Chook Norris
First Grade
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THE turf war for Sydney's west is ready to explode on Saturday night when - after two years of talk and barbs - the NRL and AFL finally go head to head. AFL officials yesterday claimed the 10,000-seat Blacktown Stadium was already a sell-out for Saturday's NAB Cup match between Sydney and Carlton, starting at 7.40pm. There will be 700 corporate guests at the game - many of them movers and shakers in the business world.
Just 15 minutes further west, NRL runners-up Parramatta tackle fierce local rivals Penrith in a trial match at CUA Stadium, kicking off at 7.30pm.
Told the AFL had already secured a 10,000 crowd, Penrith chief executive Mick Leary said: "We want 15,000 at our game."
Despite it being just a trial, NRL officials will be disappointed if their match fails to attract a larger crowd than the AFL, which will use Blacktown as home base for the new GWS franchise.
The Eels are the early premiership favourites and will send out a powerful side that should include Daniel Mortimer, Nathan Cayless, Justin Poore, Eric Grothe and Luke Burt. But the AFL game will also feature big names in Adam Goodes and Tadhg Kennelly (Swans) and Chris Judd (Carlton)."Parra have been installed premiership favourites so this is a great opportunityto see where we are at as a team and for the fans to see where we are at," Panthers boss Leary said.
"It will be a great test for us so we want the fans to get out and support the game. It's a real local derby.
"I think we have a better product than AFL. We need to support the fans and they need to support us."
Penrith will also field a competitive side that is expected to include new recruits Kevin Kingston, David Simmons and Adrian Purtell.
"Without saying we are going head to head (with the AFL), we have got everything in place at grassroots level," Leary said.
"We will continue to support all the junior clubs to combat the influx of AFL."
NSW/ACT AFL general manager Dale Holmes said most fans attending Saturday night's game were residents of western Sydney.
"I'm happy we have sold out. Eighty per cent of demand came from the Penrith, Hills and Blacktown areas," Holmes said.
"We would like to have even more supporters at the game but the Blacktown ground's capacity is only 10,000."
Asked would rugby league be closely monitoring the AFL crowd, Holmes said: "I don't think so. Parramatta and Penrith fans have very strong allegiances to their clubs. We'd like to think these fans might adopt the GWS side as their second club of choice.
"We know the NRL's heartland is Sydney's west. As I said, we just hope at some point supporters from Parramatta and Penrith might also follow GWS when it is up and running.
"We hope the Parramatta-Penrith game is also a sellout."
Panthers fullback Jarrod Sammut said games against neighbours Parramatta always attracted a healthy crowd. "Throughout history, it has always been big brother, little brother," Sammut said.
"We would like to fill up some seats and hopefully the guys will put on a good show.
"Every Penrith-Parramatta clash draws a good crowd."
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/n...n-saturday-night/story-e6frfgbo-1225831123872
Just 15 minutes further west, NRL runners-up Parramatta tackle fierce local rivals Penrith in a trial match at CUA Stadium, kicking off at 7.30pm.
Told the AFL had already secured a 10,000 crowd, Penrith chief executive Mick Leary said: "We want 15,000 at our game."
Despite it being just a trial, NRL officials will be disappointed if their match fails to attract a larger crowd than the AFL, which will use Blacktown as home base for the new GWS franchise.
The Eels are the early premiership favourites and will send out a powerful side that should include Daniel Mortimer, Nathan Cayless, Justin Poore, Eric Grothe and Luke Burt. But the AFL game will also feature big names in Adam Goodes and Tadhg Kennelly (Swans) and Chris Judd (Carlton)."Parra have been installed premiership favourites so this is a great opportunityto see where we are at as a team and for the fans to see where we are at," Panthers boss Leary said.
"It will be a great test for us so we want the fans to get out and support the game. It's a real local derby.
"I think we have a better product than AFL. We need to support the fans and they need to support us."
Penrith will also field a competitive side that is expected to include new recruits Kevin Kingston, David Simmons and Adrian Purtell.
"Without saying we are going head to head (with the AFL), we have got everything in place at grassroots level," Leary said.
"We will continue to support all the junior clubs to combat the influx of AFL."
NSW/ACT AFL general manager Dale Holmes said most fans attending Saturday night's game were residents of western Sydney.
"I'm happy we have sold out. Eighty per cent of demand came from the Penrith, Hills and Blacktown areas," Holmes said.
"We would like to have even more supporters at the game but the Blacktown ground's capacity is only 10,000."
Asked would rugby league be closely monitoring the AFL crowd, Holmes said: "I don't think so. Parramatta and Penrith fans have very strong allegiances to their clubs. We'd like to think these fans might adopt the GWS side as their second club of choice.
"We know the NRL's heartland is Sydney's west. As I said, we just hope at some point supporters from Parramatta and Penrith might also follow GWS when it is up and running.
"We hope the Parramatta-Penrith game is also a sellout."
Panthers fullback Jarrod Sammut said games against neighbours Parramatta always attracted a healthy crowd. "Throughout history, it has always been big brother, little brother," Sammut said.
"We would like to fill up some seats and hopefully the guys will put on a good show.
"Every Penrith-Parramatta clash draws a good crowd."
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/n...n-saturday-night/story-e6frfgbo-1225831123872
