Buzz Rothfield declares live rugby league beats TV after Friday's cracking NRL final

THERE was once an old NRL television ad campaign that carried the slogan "it's never the same unless you're there at the game". It's true.

THERE was once an old NRL television advertising campaign that carried the slogan "it's never the same unless you're there at the game".

BAnd it’s true. Friday night’s showdown between two old rivals Cronulla and Manly in a knockout semi-final proved it.
Your columnist replaced his notepad and pen with a beer and a pie to find out why Sydney’s sport fans are not going to the footy finals.

For the second week in a row, the NRL couldn’t crack the 30,000 attendance mark while the AFL again got more than 100,000.

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TICKET PRICES

You can’t blame the poor finals crowds on the cost of buying your seats.

Where else can you get a $50 family ticket to sport or any top entertainment in Sydney?

My family bought four tickets in category two in the Sharks bay on the eastern side for just $80.

The most expensive adult ticket is just $70 – which is still less than the cheapest seats at the AFL finals.

At the Swans’ grand final qualifier in Perth, the cheapest adult ticket was $78 and as high as $170. It sold out.

And they don’t even sell family tickets.

* Rating 9

TRANSPORT

The NRL spent $40,000 to provide buses and free transport from Manly and Cronulla Leagues clubs.

It’s a great way to get to the footy with no parking or traffic hassles. It takes 50 minutes from the Shire and we’re dropped right at the gates.

They even give all passengers a free flag.

Fans you’ve never met become your mates. We’re all in this together. We’re all pumped.

We’re picked up straight after the game and make it home to the Shire before mates who drove in and got held up in the car parks.

We might have got beaten but the team song gets a solid workout for most of the trip home.

It’s definitely the best way to get to and from the football and allows you to have a few beers.

* Rating 9

ATMOSPHERE

Nothing beats the feeling of sitting in the crowd, especially for someone who has spent most of his life in sound-proof press boxes or corporate suites.

The characters, the families, the larrikins, the tragics, the flags, the signs, the noise, the high fives and the incredible passion.

And the chanting: "bull…t - bull…t - bull…t - bull…t".

We were among a group of 24 who have come to town from the Shire.

A mate who makes a living selling plastic body parts, former Olympian Rob Woods, our local junior footy coaches, the wives, the kids, a grandma and grandad.

It beats the lounge room any day. The attendance was only 23,837 but it sounded like a lot, lot more.

There is good-natured banter between the opposing fans all night but no signs of any misbehaviour.

Just heartbreak when Paul Gallen’s try is disallowed (legitimately). Anger and crushing disappointment when the green "TRY" sign goes up for Jorge Taufua.

The anxiety watching that KFC Zinger chicken pie ad on the big screen, just wanting the decision and praying they might actually get it right.

And besides, why would you buy anything that reminds you of stress. They’d do better advertising a product like Valium.

* Rating 8

SERVICE

Luckily we arrive early at 6pm because it’s easy to get a meal or a beer before the big crowd arrives.

They cater for everything – Dominos pizzas, Oporto chicken, gourmet sausages on rolls, hamburgers, fish and chips, pies and hotdogs.

I go for a pie and a VB. A beer is $7, a wine $7.30 and spirits $9.80. The food works out at about $10 a head.

But why is a pie $5.20 when you can buy them in a bakery for $3.50? Why is a bottle of water $4.60 when you can get the same thing at Woolies for 40c?

For $8.90, why do you only get a pizza a quarter of the size of the regular ones you get in the Dominos stores?

Half an hour before the game it takes 15 to 20 minutes to get a drink or something to eat.

At halftime you don’t even bother – the queues are just too long.

This is when you start thinking about the comfort of the lounge room and the easy access to the fridge and the bathroom.

You also miss the television coverage, the sideline injury reports, the statistics and the replays. Everything, except Gus.

It’s annoying that whenever there is a controversial moment at the game, they put a security warning on the big screen instead of showing us a replay of the incident.

* Rating 5

THE GAME

It was the night brains beat brawn. Manly’s million-dollar halves Daly Cherry-Evans and Kieran Foran showed wonderful game-management skill.

They were too clever, too classy, too crafty. Their opposites Chad Townsend and Jeff Robson are on combined pay packets of about half of either of their superstar rivals.

The Sharks desperately missed Todd Carney’s kicking game and direction in attack.

The old theory that big forwards win big matches was proven wrong on this occasion.

Andrew Fifita and Paul Gallen were magnificent. Anthony Tupou was outstanding.

The Sharks had the edge in the forwards but lacked the finesse to finish it off. Still, it was a great game of footy.

* Rating 8

THE REFS

Every finals game seems to be decided by referees, not the players, the coaches or the tactics.

In week one, the Cowboys got beaten by a seven-tackle try. Melbourne Storm, too, had a perfectly legitimate Billy Slater try denied against Souths.

Again there was a massive stuff-up on Friday night when Manly winger Jorge Taufua was awarded a four-pointer when the ball was not properly grounded.

In every other game this year it was a ‘no try’.

Coaches were addressed by Daniel Anderson at the beginning of the year and told players had to have control of the football as they touched down.

They were even shown incidents exactly the same as Taufua’s and told it wouldn’t be a try in 2013.

* Rating 2

THE VERDICT

Is it better at the ground or watching on the plasma from the comfort of home?

In my opinion, nothing beats being at the game. The Sharks got rolled but it was a fabulous night out.

It cost my family exactly $161 for everything - and we were in good seats.

The NRL did absolutely everything possible in pricing and transport. Sadly, Sydney has become a city of couch potato sporting fans.

Going to the football is a habit that a lot of people have lost.

Improved service at the venues, more staff and shorter queues, cheaper food and drinks, better quality big screens and more game information, would help.

All codes urgently need to get together for a summit to look at ways of getting people back to live sport.

People like those on our bus, thumping out one more rendition of "Up Up Cronulla", as we pulled into the carpark at Sharks Leagues Club about 11pm.

The season’s over but there’s always next year. We’ll be back in 2014.

It’s never the same unless you’re there at the game.

HIGHLIGHT
Danny Buderus for serving it up to Test skipper Cameron Smith in the Knights v Storm semi on Saturday night.

LOWLIGHT I
Knights centre Joey Leilua for running in and verbally abusing Storm forward Jordan McLean after his jaw was broken in a sickening head clash.

LOWLIGHT II
Parramatta’s appointment of Brian Smith as general manager of football is an unbelievably dumb move. This is the same man who released Knights legend Danny Buderus to the English Super League three years ago.

LOWLIGHT III
Channel Nine’s refusal to show the NRL finals in high definition. Surely it should have been a compulsory part of the TV contract.

CRONK'S NO. 1
Cooper Cronk will deservedly start as Australia’s number one halfback on the World Cup tour. The challenge from Daly Cherry-Evans reminds me of Ricky Stuart ousting Allan Langer in England in 1994.

BEAU'S BACK
He hasn’t played rep football for a couple of years but surely Knights second-rower Beau Scott will be one of the first forwards chosen for the Kangaroos’ World Cup campaign. He was sensational against Storm and there is not a tougher player in the game.