The NRL has ruled out playing a preliminary final at GIO Stadium in Canberra stating that under the current finals format any teams based in Sydney, Newcastle, Wollongong and Canberra MUST play their preliminary finals at their ANZ Stadium at Homebush or Allianz Stadium in Sydney.
This ridiculous ruling means that if results go a certain way the Raiders may not play a single finals game at their home ground, GIO Stadium in Canberra.
GIO Stadium has a capacity of 25,011. The NRL however feels that a match the magnitude of preliminary final will attract more people at a bigger stadium, even if that stadium is, on a good day, 3 hours away.
As a result of this stupidity some Canberra Raiders supporters have started an online petition to try and get the NRL to make a common sense decision.
The petition titled NRL – Let the Canberra Raiders play at home already has over 1,600 signatures.
Whether the NRL listens to supporters is anyone’s guess. In my opinion it is absolutely ridiculous to think that a team in a regional area such as Canberra or Newcastle should have to go and play potentially their biggest game of the season in Sydney.
If you would like to sign the petition CLICK HERE
