Locked in Schedule not so good?

[firechild]

Agreed, another example of why control should be removed from the networks. The thing that Brisbane have in their favour is that in a city of 3 million people it shouldn't be hard to find 30,000 people that are happy to go to games at any time of the weekend so crowds aren't adversely affected to a level that is as noticeable. That obviously doesn't help the large portion of Brisbane fans that want to go to games on Saturdays and Sundays. In contrast Sydney clubs representing populations of 1/12th the size (250k) really struggle when games are scheduled for Monday and Thursday nights. A perfect example was expecting people from the Northern Beaches and Western Suburbs to drive in Easter traffic up the F3 to Gosford last Thursday night. Was never going to happen and it resulted in a crowd of just 12,000.

 

[Snappy]

FTR Brisbane population is 2.1 mil

 

[eozsmiles]

Meh, look at the positives.

1. At least it will be broadcasted in HD

2. We wont have to hear the rubbish commentating of the channel 9 team

I can't see any negatives with that game being scheduled then to be brutally honest..

....and saturday night is the best time for people to get to the game usually. Especially if fans are travelling.

----------------------------------------------------------------

It was obvious to everyone that complaints were going to happen. The whole idea behind a fixed schedule makes it impossible to feature the best matches on FTA each week. And because only 40% of people have Foxtel, it leaves plenty of footy fans out in the cold watching dud games as the match of the round.

I found it pretty surprising that so many people were so in favour of a fixed draw. The vast majority of footy fans watch the game on TV and they were dudded by the plan to have a set draw. Can't blame channel 9 or Fox - the last thing they wanted was a fixed draw.

The idea of doing something to help fans at the game when they make up only a small % of the total audience was a bold move.

As a side note, if there is a team in the comp that needs some FTA games etc it is probably the Titans.
They have two friday night games until round 20. Had last years draw structure been in place, we could have expected to see them get 4-5 games on a friday night, assuming they held their top 4/8 position.
So we have a team that needs some FTA exposure and needs some sponsors, and now that they are playing some good footy they only get seen twice on a friday night until after round 21.

 

[redvforlife]

The other issue with the fixed schedule being set by 9 is that every year a couple of teams get shafted with regard to home game scheduling. In the past Cronulla and Newcastle have been affected while this year it's Manly. Not surprising that Manly's membership number has dropped for the first time given the abyssmal draw they have. A ground that draws its best crowds on Sunday afternoons has as many Monday night games as Sunday afternoon games. At least if people are unaware that the schedule will end up being crap they are more likely to buy a membership. If you have paid for the game you're more likely to find a way to get there as opposed to seeing that the games are at bad times and deciding it's just easier to sit at home in front of the tv.

Similar issues with Dragons imo. Kogarah only has one Sunday afternoon game - a ground that is perfect for Sunday afternoon footy. And because Wollongong has a few friday and monday night games, I chose the cheaper membership option of Kogarah only. Can't get to the Gong after work.

So yep, agreed.

 

[thorson1987]

Thats prime time and perfect for this game. I'll have the kids in bed, just eaten dinner and setting down on the couch with a beer in hand, ready to watch a cracking game ad free.

Yep.

Will probably go with my brother in law (souffs fan)

If it was on Friday night would have no chance to go due to work.

 

[butchmcdick]

It's not the idea of a fixed schedule that's the problem, it's the way they've implemented it.

The way it should have been done is the NRL should have given a list to Channel 9 and told them that these are the games they will be covering.

Instead, 9 got their grubby hands all over the schedule and we are left with a situation where some teams have 1 FTA game, while others have 16/20 on FTA, and they're not necessarily the best teams.

This

 

[butchmcdick]

....and saturday night is the best time for people to get to the game usually. Especially if fans are travelling.

----------------------------------------------------------------

It was obvious to everyone that complaints were going to happen. The whole idea behind a fixed schedule makes it impossible to feature the best matches on FTA each week. And because only 40% of people have Foxtel, it leaves plenty of footy fans out in the cold watching dud games as the match of the round.

I found it pretty surprising that so many people were so in favour of a fixed draw. The vast majority of footy fans watch the game on TV and they were dudded by the plan to have a set draw. Can't blame channel 9 or Fox - the last thing they wanted was a fixed draw.

The idea of doing something to help fans at the game when they make up only a small % of the total audience was a bold move.

As a side note, if there is a team in the comp that needs some FTA games etc it is probably the Titans.
They have two friday night games until round 20. Had last years draw structure been in place, we could have expected to see them get 4-5 games on a friday night, assuming they held their top 4/8 position.
So we have a team that needs some FTA exposure and needs some sponsors, and now that they are playing some good footy they only get seen twice on a friday night until after round 21.

The raiders and warriors have gotten the shaft this year in regards to fta

 

[Canard]

I'm pretty sure the fixed schedule isn't designed to guarantee the best FTA game of the week.

I'd like to know how the old one did this anyway?

Seems as a fan group we are all over the shop ranging from let's have an even spread of games to let's just have the same 4 teams on all the time.

 

[Russell Crowe's Band]

Then why not show the sharks/dragons if their goal is to help a struggling team with sponsors?

Because f**k the sharks!

 

[Tigger Madness]

I really enjoyed the Panthers game yesterday

 

[Sea_Eagles_Rock]

The other issue with the fixed schedule being set by 9 is that every year a couple of teams get shafted with regard to home game scheduling. In the past Cronulla and Newcastle have been affected while this year it's Manly. Not surprising that Manly's membership number has dropped for the first time given the abyssmal draw they have. A ground that draws its best crowds on Sunday afternoons has as many Monday night games as Sunday afternoon games. At least if people are unaware that the schedule will end up being crap they are more likely to buy a membership. If you have paid for the game you're more likely to find a way to get there as opposed to seeing that the games are at bad times and deciding it's just easier to sit at home in front of the tv.

