Finals - No difference between 4th and 5th?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Costaki
  • Start date Start date
C

Costaki

Guest
I remember reading somewhere that the first week of the finals this year are going to be played at the regional grounds like the SFS or ANZ for example rather than say Kogarah, Leichhardt or Campbeltown.

If this is true then there may be no difference if we finish 4th or 5th if the Dragons finish either 4th or 5th as well. Either way the first semi will be at the SFS (I assume? or ANZ?). So the home ground advantage will mean absolutely nothing.

Similarly if we finish 7th and play the Sea Eagles the game will be at the SFS as well.

It takes the reward out of finishing higher on the ladder. I totally understand that the NRL want to get as many people in as possible, but it seems a bit unfair, especially for Sydney teams.

It'll be great for us if we finish 5th or 7th but not so good if we jag that top 4 spot and play the dragons.

http://www.theroar.com.au/2010/12/01/sydney-nrl-finals-move-to-bigger-venues/
 
I think it will only matter if Cowboys finish 4th and we finish 5th. Warriors crowds are generally good and it is a nice place to play. So if it looks like Cowboys are going to finish 4th then I hope we finish 6th or 7th.
 
That is true, however if the Warriors finish 4th we're going to have to go over to NZ to play them. Anyway, a side from the home ground advantage we want to finish as high up the ladder as possible in case we lose our first finals game and the teams lower than us cause upsets we could be out in the first week. Happened to Warriors last year - I think they finished 5th and they were knocked out the first week of the finals!
 
@Costaki said:
I remember reading somewhere that the first week of the finals this year are going to be played at the regional grounds like the SFS or ANZ for example rather than say Kogarah, Leichhardt or Campbeltown.

If this is true then there may be no difference if we finish 4th or 5th if the Dragons finish either 4th or 5th as well. Either way the first semi will be at the SFS (I assume? or ANZ?). So the home ground advantage will mean absolutely nothing.

Similarly if we finish 7th and play the Sea Eagles the game will be at the SFS as well.

It takes the reward out of finishing higher on the ladder. I totally understand that the NRL want to get as many people in as possible, but it seems a bit unfair, especially for Sydney teams.

It'll be great for us if we finish 5th or 7th but not so good if we jag that top 4 spot and play the dragons.

http://www.theroar.com.au/2010/12/01/sydney-nrl-finals-move-to-bigger-venues/
Click to expand...

I suppose the main differences would be three things
1 We would have the home dressing room doesn't sound much but at least they are in familiar surroundings before the game
2 1 further step away from being eliminated 1st week of semis if we lose and a slight higher chance we could get through as 1 of the two highest qualifiers after the first week if we win
3 If we win and get highest 2 qualifiers we get another home game (very important )
 
I understand about not getting kicked out in the first week and possibly getting the week off, or not having to go to NZ.

but in all likelihood melbourne and manly will win first up and it won't make any difference at all (assuming we play the dragons).
 
@Costaki said:
I understand about not getting kicked out in the first week and possibly getting the week off, or not having to go to NZ.

but in all likelihood melbourne and manly will win first up and it won't make any difference at all (assuming we play the dragons).
Click to expand...

Well Costaki ponder these games first week of semis
Melbourne v Souths
Manly v Warriors
Brisbane v Saints
Tigers v Cowboys
I'd give the Warriors and the saints at least a 50-50 shot and if Souths put it all together on the day they could trouble Melbourne (not saying they would win though)
 
As I understand it, it only matters in terms of hosting the final in week 1.

Finishing 4th and winning is no better than finishing 5th and winning the opening game. You're not going to be a higher placed finisher than 1st-3rd nor can you be a lower placed loser than 6th-8th.
 
Also the "safety" of finishing 4th over 5th is non existent. If two out of 6th - 8th win their game which is highly possible this year the loser of the semi is out so you must win the opening game and take the results out of other teams hands and ensure that you are safe for at least one week
 
Anything could happen. The point I was making is that when a Sydney team plays a Sydney team in the first week of the finals the home ground advantage will be lost.

