The NRL has been left with egg on its face after agreeing to lock in this year's draw before a ball was kicked this season.

In an embarrassing repercussion of the NRL's decision to neglect Fox Sports from its original broadcast negotiations with Channel Nine, the top-of-the-table showdown for the minor premiership between Melbourne and Cronulla won't be shown on free-to-air TV this weekend.

The NRL's approach to negotiate a broadcast rights deal with the Nine Network without including Fox Sports upset the pay TV giants, who were then forced to negotiate a deal of their own with Nine to win back the rights to Saturday night football.

As part of the compromise, Fox Sports wanted to pencil in the final six rounds of the season as far back as last year, creating the dilemma the NRL faces on the final weekend of the regular season with non-pay TV subscribers denied the best matches of the round.