A lot has been made of the Brisbane Broncos’ stranglehold on Friday night football.
It’s been called a disgrace and an unfair advantage over the rest of the clubs in the NRL. But Friday night football might just be the downfall of the Broncos in 2012.
It’s not the Broncos fault. The Nine Network has made an obvious decision to play the Broncos on Friday nights live into Queensland because they are the premier club in the sunshine state.
But in a competition where everything else is so even and any kind of advantage is gratefully accepted, the Broncos are sitting pretty.
The routine the players are in is a farce. Week after week they know exactly when they are playing and how to best prepare for each game, not even mentioning how lovely a job it would be to work in the Broncos sales or marketing departments.
Nine of Brisbane’s opening 10 games have been on a Friday night; blockbuster matches each weekend against teams wanting to knock them off. Make no mistake, players still fire up for a Friday night clash.
The Broncos are flying on the table and have dominated Friday night footy while the Cronulla Sharks, still without a major sponsor, have been camped on a shuffle through Fox Sports. The Warriors, Canberra, Sydney Roosters and Gold Coast have all been shafted by the Nine Network too.
An average television audience on a Friday night is over 900,000 viewers. An average audience for a Fox Sports game is just over 200,000.
Unless you’re a Broncos supporter, there won’t be too many upset people if and when the Broncos nosedive.
Anthony Griffin’s chargers have been up to the task so far. They’ve accepted and won almost all challengers.
But what has been an impressive start to the year, may end in heartache for the Broncos. All these Friday night wars surely aren’t good for you in the long run.
Jharal Yow Yeh is gone for the season. Justin Hodges and Peter Wallace are continually battling injury.
Then there is State of Origin.
Sam Thaiday, Corey Parker, Matt Gillett, Petero Civoneciva, Ben Hannant and Josh Maguire are all expected to play parts in this year’s Origin series.
It’s a murky time of year for the mighty Broncos as they scratch their way through the Origin period and try to stay healthy for a run at the finals.
After the bye in Round 11, the Broncos travel to Melbourne for another Friday night clash against the Storm. Then they’ll finally run out for a day game against Newcastle. Remember that big old yellow thing in the sky? Perhaps they’ll need to wear sunglasses.
Queensland's Game Is Rugby League
Guest
It doesn't matter what the competition was called when the Broncos joined. That was over 24-25 years ago? The NSWRL Premiership became a national competition in 1995. That was 17 years ago. We need to get with the times. Half the reason NSW gets its pants beat off them every year is because they're still living in the past. Rugby league won't move forward until Sydney stops holding the game back.
PLANKO
Guest
What was the comp called when Brisbane joined ?
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
The reasoning behind the push for a 2nd Brisbane side: the Bombers/Jets.They can see their weekly live friday night Brisbane bonanza,and the good guys in NSW can then have non Brisbane teams,shown regularly on a Friday evening. Whooever secures the next deal(hopefully not channel arrogance),the Brisbane high ratings will be maintained and in fact Sydney may secure more higher Tv ratings ,as the Ponies from the North will not feature every week live into Sydney town on Fridays.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
And that was on delay JVGO.Imagine a live match and the ensuing ratings.
Queensland's Game is Rugby League
Guest
I've seen the ratings. A game that doesn't involve the Broncos draws lower ratings in Brisbane. Not even a Titans or Cowboys match can compete. That's why Channel 9 has the Broncos playing every Friday night Channel 9 doesn't care about the ratings in regional QLD. The only Queensland station they own is Channel 9 Brisbane. WIN would love it if the Cowboys were broadcast every Friday night.
Queensland's Game is Rugby League
Guest
"Chanel 9, give some FTA TV to teams that if they are playing a good brand of footy may even pick-up some supporters and members." Why? Channel 9 are only interested in drawing the highest ratings possible. The higher the ratings, the more they can charge for commercial space. A Broncos match will draw higher ratings in Brisbane than a match that does not involve them. It's the reason they started broadcasting two Friday night matches.
Queensland's Game is Rugby League
Guest
I wish people would actually go study the ratings before they make baseless comments. The Broncos matches on Friday night always rate better in Brisbane than matches that do not involve them. The Broncos haven't had a Sunday afternoon match on Channel 9 this season. So why bring up the ratings for the Sharks vs Storm match? It rated well because it was the best Sunday afternoon match of the season. Every other Sunday afternoon match has involved struggling Sydney clubs (IE. Newcastle, Parramatta, Penrith). When the Broncos play on Sunday afternoon then it'll be the highest rating match in Brisbane for that timeslot.
