Anecdotally no they weren't. Unless you have data to prove otherwise?
6pm if scheduled well has drawn ok crowds, and with an eventual, hopeful second NZ club it becomes even better a slot. No one liked Monday nights to go to games.
The increasing return to office and decline from WFH probably supports MNF a little more now than it did even 12 months ago.
If MNF did come back, and if it wasn't given a 'marquee' designation, it would be unlikely there'd be a MNF game every week, and with appropriate and proactive scheduling it might not impact the crowd figures as much.
In the 16 team era we had a time of 2 byes (up to and including 2017) and 1 bye (2018 onwards). Depending how they're structured you could write off a number of MNF games with:
- 6 shorter rounds due to byes (before and after each Origin game)
- for Magic Round, and
- the last round of the year being a late Sunday night game again
That makes 8 rounds of no MNF
From there, there's a number of show/other public holidays that fall on Mondays that you could work into to make an event out of it. Using 2025, and cities that have hosted NRL games before:
1. 3 March: Labour Day (WA) (
Make it the Bears season kickoff game)
2. 10 March: Labour Day (Victoria) & Canberra Day
(could alternate each year, maybe focus on Melbourne since the AFL wouldn't have started yet)
3. 28 March Toowoomba Show day
4. Easter Monday
(already designated with Tigers Eels)
5. Qld Labour Day in May (which magic round periodically lines up with -
make it a Broncos home game)
6. 2 June: Reconciliation Day (Canberra)
7. Kings Birthday
(already designated with Bulldogs)
8. 19 June: Mackay show
9. 7 July: Townsville show
(make it a Cowboys home game)
10. 11 August: Moreton and Redlands
(make it a Dolphins home game at Kayo)
That's 10 Mondays gone through proactive scheduling, with another 8 out with short rounds for Origin and Magic (18 total) and suddenly we only have ~6-9 (depending on season length) left to schedule.
Pad those out with a combo of regional/smaller venues (Sunshine Coast, Belmore, North Sydney, Kayo, Bathurst, Wagga, Coffs) and/or easy-to-get-to city venues (Lang Park, SFS, AAMI).