I'm not sure I agree with that, I thinks its really unfair for the team that finishes higher, although i can see why the NRL wants to do it.
\
\
Apart from that the whole NRL finals system is bad, and the AFL system is much better, but we could argue about that until the end of time.
 
@Costaki said:
Anything could happen. The point I was making is that when a Sydney team plays a Sydney team in the first week of the finals the home ground advantage will be lost.

I'm not sure I agree with that, I thinks its really unfair for the team that finishes higher, although i can see why the NRL wants to do it.
\
\
Apart from that the whole NRL finals system is bad, and the AFL system is much better, but we could argue about that until the end of time.
Click to expand...

Agree about the AFL system
1v4
2v3
5v8
6v7
 
Manly has already said that if they play us in the finals and it's their 'home' game they will take it to ANZ stadium and not the SFS.

The difference between 4th and 5th is huge. 5th and we could face north queensland in townsville, or the warriors in NZ.

4th and we play out of the SFS.

Big difference in my opinion.
 
Apart from that the whole NRL finals system is bad, and the AFL system is much better, but we could argue about that until the end of time.

I used to think that the AFL system was better but I like the NRL system because it's not a true home and away system and most times the difference between 3rd and 6th is only 2-4 pts or and sometimes only for and against separates teams. In other words team 4 may finish 2 points ahead of team 5 but team 5 had to play Melbourne twice, play Brisbane at Suncorp, Manly at Brookvale and team 4 had Titans twice, Parra twice and St. George during Origin.
Every team has to be at their best the day of their semi final otherwise there is a chance of elimination, exept for teams 1 and 2.
\
\
Posted using RoarFEED
 
ABC coverage. The interesting part of this one is right at the bottom

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-08-23/marshall-court/2851660

Sydney man who says he was punched by Benji Marshall has denied racially abusing the Wests Tigers NRL star.

Soliman Naimey gave evidence in Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court this morning.

Marshall is accused of punching Mr Naimey in the face during a fight in inner Sydney's The Rocks in March.

The 26-year-old five-eighth was at the time the poster boy for the NRL's 2011 season.

Mr Naimey told the court he yelled at Marshall that Brisbane Broncos star Darren Lockyer was better than him outside a McDonald's Restaurant in the early hours of the morning.

Mr Naimay said Marshall then approached him and hit him in the face, knocking him backwards and leaving him with a bloody lip.

He denied suggestions from the defence that after the Lockyer comment he called Marshall a "black c***".

The 24-year-old told the court that after he was assaulted by Marshall he was then punched a second time by a friend of the NRL star.
**Police have tendered security camera footage and a recording of a triple-0 call as evidence.\
\
But the court heard the alleged assault itself was not captured by CCTV.**
 
Another negative with the AFL system is that if either team 1 or 2 lose in the first week of the finals then they cannot meet in the grand final. If they meet at all, it will be in the week before the grand final - as happened last year.

And, yet another negative is that the loser of the 1x4 and 2x3 matches in week 1 are rewarded with home finals in week 2
 
@prattenpark said:
And, yet another negative is that the loser of the 1x4 and 2x3 matches in week 1 are rewarded with home finals in week 2
Click to expand...

That's a positive. If you finish first or second, and lose first week, you should still get a home final in the next round IMO.
 
Main difference between 4th and fifth is that as far as I'm aware a top 4 team has never been eliminated in week one (although it's technically possible) where as the fifth placed team has been eliminated a number of times…
 
@Colonel said:
Main difference between 4th and fifth is that as far as I'm aware a top 4 team has never been eliminated in week one (although it's technically possible) where as the fifth placed team has been eliminated a number of times…
Click to expand...

That's an interesting statistic more than anything else. Apart from playing at home there is no difference at all between being 4th and 5th.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Staff online

Members online

Total: 580 (members: 29, guests: 551)
Back
Top