NRL schedules Petero Civoniceva farewell game for Friday night

BRISBANE boss Paul White is disappointed at the NRL for refusing to stage Petero Civoniceva's home farewell on a Sunday afternoon.

BRISBANE boss Paul White last night expressed his disappointment after the NRL knocked back the Broncos' request to stage Petero Civoniceva's home farewell on a Sunday afternoon.

The NRL came under fire on dual fronts yesterday. White's Eels counterpart Bob Bentley blasted the round 26 scheduling after retiring Parramatta forward Nathan Hindmarsh's swansong against the Dragons was installed for a Sunday night.

Broncos hierarchy last month requested their final regular-season home game against Penrith be staged on Sunday afternoon, hoping to give retiring prop Civoniceva the successful Suncorp celebration Darren Lockyer enjoyed last year against Manly.

But the broadcasters prevailed, with Channel 9 set to screen the final home match for Civoniceva, against his former club the Panthers, on Friday night, August 31.

The Broncos argued a Sunday afternoon fixture would be more family friendly, but White is determined not to let the controversial scheduling decision tarnish Civoniceva's swansong.

"We strongly requested consideration for a Sunday game," White said. "That was our clear preference and we made that clear to everyone involved.

"We have been discussing this with the NRL since Petero announced his retirement, it has been a long process.

"We understand that broadcasting needs have to be met, I'm a realist, but the reason we were keen on a Sunday game is we proved it could be successful with what we did for Locky's farewell last year.

"Sunday is a more friendly time for families and people travelling to the game.

"It was a great occasion and we hoped we could replicate something similar for Petero, but we'll now focus on putting on something very special on Friday night.

"A lot has been said about our Friday night scheduling and we regularly request alternate times and days for our home games."

ARLC operations chief Nathan McGuirk said last night: "The schedule for round 26 was extremely difficult with the number of conflicting club requests along with consideration for the upcoming final series."