Friday on their minds: clubs want fixed schedule

[Berkeley_Eagle]

BRISBANE have been given a huge advantage on and off the field, with the club scheduled to play on Friday night for the opening eight weeks of the competition - a run that is likely to continue until State of Origin.
The decision by Channel Nine to choose Brisbane for its Friday night coverage on a weekly basis has heightened calls for fixed season-scheduling to be part of the next broadcast deal, while boosting claims for a second Brisbane team.



Read the full article

---

The schedule
BRISBANE
1 Friday, March 2 Eels (a)
2 Friday, March 9 Cowboys (h)
3 Friday, March 16 Knights (a)
4 Friday, March 23 Souths (a)
5 Friday, March 30 Dragons (h)
6 Friday, April 6 Tigers (a)
7 Friday, April 13 Raiders (h)
8 Friday, April 27 Titans (h)
MANLY
1 Sunday, March 4 Warriors (a)
2 Friday, March 9 Tigers (h)
3 Monday, March 19 Sharks (a)
4 Saturday, Mar 24 Dragons (a)
5 Saturday, Mar 31 Eels (a)
6 Monday, April 9 Panthers (a)
7 Saturday, April 14 Titans (h)
8 Friday, April 27 Bulldogs (a)

 

[sheridanstand78]

The Queensland ponies have had it there own way for far too long, The first piece of business from the new TV deal must be to spread out Friday nights and listen to the fans who want more Sunday afternoon football.

With Channel 9 right now, we have 2 Parramatta supporters in Sterling and Warren who ensure the worms get Friday night games inspite of their team being crap.

I would like to see a rule brought in that there is a mandatory 6 day break between games.

BRISBANE have been given a huge advantage on and off the field, with the club scheduled to play on Friday night for the opening eight weeks of the competition - a run that is likely to continue until State of Origin.
The decision by Channel Nine to choose Brisbane for its Friday night coverage on a weekly basis has heightened calls for fixed season-scheduling to be part of the next broadcast deal, while boosting claims for a second Brisbane team.



Read the full article

---

The schedule
BRISBANE
1 Friday, March 2 Eels (a)
2 Friday, March 9 Cowboys (h)
3 Friday, March 16 Knights (a)
4 Friday, March 23 Souths (a)
5 Friday, March 30 Dragons (h)
6 Friday, April 6 Tigers (a)
7 Friday, April 13 Raiders (h)
8 Friday, April 27 Titans (h)
MANLY
1 Sunday, March 4 Warriors (a)
2 Friday, March 9 Tigers (h)
3 Monday, March 19 Sharks (a)
4 Saturday, Mar 24 Dragons (a)
5 Saturday, Mar 31 Eels (a)
6 Monday, April 9 Panthers (a)
7 Saturday, April 14 Titans (h)
8 Friday, April 27 Bulldogs (a)

---

 

[dowdz]

The Queensland ponies have had it there own way for far too long, The first piece of business from the new TV deal must be to spread out Friday nights and listen to the fans who want more Sunday afternoon football.

This ^

 

[Clint]

Fixed scheduling and reasonable equality is what is required. What is happening at the moment is far from it.

 

[Brookie4eva]

There are 8 games most weeks, and each team plays 24 rounds. In a perfect world we would get 3 of each game, but I realise there are factors making this too difficult to do precisely.

It should be easy enough though to get each team having between 2 -4 of each of the 8 regular timeslots throughout the schedule, as some games overlap this could be tightened.

Therefore 5 - 7 Fridays, 8 - 10 Saturdays, 5 - 7 Sundays (close to half FTA), and 2 - 4 Mondays. (Apologies if my maths is out slightly) And from season to season adjust this so it balances outs, really shouldn't be too hard.

 

[jbb/james]

The NRL love sprouting out the line about having a close competition. how the salary cap shares the talent around, and how any team can win on any day, which is essentially true. However off field they have created a competition that is far from equal, in fact it is dead set biased

The clubs should take the credit for the on field performance as the paupers regularly compete with the super rich

The NRL has to take the blame for administrating such an unfair off field competition

It cant be any simpler than that really

 

[eagles2win]

The Souths vs Melbourne game was apparently one of the most watched games on the weekend, the crowd was also good.
Drop the Monday game and bring in a twilight Sunday game.

 

[Brookie4eva]

The Souths vs Melbourne game was apparently one of the most watched games on the weekend, the crowd was also good.
Drop the Monday game and bring in a twilight Sunday game.

I agree with this, but it still doesn't solve the issue of fair spread between PayTV and FTA.

 

[bob dylan]

I like the later game Sunday, maybe Monday could be canned.

 

[Crusher_Cleal]

How we, as Premiers, play the Dragons and Eels on Saturday nights is beyond me. The Dragons game should be a huge fixture, and there is plenty of interest between Manly & Parra. Channel 9 continually screws us.

 

[Masked Eagle]

The Dragons had the same setup when they won the minor premiership in 09. As a supporter of a club, I like the idea of a fixed and fair schedule so you can plan trips etc. However, as a supporter of the code I also like the idea of having the most important games of the round given the best audience (ie Friday night footy). As its impossible to predict what games are important when the draw is done, having a nothing game on a friday night between 2 teams who can't make the finals when there is a minor premiership or top 8 decider in another timeslot doesn't help the game. Perhaps a compromise would be to do the first 20 odd rounds in advance and then do the last 6 later in the year?

 

[Clay]

Im sick of the Friday night Broncos and am glad there game isnt broadcast into NSW live. I cant believe clubs haven't kicked up a stink about this before, even the notorious whingers such as Stuart, Elliot and Hassler.
To be honest im really glad I just don't have to hear about Darren Lockyer anymore.

 

[The Who]

The NRL love sprouting out the line about having a close competition. how the salary cap shares the talent around, and how any team can win on any day, which is essentially true. However off field they have created a competition that is far from equal, in fact it is dead set biased

The clubs should take the credit for the on field performance as the paupers regularly compete with the super rich

The NRL has to take the blame for administrating such an unfair off field competition

It cant be any simpler than that really

Perfectly said.

 

[dceagle]

Im sick of the Friday night Broncos and am glad there game isnt broadcast into NSW live. I cant believe clubs haven't kicked up a stink about this before, even the notorious whingers such as Stuart, Elliot and Hassler.
To be honest im really glad I just don't have to hear about Darren Lockyer anymore.

I live in Brisvegas , so you can imagine how great Friday footy is for me.

Nothing more boring than the Bongos every week at 7.30, then struggling to stay awake long enough to see a proper footy game at 9.30pm.

This joint is so insular it's ridiculous.