NRL 2024: Attendance records to be smashed for blockbuster Manly v Canterbury clash at Accor Stadium
Finals fever has taken over Canterbury and their clash against the Sea Eagles on Friday is set to break crowd records.
The drums are already beating in Belmore with the Bulldogs tracking towards their largest crowd against Manly in history.
Finals fever has taken over Canterbury with the NRL and Fox League preparing for the biggest audience for a 6pm Friday night game of all-time.
The Bulldogs ticket office have been inundated with sales for the Accor Stadium clash with attendance projections currently sitting between 30,000 and 35,000 fans.
Anything near that mark would smash the biggest crowd for a 6pm Friday game (not including Magic Round).
History could be set on two accounts, which include:
• Eclipsing the biggest crowd for a 6pm Friday game (not including Magic Round). Melbourne and the Warriors hold that record with 28,716 people attending the Anzac Day clash at AAMI Park in 2014. The next best crowd was in 2019 between Parramatta and Manly with 25034 people attending CommBank Stadium; and
• The largest regular season crowd between Manly and Canterbury. A figure of 25,771 people attended Accor Stadium in round five 2004 to watch the teams play.
But the greatest indication of just how much support there is for the two Sydney teams would be surpassing the all-time crowd record between the rivals.
The all-time record crowd involving the two teams is the 1995 grand final when 41,127 people watched the Bulldogs beat Manly at the Sydney Football Stadium.
Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo knows his fans are keen to see their team again.
“We’re really excited about getting home next week,” Ciraldo said. “We’ve been travelling around from Townsville, to Brisbane, back to Sydney, to Bundaberg and over to New Zealand, so we’re really excited to get back to Accor.
“Our fans are going to be really excited to see us play the style of play we’re playing right now. We’re very excited to get home.
“ (Viliame) Kikau had his 150th game … and Burto (Matt Burton) had his 100th (against the Warriors), so we’ll go back and honour those two guys and we’re really excited to be playing in front of our home fans.’’
Canterbury fans again took to the streets of Belmore to celebrate their win against the Warriors on Friday night.
The Bulldogs will face Manly without Stephen Crichton and Kurt Mann. Their ability to run deep into the finals will determine if Mann plays again this season.
He suffered a broken collarbone against the Warriors on Friday night and will require surgery.
He is facing six weeks out, needing the Dogs to push towards the grand final to play again this season.
Tigers bound Jeral Skelton is expected to come into the backline to replace Crichton.
Meanwhile, Sea Eagles are confident outside back Tommy Talau will return after missing the loss against the Tigers because of a pectoral injury.
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