Less than an hour after Cronulla’s qualifying final loss to Melbourne, Sharks chief executive Dino Mezzatesta phoned the NRL and pleaded his club’s case to play a semi-final in their own backyard on Friday night.
The NRL risks the embarrassing scenario of the Sharks facing North Queensland in front of less than 15,000 fans at Allianz Stadium at the same time as the AFL and Sydney Swans push for a 43,000-plus sellout next door at the SCG.
Mezzatesta had alerted the NRL during the week about the potential code clash – and now he hopes common sense prevails by allowing the Sharks to play their semi-final at PointsBet Stadium.
The Sharks chief added he had no interest in playing at CommBank Stadium in Parramatta, which is harder to get to for Sharks fans travelling from the Shire.
“We’d like to play it at PointsBet Stadium, mainly because the Swans are across the road [from Allianz], and it won’t make it a great environment with so many people in the one place,” Mezzatesta told this masthead at AAMI Park. “It is hard enough with one event, let alone two events being played there.
“Whoever we play, be it Newcastle or North Queensland, it will be hard to imagine either of those clubs having many fans travel to the game, especially on a Friday night.
“We can get 14,000 fans at PointsBet. What’s the point of moving it to Allianz to get 15,000 fans?
The Sharks want to play their semi-final at home after their big loss to the Storm.Credit: Getty
“If Melbourne had lost on Saturday, they would have hosted next week at their own home ground. The Roosters will play at Allianz next Saturday. Why can’t we play at PointsBet?
“We’re not a fan of playing at CommBank. I dare say if we played there, Sharks fans would probably prefer to stay at home.
“I spoke to the NRL during the week. We’ve had a few discussions. They’re willing to discuss it.”
The NRL allows teams to play at their own grounds in week one of the finals, which was the case with Penrith on Friday night, and what would have applied to Manly and 4 Pines Park had they won last weekend.
But in weeks two and three of the finals games are not played at suburban venues, with the focus on attracting larger crowds at major stadiums in the host city.
Penrith were privately expecting to be moved to Allianz Stadium for week two had they lost to the Roosters on Friday, rather than remain at Penrith Park.
The NRL – not clubs – collects the gate at all finals games. They were not prepared to speculate on the week-two schedule until the Bulldogs played the Sea Eagles in their elimination final on Sunday.
The last game of the weekend was originally slated for Saturday night at Accor Stadium, only to be moved because of the looming clash with the GWS Giants’ AFL final at neighbouring Engie Stadium.
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