DIEHARD
03-08-07, 10:35 AM
BRING BACK the day NRL grand final.
John Cartwright, Titans Coach
There is no question in my mind that a day finale is the way to go for two basic reasons -- the fans and the quality of the game.
Since 2001 the NRL moved to a Sunday night kickoff, primarily for commercial reasons. These commercial reasons cannot be flippantly dismissed.
Big money coming into the game filters down to the grassroots. So that may mean survival of a junior football club somewhere, or better facilities for patrons at games.
However against this is a mountain of evidence that points to the day finals being favoured by players and fans.
My feelings come from personal experience.
As a kid in Penrith I remember grand final day being a huge street party. Everyone seemed to be involved.
We would gather around for the mid-afternoon kick-off, cheer our team home and then be safely tucked up in bed by 8pm.
Years later, in 1991, I tasted grand final day from an entirely different perspective, as a player with the premiership-winning Panthers.
That day was special in so many ways, but what was so significant for me was the homecoming.
It was about 8pm on the Sunday night and I vividly remember our bus coming into Penrith and for kilometres the streets were crammed with fans waving and cheering us through.
A large contingent of these people were kids cheering on their heroes. It was a wonderful and emotional time. Then it was back to the Panthers clubhouse for one hell of a party.
Compare that to what happens these days.
With an 8pm kickoff, the game will go through to close to 10pm. Now kids are kids and no matter how much they want to be awake, many start stacking Zs well before the full-time whistle.
The victorious team will struggle to be out of Telstra Stadium before midnight, so there will never be the homecoming that we received at Penrith after the day final.
What about the interstate teams. It is well into the early morning before they get back to their home supporters. The next day is never the same.
When we won some players were still in their playing strip late that night, still wearing the mud and blood of battle. A parade the next day captures none of that. That rare euphoria that exists only on the day of victory has faded.
So for the fans and the players an afternoon grand final is the preference.
There is also one other aspect -- the quality of the game.
Everyone involved in rugby league, especially players and coaches, know night games do cause a slight reduction in attacking play.
As night falls so does the dew and so a slippery mist descends on everything, including the football.
All players will tell you that ball control at night is more difficult.
The end game, in the most crucial clash of the season, is to limit lost ball players will be more conservative in their approach.
Finally, and I hate to admit it, but I am jealous of how Aussie rules guards their traditions -- things like the ANZAC Day clash and derbies between certain sides.
Probably the most precious tradition in rules is their Saturday grand final. To even suggest a change to that would be to threaten an outbreak of civil war.
* WE NEED every Titans fan to be behind us at Gold Coast Stadium on Saturday night.
This is a must-win game.
Sure, it would be great to sneak into the semi-finals, but that is not our concern now or why this game is so crucial.
The finals scenario will look after itself. We can make the finals by winning our last five games, but we can miss out by doing the same thing.
What I told the players this week is that they owe it to themselves to finish the season on a high note, whether as finalists or not.
Our fans are well and truly behind us. They realise what a tough road we have travelled and the effort that has been put in.
But there will always be the cynics out there who will claim that we folded under pressure.
Well, we have worked too hard for that.
http://www.goldcoast.com.au/
John Cartwright, Titans Coach
There is no question in my mind that a day finale is the way to go for two basic reasons -- the fans and the quality of the game.
Since 2001 the NRL moved to a Sunday night kickoff, primarily for commercial reasons. These commercial reasons cannot be flippantly dismissed.
Big money coming into the game filters down to the grassroots. So that may mean survival of a junior football club somewhere, or better facilities for patrons at games.
However against this is a mountain of evidence that points to the day finals being favoured by players and fans.
My feelings come from personal experience.
As a kid in Penrith I remember grand final day being a huge street party. Everyone seemed to be involved.
We would gather around for the mid-afternoon kick-off, cheer our team home and then be safely tucked up in bed by 8pm.
Years later, in 1991, I tasted grand final day from an entirely different perspective, as a player with the premiership-winning Panthers.
That day was special in so many ways, but what was so significant for me was the homecoming.
It was about 8pm on the Sunday night and I vividly remember our bus coming into Penrith and for kilometres the streets were crammed with fans waving and cheering us through.
A large contingent of these people were kids cheering on their heroes. It was a wonderful and emotional time. Then it was back to the Panthers clubhouse for one hell of a party.
Compare that to what happens these days.
With an 8pm kickoff, the game will go through to close to 10pm. Now kids are kids and no matter how much they want to be awake, many start stacking Zs well before the full-time whistle.
The victorious team will struggle to be out of Telstra Stadium before midnight, so there will never be the homecoming that we received at Penrith after the day final.
What about the interstate teams. It is well into the early morning before they get back to their home supporters. The next day is never the same.
When we won some players were still in their playing strip late that night, still wearing the mud and blood of battle. A parade the next day captures none of that. That rare euphoria that exists only on the day of victory has faded.
So for the fans and the players an afternoon grand final is the preference.
There is also one other aspect -- the quality of the game.
Everyone involved in rugby league, especially players and coaches, know night games do cause a slight reduction in attacking play.
As night falls so does the dew and so a slippery mist descends on everything, including the football.
All players will tell you that ball control at night is more difficult.
The end game, in the most crucial clash of the season, is to limit lost ball players will be more conservative in their approach.
Finally, and I hate to admit it, but I am jealous of how Aussie rules guards their traditions -- things like the ANZAC Day clash and derbies between certain sides.
Probably the most precious tradition in rules is their Saturday grand final. To even suggest a change to that would be to threaten an outbreak of civil war.
* WE NEED every Titans fan to be behind us at Gold Coast Stadium on Saturday night.
This is a must-win game.
Sure, it would be great to sneak into the semi-finals, but that is not our concern now or why this game is so crucial.
The finals scenario will look after itself. We can make the finals by winning our last five games, but we can miss out by doing the same thing.
What I told the players this week is that they owe it to themselves to finish the season on a high note, whether as finalists or not.
Our fans are well and truly behind us. They realise what a tough road we have travelled and the effort that has been put in.
But there will always be the cynics out there who will claim that we folded under pressure.
Well, we have worked too hard for that.
http://www.goldcoast.com.au/