By Dan Walsh and Michael Chammas
Canterbury are anticipating a 70,000-plus crowd to rival their 2009 finals epic against Parramatta after the NRL locked their sudden-death Bulldogs-Panthers semi-final in for next Sunday afternoon at Accor Stadium.
Sources speaking on the condition of anonymity in order to speak freely have told this masthead that Canterbury will host the four-time reigning premiers in the family-friendly timeslot. The loser of Sunday’s Canberra-Broncos qualifying final will be on a six-day turnaround against Cronulla next Saturday night.
Scheduling a Sunday afternoon western Sydney showdown presents a lucrative $3.5 million windfall for the NRL and the chance for Canterbury to challenge the 74,549 that turned out for the 2009 Bulldogs-Eels preliminary final, and subsequent 70,000-plus crowds that attended the Dragons-Tigers (2010) and Bulldogs-Rabbitohs (2012) grand final qualifiers.
The move - which will be confirmed after full-time at GIO Stadium - also eases concern about the Storm hosting a preliminary final just hours after the AFL grand final in week three.
Bulldogs chairman Adam Driussi said Canterbury’s strong turnouts this season set the stage for the high-water mark of 2009 to be challenged next weekend.
“It doesn’t get much bigger than a home semi-final against Penrith - they’ve been the benchmark for the last five years,” Driussi said.
“Our fans are the most passionate supporters in the game and have been absolutely incredible all year. You could see what that support meant to the boys when we had 65,000 at Accor Stadium on Good Friday - the energy that crowd gave us was phenomenal.
“Now we’ve got the chance to push toward that 74,000 mark from 2009, and I genuinely think we can get there. This is their time to show the rugby league world what Bulldogs supporters are all about. We need every Bulldogs fan to make themselves heard because in a game this big, that support could be the difference.”
NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo is keen to avoid Melbourne’s preliminary final being held on Saturday night, September 27 - in the same precinct as the AFL decider hours earlier.
Biggest NRL finals crowds since 2009
2009 - preliminary final Eels v Bulldogs 74,549
2010 - preliminary final Dragons v Tigers 71,212
2012 - preliminary final Bulldogs v Souths 70,354
2014 - preliminary final Rabbitohs v Roosters 52,592
2023 - preliminary final Broncos v Warriors 52,273
2022 - preliminary final Panthers v Souths 50,035
2024 - elimination final Bulldogs v Sea Eagles 50,714
The loser of Canberra-Brisbane will fall into the Storm’s side of the draw, but a Sunday clash in week two would rule them out of playing the Friday night of week three on a five-day turnaround.
To avoid the AFL clash, Melbourne would have to play either Friday, September 26, or Sunday, September 28.
Both Brisbane and Canberra would be expected to draw near-capacity crowds at Suncorp Stadium (capacity of 52,500) and GIO Stadium (26,000).
The NRL runs post-season games and collecting ticket and hospitality revenu, with clubs receiving a small percentage of gate takings from finals.
Drawing the largest possible crowd at Accor Stadium for a Bulldogs fixture presents the biggest potential windfall for the NRL. At an average of $50 a ticket, a 70,000-strong crowd would yield around $3.5 million in gate takings.