Don't get me wrong, I don't think the games have been all that bad. Its just that the lack of crowds have made it not feel like Finals football, even for those of us who only get to watch it on the telly.
Saturday night's game at ANZ drew 48,188 which so far is the largest attendance of the Finals. And that was for two of the biggest supported clubs in Sydney, Souffs and St Merge. It was only 6 years ago when the Dogs vs Souffs Prelim at ANZ attracted over 70,000. And they aren't going to beat that next week. Even if the SFS is full for the Chooks vs Souffs (and no doubt it will be), that's still only 45,500. The Storm vs Sharks game will be lucky to attract much more than 20,000 because they've stupidly put it directly up against the AFL Prelim at the MCG between Richmond and Melbourne.
For us here, Manly not being involved may have a lot to do with it. Believe me there is the same feeling in Adelaide right now with neither the Adelaide Crows or Port Power being involved in the AFL Finals. Its a dead feeling.
For myself, this is like a holiday with nothing to do until the cricket, basketball and speedway seasons start.