7 Monday games and 1 Thursday in 20 rounds. Anybody who suggest that isn't he worst draw this year is kidding themselves.

School holiday draw for traveling fans with kids:
Term 1
Thursday night (start of holiday)
Away to Dogs
Sunday Arvo Sharks (before school returns)

Term 2
Bye
Away (Mon - Roosters)
Monday (Night after first day of school)

Outside the Sharks game (and would have been a push considering travel and flights) I can't really take the kids for a home game on school holidays. I don't mind going to away games, but I've just been to two up here in QLD.

I'm hoping the last 6 rounds deliver a Saturday night game... But I bet it won't...

Our last 3 home games are Warriors (Probably a Monday), Storm (Probably a Friday, maybe a Saturday) and the Panthers (Probably a Sunday - R26).

I like the forward planning, but was disappointed when I saw this one.

 

[Dogs Of War]

I think a lot of you forget that the clubs get some input into the draw as well. So some of what you are seeing is due to the club requesting this situation.

 

[thorson1987]

I think a lot of you forget that the clubs get some input into the draw as well. So some of what you are seeing is due to the club requesting this situation.

The only input the clubs get is who they want to play twice.

 

[Loudstrat]

It's not the idea of a fixed schedule that's the problem, it's the way they've implemented it.

The way it should have been done is the NRL should have given a list to Channel 9 and told them that these are the games they will be covering.

Instead, 9 got their grubby hands all over the schedule and we are left with a situation where some teams have 1 FTA game, while others have 16/20 on FTA, and they're not necessarily the best teams.

The problem with that is that's its open to favouritism - influence from the most influential clubs, or influential people like Gus and Politis. The Raiders and Warriors would still get ripped off sadly.

I have no problem with Penrith v Titans yesterday. There was actually some good footy played.

FTR Brisbane population is 2.1 mil

He was counting heads.

 

[docbrown]

It's not the idea of a fixed schedule that's the problem, it's the way they've implemented it.

The way it should have been done is the NRL should have given a list to Channel 9 and told them that these are the games they will be covering.

Instead, 9 got their grubby hands all over the schedule and we are left with a situation where some teams have 1 FTA game, while others have 16/20 on FTA, and they're not necessarily the best teams.

Agreed and some of the choices 9 have made over the past few years have been absolutely mindboggling. So yes the first issue is Channel 9's picks.

9 would actually be better off if they let the NRL pick the games for them. It's clear that nobody at 9 understands what their rugby league viewers want. It's not like the smaller clubs don't have matches that aren't suitable for TV. Like I've said before, derby games should be locked in for free to air coverage.

As for the locked in schedule, there's two issues at play here. The first is the TV aspect which I've already mentioned. The problem there isn't the locked in schedule, it's the games being picked.

The second issue is crowds and logic clearly dictates that a locked in schedule increases crowds rather than it reduces them. Why?

Well the people who are unaware of the game times are no worse off than they were before. They look up the schedule at the last minute and it's the same element of random luck.

The advantage comes when people who need to plan ahead look at the schedule months in advance and can make arrangements. As has been stated, the first few weeks of the competition were locked in previously so no, locked in schedules don't negatively impact crowds.

The real issue is the methodology behind the draw.

I've read about the nature of how the draw is compiled and honestly, it probably needs to be reviewed. For starters the NRL needs to be locking in the big games first. The fact that there are no big Easter Sunday or Easter Monday matches is revealing. A computer program can't tell you this. That decision needs to be made prior to the information being sent to the programmers.

 

[Snappy]

He was counting heads.

Ipswich is not part of Brisbane

 

[BunniesMan]

Locked in schedule or not locked in, we'd still have too many Broncos games as long as 9 gets to pick.

And they never cared about crowds under the old system as well.

 

[big hit!]

The real issue is the methodology behind the draw.

I've read about the nature of how the draw is compiled and honestly, it probably needs to be reviewed. For starters the NRL needs to be locking in the big games first. The fact that there are no big Easter Sunday or Easter Monday matches is revealing. A computer program can't tell you this. That decision needs to be made prior to the information being sent to the programmers.

Easter Sunday and Monday are historically low drawing days for sport.

South Sydney v Canterbury Good Friday has become an event.

It's already bigger than the Steelers v Steggles Drumsticks Anzac Day will ever be.

 

[CC_Roosters]

On the OP i would say we should never give up the schedule of our fixture to the tv networks again. Any mistakes from here on will be learned from and solutions found. The ARLC have been proactive and made descisions with sound reasoning so far so common sense will see the draw improve next year

 

[docbrown]

Easter Sunday and Monday are historically low drawing days for sport.

South Sydney v Canterbury Good Friday has become an event.

Remember that Good Friday game is only a few years old and it's already set a record. It didn't just become an event, it was made into an event.

It's not like Bulldogs & Rabbitohs fans are the only people who go to the show nor is Good Friday the only day the show is on.

Two other big Sydney clubs like Eels & Dragons can do the same thing on Easter Sunday afternoon. I'd go as far as to say that a Sunday Eels vs Dragons game could match it crowd wise with the Good Friday match if marketed correctly. It too could be made into an event.

And on Easter Monday a big game at the SFS Roosters vs Tigers banking on those who already live close to the ground on a holiday day is also a possibility.

A computer programmer who lives overseas can't tell you these things though.