfair advantage to whoever wins Friday night's clash between the Melbourne Storm and the Cronulla Sharks.
"They are gonna get an extra two days of recovery leading into the grand final," Gould said on Wide World of Sports' Six Tackles With Gus.
"That's huge at this time of year, absolutely huge.
"That's again one of the vagaries in our game that we just overlook and say that's OK, we will just have to put up with it."
"I really don't think it's fair."
When his co-host Mat Thompson highlighted the potential clash with the AFL Grand Final if the schedule weren't changed, Gould responded with a fire in his belly.
"Bugger the AFL Grand Final," he said.
"Play them both [the NRL prelims] on Sunday, I don't care.
"Play them both on Friday night, I don't care.
"I think a 48-hour advantage for the Storm or Sharks leading into the grand final is huge.
"That's not fair, that's not even."
The winner of Sunday's clash between the Brisbane Broncos and Penrith Panthers will likely agree with Gould, with just a seven-day turnaround between the prelim and the Grand Final.
