I know I am going to come off sounding like a whinging Manly fan here but where is the incentive in coming second? The home finals system obviously favours some teams and those who play at suburban grounds come off second best.
Of the 16 teams in the NRL, only nine get to play their home finals at their usual home ground. For the Dragons, Sea Eagles, Titans, Eels, Tigers, Sharks and Panthers any home finals will be moved to either ANZ, Allianz or Suncorp (in the Titans case).
While in many cases an issue will not arise, there is an obvious flaw in the system and that is evident from this weekend’s fixture.
After a gruelling 26-week competition Manly have managed to secure second position on the ladder. While they would be disappointed at missing the minor premiership, second is no mean feat. They finished above the Rabbitohs and secured a ‘home’ final but all the advantage will go to South Sydney.
Manly had two options for the location for this game. ANZ Stadium, which is their opponent’s home ground, or Allianz, which is the heartland of their opponent’s territory. The crowd on Friday night will be the most hostile home crowd the Manly Warringah team has ever run out in front of.
Penrith have the possibility of hosting a match against either Canterbury or South Sydney later in the finals series and they too would face a similar problem. Manly will cop it again in any matches they host against the Bulldogs or Roosters.
We obviously can’t have the whole finals series played at suburban grounds but surely the way we used to do things could be looked at when unique circumstances arise. Only a few years ago the first week of the finals were played at the host team’s home ground regardless of whether they were suburban or not. The rest of the finals series was then played at the bigger stadiums.
The other flaw in the system comes from Sydney teams playing interstate sides in the first week of the finals. I highly doubt a Manly versus Melbourne or Penrith versus Melbourne match would attract more than 20,000 fans, so why not just let those teams host the finals at their usual venues. We all remember the Manly versus Cowboys game of 2011 that had 14,000 people sitting at a near empty Allianz Stadium. It’s a bad look.
For obvious reasons the final weeks of the season need to be played at the bigger venues, but surely week one can be an exemption as it used to be.
Before people start calling me a Manly fan that doesn’t like to travel to away games, I have been to plenty of matches that aren’t at Brookvale Oval, including Kogarah and Leichhardt this year. I will also be there on Friday night and I encourage all Manly fans to do the same.
Take advantage of the free buses the club is offering from Manly Leagues and make sure you’re there. There is no chance that we are going to outnumber the Rabbitohs fans but let’s at least make it as even a crowd as possible.
Twitter: @louismcintyre
81paling
Roar Rookie
Haha, yeah damn pina colada's. Read an email notification must have been a manly fan talking to you not from you. As far as the Bronco's go though I am a share holder and not a very happy one. The stock is ok as is the dividend but, for a city that big to not be doing better on the paddock is disappointing and the management just appear to be useless as far as innovative idea's go. They seem to just want to do everything to prevent another team from brisbane instead of embarrassing the potential. I would love to see them launch their own bid. Anyway sorry Jay C, good luck to the Bronco's and perhaps we can just move the NRL licence from Brookvale to Whynum.
Jay C
Roar Guru
ummmmmmm. I support the Broncos? I feel like we just made the GF in u20s the other day, and would have won but for a wayward goal..... Also, we are rich. soooooooo not really sure what you are getting at there. I'm not sure who you think I support, but it sounds like they are in Sydney. To which I would say good riddance. If Manly fold it is the fans that are to blame. They have been so dominant for the last ten years and yet crowd attendances are terrible. Do you think I like Manly? Did you read any of my comments on this post? Maybe slow down on the pina colada's before commenting.....
81paling
Roar Rookie
Jay C you will never have to worry about this issue again. Next year whatever playing roster the Kaspersky Manly Seaeagles have left will be severely diluted. Secondly even if they lose no further brilliant veterans that they are currently treating like crap, Those that they keep under duress will be so disheartened and burned out due to being taken for granted in years gone by and not being paid their current market value whilst other younger talent who do not buy into the Kaspersky Manly Seaeagles loyalty facade will be paid whatever they ask without ever having to sacrifice anything cause those like Stewart and Watmough did it for them. Do not worry Jay C you will never have to travel for another NRL finals series again. Your club has no juniors, they have poor attendance and membership from which to raise money, the leagues club is struggling, owners refuse to put any more money in and you already cannibalised your nearest neighbour, so the Bears rich Leagues will never help. It is the end for Manly. This is the start of a 20 year squeel that will see the end of that horrible little club that did nothing for the game but, always looked after otself. Goodbye Manly, no one will miss you and the world will be a better place without you. I never supported the Bears but that is a club with integrity that I would love to see back in the top tier comp.
Chop
Roar Guru
Because the average crowds roughly double in size so Manly's home ground is fine for 10-20k but would explode if you tried to get any more than that in there. Brookvale is the worst ground (except Leichardt) for watching NRL, they need to do something, either move of redevelop it.
