Move aside NRL, AFL rules supreme at ANZ Stadium

[NRLCrap1]

I did and you're ignoring it. Swans also makes a good point.

[214Four]

The round 22 was not against a crowd puller.

This game will pull a crowd. A big one. It's a possible grand final preview.

Hawthorne are not a big crowd puller either, better than St Kilda i agree but nowhere near as good as the pies...

Swans vs hawthorne at SCG
2012 - 31K 1st
2011 - 33K 3rd
2010 - 29K 7th

I would say hawthorne are similar to geelong in terms of crowd pulling power and they managed 30K at ANZ, i do however realise that particular game was round 18 and this game will attract more interest and thats why i gave the prediction of 35-40K earlier for the swans vs hawthorne round 23 clash.

2012 would have been over 40k if it wasn't for the reduced capacity.

If thats true then you would expect 2012's crowd to be higher than 2011's.

[214Four]

I did and you're ignoring it. Swans also makes a good point.

I didnt ignore it, thats why my prediction for this game has included upto 10K more than the geelong crowd figure

[NRLCrap1]

You're clutching at straws and nit picking trying to win an unwinnable argument, 2144. And you're still down on the last round factor so I still say you're ignoring it. It will pull 50,000 minimum.

[cos789]

Let's just say for argument's sake that ANZ only attracts an extra 5k paying customers over the SCG capacity of 36k.
Do people realise what that monetary value that equates to?
The ratings will remain the same and there is no benefit to the AFL (except long term)
However it does send a message to the SCG - do a better deal as there alternatives.

[NRLCrap1]

And hurry up with the refurbishments.

[214Four]

You're clutching at straws and nit picking trying to win an unwinnable argument, 2144. And you're still down on the last round factor so I still say you're ignoring it. It will pull 50,000 minimum.

well i guess we will see, being a born'n'bred AF fan you would have more knowledge on this matter than me, so your arguments probably have more weight on mine.

At the end of the day it doesnt really bother me if this game gets above or below 50K. i dont hate AFL and actually have a respect for the game (comming from a soccer background) due to the high skill it must require to play it. i just have not grown up with AFL and therefore find it hard to watch an entire game, and i prefer RL or soccer or even Union. I dont want its crowd figure to be used either way as a tool to be bashed out for code dominance over the other.

I do hope in future that scheduled games takes pride over games like the swans v hawthorne clash, to prevent stupid media fear bashing (wish 90% of sydneysiders are sick of) and also stuff like this (as much as you AF fans wanna ignore) create barriers and disharmony, and all the codes should be working to prevent that no matter how big they think they are...

[Swans4ever]

You're clutching at straws and nit picking trying to win an unwinnable argument, 2144. And you're still down on the last round factor so I still say you're ignoring it. It will pull 50,000 minimum.

well i guess we will see, being a born'n'bred AF fan you would have more knowledge on this matter than me, so your arguments probably have more weight on mine.

At the end of the day it doesnt really bother me if this game gets above or below 50K. i dont hate AFL and actually have a respect for the game (comming from a soccer background) due to the high skill it must require to play it. i just have not grown up with AFL and therefore find it hard to watch an entire game, and i prefer RL or soccer or even Union. I dont want its crowd figure to be used either way as a tool to be bashed out for code dominance over the other.

I do hope in future that scheduled games takes pride over games like the swans v hawthorne clash, to prevent stupid media fear bashing (wish 90% of sydneysiders are sick of) and also stuff like this (as much as you AF fans wanna ignore) create barriers and disharmony, and all the codes should be working to prevent that no matter how big they think they are...

I agree entirely however - it was Canterbury who sold the tickets without confirming the venue - AFL has always advertised the game at ANZ its just the day was TBA - AFL got in first and obviously had 1st preference for either Friday or Saturday. Perhaps RL shouldn't see this as an excuse to bash the AFL when it was clearly the RL fuck up!

[NRLCrap1]

Of course it was their fuck up!

[Swans4ever]

And the truth comes out!


Scheduling stuff-up just another example of poor management
PAUL CRAWLEY THE DAILY TELEGRAPH AUGUST 01, 2013 12:00AM 25


SO this is the mob brought in to save rugby league.

