Full article
Roosters' plea to NRL falls on deaf ears
By Steve Mascord
August 26, 2004
Sydney Roosters officials are at odds with the NRL again - this time over a request to switch matches during week three of the finals so they can play at home.
The Roosters have pointed out that if they win the minor premiership, the Bulldogs finish second and both win their opening finals match, they would be playing at each other's home grounds on the weekend of September 25-26.
The Belmore side would play at Aussie Stadium on a Saturday night and the Roosters would be at Telstra Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
"All we've done is raise it," Roosters chief executive Brian Canavan said last night. "Financially, logistically, we would love to have it at Aussie Stadium for our fans, etc, and the same would probably apply to the Bulldogs."
Bulldogs chief executive Malcolm Noad said he hadn't given the matter any thought, insisting: "We are just concentrating on the week ahead."
The Roosters are already on the wrong side of the league over their refusal to sign the collective bargaining agreement and their insistence that their players should get salary-cap concessions for the cost of living in the Eastern Suburbs.
NRL chief operating officer Graham Annesley said the Roosters' request was unlikely to be successful. "Apart from week one of the finals where teams earn their right to a home final, all games after that are neutral," Annesley said.
"If we were to manipulate the matches so two teams receive home games, I would imagine there would be uproar from the clubs that they are playing on those particular days.
"That would be giving them [the Bulldogs and Roosters] an advantage that they are not entitled to. We would probably prefer it was the other way around, because it could potentially increase the crowds at both venues, but we have to be fair to all teams."
