Something is to be said for the old days of guarenteed scheduling of the nrl finals ...
Back in the 90s it was a set schedule of games at sfs in September
This led to a lot of sporting and social clubs actually organising months out bus trips and social club events around the finals
I went to a lot back in the day .. with parents work functions etc ..
It didnt matter a shit who was playing .. the games all got 30k plus no matter what
North's v Newcastle got 35k ..
Brisbane v illawarra got 34k
It didn't matter who was playing ..
There were neutrals... We have killed the neutral fan in RL ..
Good point about the neutrals.
Back in the 90s you mentioned those crowds, I mean the Brisbane Illawarra game got almost double tonight, a non Sydney game. I remember the big hype about the Raiders Bears match and everyone's second favourite team were the Bears but they still liked the Raiders.
Ok times have changed however we are trying to go back to those times. Understandably the NRL wants the finals at bigger venues rather than suburban grounds. Then week 2. Big crowds at Allianz or ANZ for the finals. Unfortunately it seems the people running the game are doing SFA about it.
How will they react to a crowd figure of 19,000 in Week 2 of the finals?
I don't know whether this game could've been advertised enough or whether they should go back to the Saturday/Sunday matches for weeks 2 and 3.
That might be better but with current TV deal it aint gonna happen.