I'd like to see an origin camp for, say 3 weeks max. Get on with it, even if the comp stops for a mid-season break.
Probably not feasible with 17 teams. So, maybe '25 or '26 with an 18th team.
Something like:
February: 4 rounds of pre-season fixtures (competition or trials or combo of both). Modest prize money that can be added to a club's cap.
1st two weeks of March off...
Then, a 21 round comp broken into two sections around a 4 week rep break.
Mid-March: Rounds 1-3
April: Rounds 4-7
May: Rounds 8-12 (Outside Top 30 available for selection from Round 8 - Start of May)
Jun (Rep Carnival Month): Four weekends off NRL regular season, featuring...
* Origin on the three middle Wednesdays
* Women's Origin on three middle Thursdays
* 4-week South Pacific Cup on Fridays / Saturdays (NZ, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Cook Islands, PNG - Two Pool games in first two weeks, SF week 3, and Final Week 4) - Prize money for development of game in those countries.
* National U'20s Knockout comp Saturdays/Sundays for four weeks.
Interclub player trading window between 1st and 2nd parts of NRL season (from 9am the day after completion of Round 12, finalised by 5pm the day before round 13 starts).
Jul: Rounds 13-16
Aug: Round 17 (each team to play each other once before any repeat game is scheduled).
Aug Remainder): Rounds 18-21 (play four teams twice).
Sep: Finals
Oct: Grand Final