Brooky deserves a home final

[The Who]

Id love it but 20000 is simply not good enough for an NRL finals match. We take it to Gosford would be my preference, 30000 is enough, Cowboys get a home final with 30000. But like all of you id prefer a packed brookie over a half full bug stadium any day.

Yet Bruce Stadium in Canberra is?
This theory that all finals draw more than 20,000 is a furphy. Only a few of the early finals played at The Football Stadium have drawn this many spectators. It's not fair to Sydney clubs such as Cronulla, Tigers, Penrith, Manly - even Doesn'tmatta... yet you can bet when the Slime get their new State Government-funded stadium it will magically be large enough to host home finals.

 

[Pablo]

you can bet when the Slime get their new State Government-funded stadium it will magically be large enough to host home finals.

And new rule introduced that their star players get a share of gate revenue exempt from the cap

 

[davohan123]

• Second-placed Sydney Roosters will play third-placed Brisbane Broncos on Friday night at 7.55pm at Allianz Stadium;

• Minor Premiers Melbourne Storm will clash with Parramatta Eels on Saturday at 4.10pm at AAMI Park;

• Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles will play Penrith Panthers on Saturday at 7.40pm at Allianz Stadium;

• Premiers Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks will host an elimination final against North Queensland Cowboys on Sunday afternoon at Allianz Stadium.

 

[Fluffy]

now I know why it took so long, they needed to wait until after the roosters game so they could work out where Brisbane would be playing on Friday night

 

[HoldenV8]

Lets face facts, a home final for a Sydney team not based at ANZ or the SFS is basically just a final played in their home city. And if your opponent happens to be another Sydney team you'll get the "home" change rooms and the home bays in the stands.

The NRL in their infinite wisdom have decided that all NSW teams other than Canberra and Newcastle will play home finals at either venue and that's that. I can see their point though, it is supposed to be a major national competition (snigger snigger), with a national and international television audience so they want finals played at the major venues. I can see the point, but I don't agree with it as it not only means Brookie is out, Endeavour is out, Penrith, Leichhardt, Campbelltown and Kogarah as well, but it robs those teams of not actual home ground advantage and as others have pointed out, the venues are rarely even half full other than for the GF.

If we're good enough we'll overcome that and be in week 2 with a win over Penrith.

Oh, and the official capacity at Gosford is 20,059 😛

 

[jbb/james]

3 games at allianz. Ch 9 will be saving some good coin on set up. And making it difficult for fans to attend will increase its tv audience. Decision made for the interest of the game. Rubber stamped by the rubber chicken himself. Todd i grab my ankles for the gynge because
A he likes it
B its best for the game and its fans
C its insentified
D Both A and C
All allegedly of course.

 

[jbb/james]

3 games at allianz. Ch 9 will be saving some good coin on set up. And making it difficult for fans to attend will increase its tv audience. Decision made for the interest of the game. Rubber stamped by the rubber chicken himself. Todd i grab my ankles for the gynge because
A he likes it
B its best for the game and its fans
C its insentified
D Both A and C
All allegedly of course.

 

[SeaEagle21]

One thing's for certain....every 'journo' will be itching to type the old "Manly fans don't travel" next week.

Kate McClymont has it in her latest breaking story

*allegedly

 

[ricardo]

One thing's for certain....every 'journo' will be itching to type the old "Manly fans don't travel" next week.

I'm already copping it at work. Don't travel, buy players, no local juniors ... Thankfully it's from a St Gone fan so who cares.

 

[damiennp90]

Come on guys. Let's pack it out and prove em wrong

 

[Waz13]

One thing's for certain....every 'journo' will be itching to type the old "Manly fans don't travel" next week.

I'm already copping it at work. Don't travel, buy players, no local juniors ... Thankfully it's from a St Gone fan so who cares.

"St George can't plaaayyyy"
In ur best Alfie langer jockey voice! That will shut the prick up!

 

[Cliffymagic]

Its a tough one. Would love to play at brookie as we deserve the advantage. The problem is a team like melborne get wayyy more of an advantage then what the home sydney teams do. Hopefully more than 20k turn up too prove it .

 

[Duff]

I hope there's about 11K there.
Make them realise that Manly playing anywhere but Brookie is a joke. We pull more than 20k and they're vindicated.

 

[The Who]

Its a tough one. Would love to play at brookie as we deserve the advantage. The problem is a team like melborne get wayyy more of an advantage then what the home sydney teams do. Hopefully more than 20k turn up too prove it .

So too if the match is played in Brisbane, Townsville, Canberra, Newcastle Gold Coast and Auckland.
That's how it should be for the first round of finals matches.
All teams should gain this benefit if their position on the table warrants it.
Isn't it better that they get a full house at Brookie, Cronulla, Kogarah, Leichhardt, Penrith than a half-full stadium?
I recall the two last finals matches at Brookie - against St George and the following year against Souffs. The ground was full and the gates had to be locked early. Terrific atmosphere - and Manly won both matches, no doubt helped by the home crowd.
Then, rightly, as the finals series intensified the matches were switched to stadia.
The NRL got it wrong when they changed this home ground advantage ruling. Wouldn't it be a miracle if this current mob reversed the decision and finally made a decision that the fans wanted?

 

[Peter C]

3 games at allianz. Ch 9 will be saving some good coin on set up. And making it difficult for fans to attend will increase its tv audience. Decision made for the interest of the game. Rubber stamped by the rubber chicken himself. Todd i grab my ankles for the gynge because
A he likes it
B its best for the game and its fans
C its insentified
D Both A and C
All allegedly of course.

It will look like a cow paddock if three NRL and three Holden Cup games are played there.

 

[globaleagle]

Maybe someone can hire 3 or 4 massive screens, set them up in the Allianz car park...and get 20k+ people outside watching it!

 

[StuBoot]

This argument comes up every year ( except the last two!) and unfortunately we'll never win the argument.

The only saving grace is that it's at Allianz rather than ANZ.
ANZ is closer and easier to get to for Panthers fans (assuming they live near Penrith ) than Manly fans ( assuming they live near Manly )
by car or public transport.
The late Saturday timeslot doesn't make it real easy for either sets of fans to get there by public transport or car and this where the NRL don't get it - who wants to take their kids to the city by public transport on a Saturday night?

I know the AFL is on next door but this game should have been the 4.00pm game as you could make a day of it and still be home at a reasonable time plus the atmosphere in the Moore Park precinct would be great.
Better still a double header on Sunday at 2.00pm and 4.15pm with the Sharks/Cowboys game would've done the job but that doesn't suit TV.

No doubt when there is a poor crowd we'll get the blame that we don't travel but how many Panthers fans are going to make the trek?
Similar to when we played the Cowboys on a Friday night there a few years ago, how many of their fans were there?

 

[Cliffymagic]

Sorry for bumpin this thread, but 15k crowd proves it should have been played at brooky. And should have gotten our home ground advantage that we earned. Fmd.