Get ready for the Grand Final festival
* By Adam Walters
* From: The Daily Telegraph
* March 11, 2010 12:00AM
SYDNEY will be rugby league's celebration central for the week leading up to the Grand Final this year thanks to a plan hatched by the NRL and the State Government.
The centrepiece of the proposed football festival will be a Melbourne-style street parade of Grand Final stars and rugby league legends.
NRL Chief executive David Gallop has met Ian McDonald, the minister responsible for Events NSW, to discuss a seven-day football festival.
"It's about making Grand Final week a much bigger celebration," Mr Gallop said.
"There's a real sense of anticipation around the start of the competition and making sure the Grand Final is something more than 80 minutes of football is going to be important for us strategically."
Mr Gallop admitted the NRL had to become more creative in promoting the biggest game of the year - and branding the final throughout the CBD and NRL heartland in Sydney's West would be part of the plan.
"Western Sydney's such a competitive environment now for the football codes and we need to be conscious of that and make sure that Grand Final week is an opportunity for us to remind people it's our homeland," Mr Gallop said.
Until now, the Grand Final breakfast has been the highlight of the biggest game of the season but the NRL is aiming to make the final build-up more interactive for football fans with the street parade as well as training clinics.
"The idea is that we get more involved in the community, particularly the use of areas like the Domain and the CBD," Mr Gallop said. "It means having contact with the stars who are going to play on that Sunday.
"At the moment, we bring them into town for the breakfast but they disappear come nine o'clock and we'd like to do more with them as part of the game's promotion."
Meanwhile, Mr Macdonald said the Government wanted to enhance the value of the NRL and the state's economy at the same time. "In the end it's not just about sport - it's about jobs," he said. "The more we can attract people to major events, the better for our economy - and we are enhancing existing events as well as attracting new ones."
Mr Macdonald has asked the NRL to provide the Government with a wish list for the festival, including street banners, family entertainment and live sites for the game.
