The NRL concedes a decision to dodge a showdown with the AFL by scheduling the Bulldogs’ first finals match in eight years away from a GWS Giants fixture will “have an impact” on player recovery times.
Less than 24 hours after announcing its week one schedule – which is expected to attract sellout crowds at Penrith, Melbourne and Townsville – NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo said he had no issue with delaying the Bulldogs clash with the Sea Eagles until Sunday afternoon.
The game will be Canterbury’s first finals appearance in almost a decade and a crowd of 50,000 at Accor Stadium is predicted.
The game could have been played on Saturday night at the same venue, in which case it would have clashed with the Giants’ elimination final against the Brisbane Lions at the neighbouring Engie Stadium at Sydney Olympic Park.
And the Sunday timeslot means the winner of the Bulldogs-Sea Eagles match will have almost 48 hours less recovery time for the week two final – expected to be played the following Saturday night – against the loser of the Panthers-Roosters match which kicks off the finals series on Friday night.
“There is an impact in that regard,” NRL head of football Graham Annesley said. “There’s no question.
Reed Mahoney and the Bulldogs will play their finals match on Sunday.Credit: NRL Photos
“The primary reason [for playing the Bulldogs-Sea Eagles game on Sunday] was, ‘Do we really want to cause discomfort and distress for everyone going?’ I don’t think it’s in anyone’s best interests, even to the fans that want to go to our game, to compete with another event next door. Parking will be pre-sold, trains will be full and people will say, ‘It’s too hard’.”
Accor Stadium will host the biggest crowd of the week one finals fixtures as long-suffering Bulldogs supporters come out in force after a remarkable turnaround in 2024.
The make-up of the finals fixtures was only decided after the Knights scrambled into eighth spot with victory over the Dolphins in the 192nd and final game of the regular season on Sunday.
Dolphins coach Wayne Bennett blasted the bunker’s decision to rule out a first-half try to Trai Fuller, which was called back for an obstruction in the lead-up from Connelly Lemuelu on Brodie Jones.
Abdo said he strongly disagreed with Bennett’s argument for the bunker to be removed from the game, claiming on Monday: “I think it’s ridiculous to consider a sport not using technology to make decisions.
“If you think about all the decisions that are made with [tries] scored in the corners … we’ve seen the bunker be really efficient, quick and accurate, and 99 per cent of the time they get it right.”
Annesley said he agreed with the call to disallow the try.
“The fact is there was contact by the lead runner on a player who was entitled to try to defend without being impacted by a player from a team in possession who doesn’t have the ball,” Annesley said. “That’s exactly what happened in this case.”