Cronulla want to turn St George Illawarra rivalry into an annual Sunday afternoon blockbuster
WITH ticket sales for Thursday night’s Sharks-Dragons derby down to a trickle, Cronulla have an idea to make their rivalry with St George Illawarra an annual family friendly blockbuster.
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SHARKS CEO Barry Russell will lodge a formal request to the NRL to ensure the traditional local derby between Cronulla and St George Illawarra becomes an annual blockbuster scheduled on the same Sunday every year.
As of Wednesday night, ticket sales for Thursday Sharks-Dragons derby at Southern Cross Group Stadium were tracking at just over 12,000.
Sharks officials are hoping that a late rush of “walk up’ tickets can boost the final figure.
However, anything less than 12,183 would become the smallest Sharks-Dragons crowd at Shark Park since 2011.
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Cronulla’s ticket sale estimates would leave the Sharks 7,000 shy of it’s capacity and a potential lost opportunity of up to $250,000 in tickets, merchandise sales and leagues club bar-takings due to the family unfriendly 8pm timeslot.
Russell believes that by scheduling the southern derby on the same Sunday every season — held at Shark Park or Kogarah — the NRL could establish a sold-out clash that matches the atmosphere, history and hype of the annual Anzac Day fixtures.
“I don’t think there would be one supporter of the game, who wouldn’t want to maximise the growth and interest in our game,’’ Russell said.
“And for that, there is no better alternative than to develop and grow one of the great rivalries in our game — Sharks versus Dragons on a family friendly Sunday afternoon.
“Over the years we’ve asked the NRL to schedule this game on a Sunday afternoon as our number one request. We specifically asked for Easter Sunday this year.
“I appreciate not every team gets what they want. But I think it’s time we start to appreciate, this match has the potential to be more than just another fixture.
“Given the great history between our two clubs, with the support of the NRL, we have an opportunity to turn the Derby into something similar to the Anzac Day games where you just don’t have Sharks and Dragons fans wanting to attend, you have all league fans wanting to attend.
“The Sharks are a community club so it’s important we give our community the best opportunity to see our game and that could be said also, for playing it at Kogarah.
“I’ll be reaching out to the NRL to discuss how we can make the derby an annual Sunday afternoon fixture.’’
The NRL said they would always consider any proposal put forward by the Sharks while conceding the 8pm Thursday night clash did have an impact on crowds.
However, the NRL pointed to the fact that Thursday night footy was considered a highly-valued timeslot by TV broadcasters.
“Unfortunately it does impact on the crowds but this is well and truly offset by the huge television audiences on those peak viewing nights,” the spokesman said.
“So more people will see (on TV) the Sharks and Dragons play on Thursday night than would be the case if the game was held on a Sunday.”