Fans short changed by pre-scheduling of NRL matches, writes Darren Lockyer THE supposed advance in making the season more fan friendly by pre-scheduling the first 20 rounds has not worked. In previous years, the NRL scheduled only five rounds at a time, largely to ensure in form teams played in the prime television timeslots. For years, we had been told, "Look at how the AFL does it"." If you knew in October that your team had a home game on July 12, you could plan your life around that and make it to the game - and several other dates on the NRL schedule. Well, as it turned out, the average crowd for the 2013 NRL premiership is 15,693 per game. That's 622 fewer than in 2012. The record season was 2005 (16,448) and that is now eight years in the past. As a game, we have to grow and there will be many possible remedies which the NRL are, I'm sure, investigating. As a game, we tried advance scheduling. And there is no evidence that fans are going more regularly to games because of scheduling 20 weeks in advance, or watching on television in greater numbers. An internal NRL document obtained by a Sydney newspaper showed 1.5 million fewer people tuned in to Nine and Fox Sports telecasts over the opening 13 rounds compared to the first half of the 2012 season. That was a ratings decline of 2.9 per cent. What I would suggest for 2014 is to schedule the first 10 rounds of the season, then schedule five weeks in advance. Todd Greenberg should re-think NRL pre-scheduling, according to Darren Lockyer. Picture: Richard Dobson It would give our game an advantage over our counterparts. The AFL scheduled a Friday night game two weeks ago with a side that had won three matches all year. Of course, the disadvantage for fans would be they can't plan too far in advance, but for the game to prosper we can't have a Friday night game like we did in round 19, when two teams from outside the top eight, the Warriors and Tigers, were featured. I think people want to watch the teams who are in form. And let me stress that while I am one of Channel 9"s commentators, I do not know what the thoughts of Nine's bosses are about 2014. Todd Greenberg said last month before he started his job as the NRL second-in-command that the research from fans and club members was that they wanted to know when their team was playing. "We're working to the right model,"" he added. I just think the advantages of getting the right games on TV outweigh the disadvantages. As players, before this season it was just accepted that they could not plan their lives further than five weeks at a time. ADVANCE scheduling isn't the only reason why there has been fewer sets of eyes on our premiership games this year. I'd suggest one is that we are getting too many stoppages in our game. We don't want any more video reviews, put it that way, or for them to go any longer than they do. Some are almost as good as an interchange breather. Some referees are getting a bit trigger happy with the whistle. As a spectacle, what helps Origin be so free-flowing is the referees do not deliver the penalty counts which can occur in premiership games. The Newcastle-Brisbane game this month did not have a lot of penalties and it was a great spectacle. The coaches have been trying for years to slow down the play-the-ball when the interests of the game is for there to be more chances for the small, attacking players to make their mark. We also need as many stars as possible playing for our clubs. So it was pleasing to note NRL chief executive Dave Smith said he appreciates the need for salary cap reform which permits the game to have big names like Sonny Bill Williams and Israel Folau at our clubs under marquee player payment arrangements.