MANLY have fired another shot at the NRL, with captain Jamie Lyon yesterday declaring the governing body should foot the bill for Manly fans to travel to the Sydney Football Stadium on Saturday night.
The call came as NRL boss David Gallop revealed that a Manly representative approached the NRL's football department three weeks ago about moving the club's home final from the Sydney Football Stadium to Brookvale Oval.
Undefeated on the northern beaches this season, Lyon said the NRL had taken away Manly Sea Eagle's home-ground advantage for their blockbuster qualifying final clash against the Cowboys on Saturday night.
"If you finish second you deserve to play on your home ground to get a slight advantage," Jamie Lyon said at the captains' call on the SFS yesterday.
"(It) probably defeats the purpose a little bit. I'm pretty sure if it were at Brookvale there'd be a huge crowd with a great atmosphere.
"We were probably just lucky it's the Cowboys really. If it was another Sydney team, I'm sure we'd get overpowered by fans with the likes of the Tigers and the Dragons. It's probably more their home ground.
"We play at Brookie all year. It's our home ground.
"We enjoy playing there and our fans love going there to support us. Of course all the players would love to play there over the SFS."
All 16 clubs agreed in November last year to play all finals at bigger stadiums at the expense of traditional suburban venues.
However, Lyon said the NRL should help the Sea Eagles achieve the home-ground atmosphere they are entitled to by paying for a bus service from Manly to the Moore Park venue.
"Helping our fans get out here, it would definitely help them out a little bit," Lyon said.
"It might be a little bit hard to get families out here for an 8.30 kick-off as well. Hopefully they'll get out here in droves and support our side. Yeah, I think that'd be a good idea."
The Sea Eagles' hunger to play at Brookvale even led chief executive David Perry to discuss his club's options with NRL director of football operations, Nathan McGuirk, three weeks ago. However, Perry and McGuirk both said last night no formal request to move the game was made.
Gallop said playing at larger venues is the only way to ensure all fans get the opportunity to see their side in action.
"We don't want to turn people away at the gate," Gallop said.
"It's the fairest way of dealing with the balance that we've got with the big stadiums and suburban grounds.
"I don't support the idea that you make last-minute changes to venues, as has been suggested over the last couple of years. People need to know where they're going to be and we certainly flagged this before the season started."
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/we-want-a-fare-go-say-manly/story-e6frexnr-1226129980135
The call came as NRL boss David Gallop revealed that a Manly representative approached the NRL's football department three weeks ago about moving the club's home final from the Sydney Football Stadium to Brookvale Oval.
Undefeated on the northern beaches this season, Lyon said the NRL had taken away Manly Sea Eagle's home-ground advantage for their blockbuster qualifying final clash against the Cowboys on Saturday night.
"If you finish second you deserve to play on your home ground to get a slight advantage," Jamie Lyon said at the captains' call on the SFS yesterday.
"(It) probably defeats the purpose a little bit. I'm pretty sure if it were at Brookvale there'd be a huge crowd with a great atmosphere.
"We were probably just lucky it's the Cowboys really. If it was another Sydney team, I'm sure we'd get overpowered by fans with the likes of the Tigers and the Dragons. It's probably more their home ground.
"We play at Brookie all year. It's our home ground.
"We enjoy playing there and our fans love going there to support us. Of course all the players would love to play there over the SFS."
All 16 clubs agreed in November last year to play all finals at bigger stadiums at the expense of traditional suburban venues.
However, Lyon said the NRL should help the Sea Eagles achieve the home-ground atmosphere they are entitled to by paying for a bus service from Manly to the Moore Park venue.
"Helping our fans get out here, it would definitely help them out a little bit," Lyon said.
"It might be a little bit hard to get families out here for an 8.30 kick-off as well. Hopefully they'll get out here in droves and support our side. Yeah, I think that'd be a good idea."
The Sea Eagles' hunger to play at Brookvale even led chief executive David Perry to discuss his club's options with NRL director of football operations, Nathan McGuirk, three weeks ago. However, Perry and McGuirk both said last night no formal request to move the game was made.
Gallop said playing at larger venues is the only way to ensure all fans get the opportunity to see their side in action.
"We don't want to turn people away at the gate," Gallop said.
"It's the fairest way of dealing with the balance that we've got with the big stadiums and suburban grounds.
"I don't support the idea that you make last-minute changes to venues, as has been suggested over the last couple of years. People need to know where they're going to be and we certainly flagged this before the season started."
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/we-want-a-fare-go-say-manly/story-e6frexnr-1226129980135