NRL

You’d think the Shire was 300km away in Canberra.

For while the Sharks season rolls on after a 26-16 defeat of the North Queensland Cowboys, the poor fan turnout for their ‘home’ elimination final was another inescapable talking point. 

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The game may have been moved, but it was abundantly clear that thousands of Sharks fans weren’t budging from their sofas.

Having earned the right to home-field advantage by finishing the home and away season in 5th spot, the Sharks wanted to play the match in the heart of the Shire. But the NRL had other ideas.

Entire sections of empty seats is not a good look and the decision to shift the match to Allianz Stadium delivered an embarrassing outcome for the NRL and Sharks with only 17,429 fans turning up for the elimination final — one of the lowest finals crowds seen at Moore Park this century.

The irony, of course, is that last night’s crowd figure is still more than the current 15,000 capacity of Ocean Protect Stadium.

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‘Disappointing and embarrassing’ says Hynes

While happy his team had seen off the Cowboys to face either the Roosters or Panthers in Week 2 of the NRL finals, star halfback Nicho Hynes didn’t hold back after the game.

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Hynes admitted on Channel 9 that the sea of empty seats was far from ideal, describing the turnout as ‘disappointing and embarrassing’ although he was quick to defend the Sharks supporters who did show up.

Speaking after the match coach Craig Fitzgibbon suggested the NRL should have told the club about the venue change earlier, while admitting he felt for the club’s members and fans.

“It’s not our decision,” Fitzgibbon reiterated.

“For (the team) we are happy to play here, it’s semifinals and we want to play at a big stadium.

“But our members and fans pay their money all year to watch their team play semifinals and play at home, and we earnt that, but they didn’t get that.”

Just 24 hours earlier, the Rabbitohs-Knights elimination final at the same venue was attended by 28,152 fans.

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