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Dear David Smith, CEO of the Australian Rugby League Commission (and the NRL): Hundreds of thousands of us, maybe even a million or three, ambled through the summer months confident we would see and enjoy a spectacular opening to season 2014.
Many clubs and their loyal fan-bases had built up in the hope of improving their standing in the competition, while others felt they had the basis of a successful title challenge already assembled and set out to consolidate.
The game was unveiling a raft of rule changes, designed to speed up play. You gave us a new referees boss, we had Channel Nine partnering Fox Sports for the telecasts and we had some coverage on radio (but I feel the less said about that, the better).
Your schedule for Round 1 was dreadful. Three games out of eight at ANZ Stadium were clearly not what the fans wanted.
You promote tribalism but want the tribes to play at a pretty much a neutral venue that struggles to excite when crowd numbers are even average.
The resultant crowds were poor and the A-League was given a chance to blow their trumpet.
Not a good look, and our feeling of exhilaration became little more than the result of a pricked balloon. Limp.
I could go on and on about ticket and food prices but it would probably be to no avail.
Mr Smith, I could rant about your puzzling scheduling of a Thursday night kickoff when kids have Friday school and their parents have work on the same day. But I won’t.
Round 1 was pretty much a PR disaster for the code, even though the eight winners are probably thinking it wasn’t too bad and that good times lie ahead.
Mr Smith, I am hereby turning this column over to readers of The (mighty) Roar.
They will tell you exactly what was wrong (and maybe even right) about your opening round.
And we promise to forward each and every comment to you at League HQ, hopeful of getting a personal response right here on the best-read sports website in the land.
We are genuine league people delighted to have our favourite sport back in action.
But there were many negatives orchestrated at your end and we would like to think they never recur.
Yours sincerely,
Tim Prentice
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