NRL NRL 2023 - Finals Week 1

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Friday 8th September
Brisbane vs Melbourne (Suncorp Stadium - 19:50)

Saturday 9th September
Penrith vs New Zealand (BlueBet Stadium - 16:05)
Cronulla-Sutherland vs Sydney Roosters (PointsBet Stadium - 19:50)

Sunday 10th September
Newcastle vs Canberra ([McDonald Jones Stadium- 16:05)

 

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[moto748]

Melbourne
Penrith
Sharks
Knights

 

[LukeParkerno1]

All home teams win.

On a side note, whoever is allowing finals to be held at Penrith and Cronulla needs to be fired. Cronulla holding 12k to a final? Come off it. I get the fact that Allianz is the Roosters home ground, but you could literally give Sharks fans access for 3 days and then sell the rest for Roosters/general public. Enough is enough if the NRL is going to move forward and it's been a brilliant year we can't have finals at Cronulla and Penrith. Penrith should be playing at the Olympic Stadium or Parra.

 

[moto748]

Surely, you either get home advantage, or you don't? it can't come down to stadium size.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

Surely, you either get home advantage, or you don't? it can't come down to stadium size.

Look at the AFL you don’t see St Kilda playing at Marvel or the Cats at Geelong (aside from 1 final years ago vs Freo). Just feel finals should not be held at 12k stadiums it’s ridiculous. Personally it should be home city finals not home ground.

 

[Aucklander]

Look at the AFL you don’t see St Kilda playing at Marvel or the Cats at Geelong (aside from 1 final years ago vs Freo). Just feel finals should not be held at 12k stadiums it’s ridiculous. Personally it should be home city finals not home ground.

I don't want the Warriors next game at Eden Park.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

I don't want the Warriors next game at Eden Park.

Yep though I get why. Could even get 50k there

 

[Aucklander]

Yep though I get why. Could even get 50k there

Absolutely all while losing our greatest advantage.

 

[nobbyiscool]

All home teams win.

On a side note, whoever is allowing finals to be held at Penrith and Cronulla needs to be fired. Cronulla holding 12k to a final? Come off it. I get the fact that Allianz is the Roosters home ground, but you could literally give Sharks fans access for 3 days and then sell the rest for Roosters/general public. Enough is enough if the NRL is going to move forward and it's been a brilliant year we can't have finals at Cronulla and Penrith. Penrith should be playing at the Olympic Stadium or Parra.

Thing is their stadia don't fill up in the first week of the finals. And I quite like the nostalgia of playing finals in small grounds and retaining maximum home ground advantage, at least for week 1.

We get enough homogenised, soulless bullshit in rugby league, AFL, cricket, football et al - I really like this point of difference, especially if the alternative is a team like the Roosters hosting a final they didn't earn.

Also, Penrith stadium rules. Rugby league is such a tv product, I suspect they love the look and sound of a packed Penrith crowd, as opposed to getting maybe 25k at Homebush.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

Thing is their stadia don't fill up in the first week of the finals. And I quite like the nostalgia of playing finals in small grounds and retaining maximum home ground advantage, at least for week 1.

We get enough homogenised, soulless bullshit in rugby league, AFL, cricket, football et al - I really like this point of difference, especially if the alternative is a team like the Roosters hosting a final they didn't earn.

Also, Penrith stadium rules. Rugby league is such a tv product, I suspect they love the look and sound of a packed Penrith crowd, as opposed to getting maybe 25k at Homebush.

I wouldn’t play it at Allianz and I agree with you there. Could easily play it at Parra or even Kograh (20k capacity). Honestly it feels bad with 12k capacities for me it doesn’t feel like a final and that’s the issue for me. I’d personally rather go home city finals.

 

[Greenstar5]

I'm very stuck on the fence with this.

One hand will probably get 4 sell outs across the week 1 venues. Teams get their home venues.

We will never know but do you think Panthers Warriors on Sat afternoon at homebush would get more than 30k? Probably not.

Then on the other side we just built a 800 million dollar stadiums that is sitting empty and choosing to play at a construction site that fits a handful.

 

[Jatz]

* the rest of them, if a team has earned the home final, they should be free to play it wherever they want.

Don't like it? Earn a home final then.

 

[Jatz]

Thing is their stadia don't fill up in the first week of the finals. And I quite like the nostalgia of playing finals in small grounds and retaining maximum home ground advantage, at least for week 1.

We get enough homogenised, soulless bullshit in rugby league, AFL, cricket, football et al - I really like this point of difference, especially if the alternative is a team like the Roosters hosting a final they didn't earn.

Also, Penrith stadium rules. Rugby league is such a tv product, I suspect they love the look and sound of a packed Penrith crowd, as opposed to getting maybe 25k at Homebush.

It would make zero sense to move it to Allianz (Roosters home game), which then means it gets moved to Parramatta (40km away from Cronulla).

Both are terrible options for the Sharks that earned the right to a home final.

 

[Aucklander]

Huge if SJ is out. Hopefully, it's just a ploy.

Huge game tonight.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

Huge if SJ is out. Hopefully, it's just a ploy.

Huge game tonight.

He’s out it’s smart try and win the semi at home

 

[Jatz]

He’s out it’s smart try and win the semi at home

He's no guarantee to play next week - calves are particularly tricky to overcome.

 

[moto748]

It's a massive blow if he doesn't play.

 

[Aucklander]

He's no guarantee to play next week - calves are particularly tricky to overcome.

Especially at his age.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

He's no guarantee to play next week - calves are particularly tricky to overcome.

They will gamble next week

 

[Aucklander]

They will gamble next week

No choice really.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

No choice really.

Correct and it’s the right call

 

[Chief]

I scrambled and put up the finals matches in tipping:

https://www.bigfooty.com/forum/pickem/picks/2023-nrl-board-tipping.126/?week_id=336

We'll do a H&A winner when Aucklander picks the winner in some arbitrary fashion - perhaps most picks but that sounds crazy.

So keep tipping and stuff.

 

[juss]

I think I'd tip Brisbane at home, but the Storm dominance over the Broncos is pretty compelling.

In front of a massive crowd on a Friday night in a final for a PF spot though it's harder to predict.

Hoping for a Storm win but not feeling confident. I do love the Pap back in the side though.