home semi?

[Brissie Kid]

Knowing the NRL if Manly get a home semi they will put it on a Friday night at SFS. No chance it will be a Sunday afternoon. No chance it will be Brookie no matter who we play.

If Penrith vs Cows is a semi you can bet the NRL will put that on at Penrith.

 

[HappilyManly]

All finals are live on Nein, so night games for sure

 

[HoldenV8]

All finals are live on Nein, so night games for sure

Night games.....try early morning if you want to watch Nein games in Adelaide....

I actually thought the same thing as some others here. You can almost bet that if it was the Eels or Penrith they would get a home ground semi (though I can't see the Eels objecting to moving a game to ANZ provided its not against any of the stadiums regular 'home' teams). When it comes to Brookvale I doubt the NRL would let us play anyone but the Titans, Raiders or Cows at home, and even then the game would probably get moved to the SFS.

I wonder, if the Scumdogs still played all of their home games at Belmore.....would they be allowed to play a home final there? Though in all honesty I think they also wouldn't object to moving the game if there was more money to be made.

I guess this issue is one reason why some teams play their home games at either ANZ or the SFS, the knowledge that if they make the finals its a good bet that even if they are the away team, they'll still be playing at home.

 

[HappilyManly]

The NRL have deals with the major Stadiums, and unbelievably, they own 100% of the Final Series revenues - the Clubs get nothing from the gate takings according to reports in the press last year.

I found this incredible, yet its a fact.

Thats why the games are not promoted by the Clubs, as they get the glory of becoming Premiers and some revenue associated with merchandise - but no gate takings :dodgy:

So we are stuck with generic Stadiums, long travel and evening schedules

 

[HoldenV8]

So we are stuck with generic Stadiums, long travel and evening schedules

In other words.....exactly what Nein wants. Unfortunately they want finals games in Sydney played at either the SFS or ANZ regardless that having say 25,000 at ANZ or the SFS in the first week makes either look rather empty.

Watching on TV, personally I'd much rather see (at least in the first weekend of the finals), teams that have earned a home final actually getting a final at their own home ground, not a final played at either ANZ or the SFS (unless its one of the teams that use those venues). A packed Brookvale (or any other suburban ground) would look much better than the SFS or ANZ looking at best half full and would actually give a sense of atmosphere, even on TV.

As it stands, I would guess right now that the only suburban ground in Sydney that they'd play first week finals games at would be Parramatta because its an all-seat venue. And even that is stretching it.

 

[Alan]

Nein is only half guilty here @HoldenV8 old mate, it is the NRL that want the game in the bigger stadiums for more gate revenue. Apart from the time slot nein would be just as happy at brookie as ANZ I think, the atmosphere adds to the coverage and they know it and just as many people would watch it, more in fact because there would be less at the game.

 

[ManlyArmy]

Regarding when we play depends on where we finish.

1 v 4 - Friday 7:45pm
2 v 3 - Saturday 5:45pm
5 v 8 - Saturday 7:45pm
6 v 7 - Sunday 4:00pm

Should stay the same unlike last year, with the Swans wanting to play their finals at the SCG if they get one.