Chop
Roar Guru
The AFL (and Cricket Australia I believe) threw more money into the Adelaide Oval redevelopment than any government.
Tricky Ricky
Guest
Every team except Manly. Lol! Would this be an issue if they had won on Friday night! Play all the Sydney team based finals at the SFS with the exception of the grand final which is played at Stadium Australia.
Jay C
Roar Guru
Because the strain of air travel is just too much to bear. Oh, what a hard life it must be. Does that mean that the Cowboys/Warriors/Brisbane should whinge every second week when they have to travel the exact same trip and lose a day travel? Or is such nonsense reserved only for Manly? Think outside of your own backyard for a second and realise that other teams are much more affected by the things you constantly whinge about. Manly could have had 3 weeks off and they still would have got belted last night. the only way to fix the issue is play every game on a saturday at the same venue every week. Judging from the whingeing this artical I'm surprised you haven't claimed game day as a travel day as well, because the team had to trek all the way to SFS. Get a grip on reality.
Sleemo
Guest
Nobody's changing reality or claiming that there is anything other than two days' difference between Thursday and Saturday. If you look at this situation in a way other than black and white you will see that the basis of the argument is that Souths had three extra days of recovery between matches than Manly did because Manly's game was played on Saturday, Souths' on Thursday and Manly had to travel from Townsville to Sydney the day after their game. So 2 + 1 = 3. Grade one maths: you can't argue with that. To suggest that a day taken up with travelling from Townsville to Sydney ought to be counted as a recovery day is dumb.
Jay C
Roar Guru
You can't change reality to suit your argument. There is 2 days difference between Thursday and Saturday. To claim anything else is dumb.
millsy of perth
Guest
What if NQ finished 3rd it would have been closer for manly. People it's supposedly s national comp now not park football if manly want things to change build a better facility. It's not the nswrl it has grown and they are now professional football clubs.
Ted
Guest
Wouldn't even be surprised the NRL make Manly wear their going away Jersey tonight ! It just proves again Manly not playing at home is just a continuation of the Westie Fibro conspiracy from the Fibro house of NRL!
Glenn Innes
Guest
Jay C - Firstly mate, Iv stated above iI am not a Manly fan, but no it is not a home final for Manly, it is a game at a neutral venue Manly play at Brookvale. I repeat Easts, Melbourne, and North Queensland all have the advantage of a home final and the support of a partisan crowd that comes with it and Manly are being denied that. The fact the SFS is in the same city as the northern beaches is completely beside the point,if you are going to give teams home ground advantage during the finals it should apply to ALL teams not just some of them but you conveniently avoid that issue because you know you are trying to defend the indefensible from the point of view of what is fair.
Glenn Innes
Guest
Townsville holds 27000 .Brookvale 23000 an extra 4000 doesn't mean much your just being silly and pedantic.The fact is Easts, Melbourne and NQ all have the advantage of playing at home while Manly are being denied that advantage,It does not matter if their supporters live twenty mile from the SFS or 2000 mile from it it is clearly unfair and they have every right to be pissed off about it,
Brendan
Guest
So should we go back on that deal? Perhaps we could trot out Fulton and all the other players from the 70s that HAD to trek all the way over to the horrendous SCG to play the Grand Final and get it replayed at Brookie as well? Manly fans are massive sooks. Get up off your bums and go to the bloody game. Other fans can trek in from interstate for a game, you can either travel from across Sydney or just miss out.. your choice!
AR
Guest
That's why it makes sense to centralise stadium usage, because most clubs can't afford their own stadiums. The broader point here is that suburban grounds in the NRL are two things...training and admin bases, and home playing grounds. In terms of contributing to upgrades of either...NRL clubs like Manly seem to do very little themselves and rely soley on public money. As a comparison, West Coast are putting in $22M into their new training base, Collingwood put $10M into its training base (a public facility); Geelong has contributed about $10M over the past decade etc. And where clubs can't foot the bill, the AFL chips in (such as for Metricon and Spotless). No-one is saying that government assistance can't be sought, but there needs to be a balance...as well as some financial heavy lifting by teh club, if the club refuses to move from its traditional home.
Matthew Edwards
Guest
People who want to make money?
AR
Guest
Docklands Stadium received no government fudning - it was a private build. The AFL contributed about $30M from its sale of Waverley Park and agreed to fixture about 40 games a year there. In exchange, the AFL takes full ownership of Docklands Stadium (a $1Billion asset) for $1 in 2025.
KenAgain
Guest
leave work early
Pickett
Guest
Them's fightin words
Jay C
Roar Guru
Ridiculous. You are comparing Brisbane to Townsville to having to cross a bridge. honestly, come on. It is still a home game for you. It is in your town. They won't be playing any games at Brookvale shortly and maybe that will shut ya's up