Blog with Buzz: NRL’s early Friday match-ups a very bad look

THE NRL’s playing schedule for the 6pm Friday night games is a sham. This week we’re at the 80,000-seat ANZ Stadium for the Eels “blockbuster” against the Warriors. They’ll be lucky to get a crowd of 7000. BLOG WITH BUZZ

The NRL needs to stop playing games that will draw small crowds at big stadiums in the 6pm Friday timeslot.

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THE NRL’s playing schedule for the 6pm Friday night games is a sham.

This week we’re at the 80,000-seat ANZ Stadium for the Parramatta Eels “blockbuster” against the New Zealand Warriors. They’ll be lucky to get a crowd of 7000.

This is not a one-off. Later in the season (round 23) we’re treated to Manly hosting the Gold Coast at 6pm.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

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They’ll be flat out beating the 5700 attendance from round eight at Brookvale against the Knights.

We all agree the live 6pm timeslot is better than sitting up until midnight to watch 73 advertisements in a delayed telecast of the second Friday night game like we used to.

The NRL needs to stop playing games that will draw small crowds at big stadiums in the 6pm Friday timeslot.

But the NRL needs to show some common sense and restrict the early Friday games to certain venues.

The Warriors in New Zealand with the time-zone difference is perfect. Or the bush venues Tamworth, Bathurst and Mudgee. Even Leichhardt Oval, where a smallish crowd still looks good on TV.

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Or Newcastle, where the traffic congestion and access to the ground are so much better than in Sydney.

Play them anywhere but Sydney’s big stadiums. Thousands and thousands of empty seats are just a massive turn-off.

Originally published as Blog with Buzz: NRL’s early Friday match-ups a very bad look