BULLDOGS RULE OUT BELMORE OPTION

Crowds are down, ticket prices are up. They've banned the biff and that ridiculous second-tier salary cap rule is still preventing some of the game's best young stars from playing NRL.

Now with the finals approaching comes this scheduling stuff-up that has everyone involved in AFL laughing from a distance.

Andrew Demetriou is in the US on a fact-finding mission but you can imagine how much he would be enjoying this.

Make no mistake, the forced switch of the Bulldogs-Panthers round 25 clash has nothing to do with ANZ Stadium choosing AFL over NRL but everything to do with arrogance and incompetence working in perfect tandem at Rugby League Central.
While the NRL has attempted for two days to push the blame away from themselves by allowing ANZ Stadium to be painted as the bad guys in this, the truth is the NRL should have known since last October that the AFL had ANZ Stadium booked for both nights of August 30 and 31, and it was always going to be the AFL's pick which way they wanted to go.

This can't be disputed.

But as one source close to the rumblings said on Wednesday, the NRL obviously thought they could stare down the AFL and maybe get them to play their final-round blockbuster between the Swans and Hawthorn on the Saturday night.

The AFL instead went for the Friday night - and once again they walk away with a knockout victory in the war of the codes while the NRL is left nursing another sore bum.

CANTERBURY SMASH PARRAMATTA

Canterbury smash ParramattaThere was no hiding for the lacklustre Eels against a rampaging Canterbury(1:43 / 10.2MB)
You'd think they'd be sick of it by now. As of Wednesday night the creative minds at the NRL were still locked in crisis meetings, working through a mess they created, but still with no clear answer as to where the game between the Bulldogs and Penrith would be played - and when.

The Bulldogs were, as of Wednesday, pushing for ANZ Stadium on the Saturday night. New Canterbury chief executive Raelene Castle said she was told Channel 9 would be happy to take the Wests Tigers-South Sydney game (originally scheduled for Saturday night at Allianz Stadium) as their Friday night game.

Nine had earlier indicated they would be happy with the suggestion for the Bulldogs-Penrith game to be played on the Thursday night because Souths were already on free-to-air almost every week on the run into the finals.

And given the Tigers were out of finals contention, it would make sense to have the Bulldogs-Penrith game as their main match with both teams still in finals contention.

But unfortunately for the NRL there was still no agreement Wednesday night.

In fairness to the Bulldogs and Nine, this wasn't their mistake to fix.

Weeks ago the NRL approved the final-round fixtures, even when they knew trouble was brewing.

The NRL's director of marketing and commercial Paul Kind admitted they discovered the stuff-up at roughly the same time the draw was sent out to the public. It is important to remember the NRL should have known about this potential problem as far back as last October.

Kind explained it as a "consequence of a whole lot of complexities that would take a long while to go through" - but at the end of the day this is simply an embarrassment that never should have happened.

Fans keep asking why ANZ Stadium turned their back on the Bulldogs when rugby league is the stadium's lifeblood?

The problem ANZ Stadium faced is they had a deal with the AFL and it was binding.

While no one at the NRL wants to take blame, that rugby league is backing down makes it perfectly clear who is at fault.

 

[NRLCrap1]

And that's the end of that!

[Swans4ever]

Looked at LU and their still whinging about this issue - RL fans really have little brains!

[214Four]

The round 22 was not against a crowd puller.

This game will pull a crowd. A big one. It's a possible grand final preview.

Hawthorne are not a big crowd puller either, better than St Kilda i agree but nowhere near as good as the pies...

Swans vs hawthorne at SCG
2012 - 31K 1st
2011 - 33K 3rd
2010 - 29K 7th

I would say hawthorne are similar to geelong in terms of crowd pulling power and they managed 30K at ANZ, i do however realise that particular game was round 18 and this game will attract more interest and thats why i gave the prediction of 35-40K earlier for the swans vs hawthorne round 23 clash.

37,800. Lol almost right in the middle of where i predicted. damm im good... hahah j/k

[cos789]

The AFL ANZ agreement has three years yet to run.
The SCG upgrade will be completed by then.