Curtis Woodward
Expert
i have plenty of contacts in brisvegas that dont want to see the Broncos .. NRL 7.30 in QLD is going to rate no matter what
Queensland's Game is Rugby League
Guest
"Shouldn’t have joined the Sydney comp then if you don’t like it. It’s the same old same old." I attend all Wynnum-Manly Seagulls home matches. Prefer it over seeing the Broncos. "QRL get more than fair treatment from the NRL and broadcasters" The QRL is not treated anywhere as fairly as you make out. The NRL cut back dual registration because the NSW Cup was dying. They didn't care about the possible effect it would have on clubs like the Souths Logan Magpies and Sunshine Coast Sea Eagles. The Sea Eagles are rebuilding, but it's hard for them as they have to compete with clubs that are affiliated with the Broncos, Cowboys, Titans and Storm. The QRL pays Channel 9 to broadcast a match each round. No freebies are thrown in. Between 100,000 and 200,000 people watch the 2:00pm Sunday afternoon game. Channel 9 should cover the costs if it's as keen on rugby league as it says. The NRL could chip in and pay the money. And how's the NSW Cup going since the NRL tried to give it an unfair advantage? Not too well. It's still an inferior competition. No one bothers to go watch the NSW Cup. A Queensland Cup game can draw upwards of a few thousand spectators. The Northern Pride are aiming for 5,000 club members this year. That rivals some Sydney NRL clubs. Their matches are streamed online and watched in China, North America and England. Wynnum-Manly always have at least 1,000 fans at Kougari Oval for their home matches -- some times up around 3,000 -- with the bulk of them sitting in the Arthur Lovell Stand or cheering loudly from the Chook Pen. The NSW Cup cannot compete with that sort of support. I say if the Sydney NRL clubs cannot produce their own stars -- let's face it, juniors from the Sydney area aren't as good as the ones from Brisbane -- then the NRL needs to reduce the amount of Sydney clubs that are in the NRL. There isn't an argument that you can raise to back the idea of keeping 9 clubs in Sydney: the clubs draw pathetic crowds, all of them are broke or struggling to get out of the red, rely on Queenslanders to stay competitive and have trouble attracting sponsors. Don't give me this "tradition" nonsense. Since when is the NRL a Sydney competition? There's a reason it's called the National Rugby League. It stopped being the New South Wales Rugby League Premiership 18 years ago.
Queensland's Game is Rugby League
Guest
So? The Broncos are a business. It's in their interest to look out for themselves. Doesn't mean the NRL can't step in and put another team in Brisbane.
Queensland's Game is Rugby League
Guest
The Broncos are the only team in a rugby league mad city that has over 1,800,000 people. Every major business in the area wants to jump on-board the Broncos wagon. They have no issues when it comes to acquiring third party deals. There isn't a team in Sydney that has 1,800,000 people to itself.
Queensland's Game is Rugby League
Guest
"9 to 3 – surely you jest. sydney divided by nine is still heaps bigger than Townsville" Why are you comparing Sydney with Townsville? I spoke specifically about the Broncos being the sole team representing metro Brisbane. Not a word was said about Townsville.
PLANKO
Guest
Do you get paid per comment ? Does Roar give you anything ?
Curtis Woodward
Expert
I dont mind .. 90 comments is fine with me
Renegade
Guest
I'm not sure about that i'd still rather see the best games.....i.e Tigers vs Souths, Sharks vs Dragons, Melbourne vs Manly etc. I wouldn't really go out of my way to watch say Canberra vs Melbourne or Penrith vs Brisbane.
Shark for Life
Guest
Do the salary cap breaching via corporate donations Broncos, that have easy accessibility to corporate donations by being a one team city need any more advantages??? I think not!....Chanel 9, give some FTA TV to teams that if they are playing a good brand of footy may even pick-up some supporters and members. I know enough Brisbane based Rugby League supporters that have had enough of the Broncos and would love another Brisbane team to support, but in the mean time are supporting who ever the Broncos play. Of the 900,000 I wonder how many (like myself) are watching to hopefully see the Broncos get beat.
PLANKO
Guest
I warned you Curtis the feral's will come after you ! Go MANLY !
Curtis Woodward
Expert
Gallop was a Super League lawyer looking after your beloved Broncos .. I wouldn hate on him too much
Pot Stirrer
Guest
Unfair as in FTA exposure in prime time
Blazza
Guest
Also That Eels vs Broncos game was the Friday night game after the kickoff Thursday night game. And it was broadcast live into both Brisbane and Sydney. So it wasn't just for Qld viewers. Me personally would have Brisbane,Melbourne,Manly on every FTA game, They're the best teams, we should be showcasing them more.