The headlines are hitting hard – ‘Manly Sea Eagles risk losing home semi-final’ as Warringah Councils hiring fees threaten the venue and its attractiveness to the NRL.
However the concern that Manly may lose their home semi-final is nothing more than a scare campaign to try and force the Warringah Council into reducing their fees.
Yes, it’s true that Warringah Council do have excessive hiring fees on Brooky come semi-final time. Estimated at $75,000 for the night – however it seems to be a case of the NRL throwing the headlines out there in hope of scaring local Manly fans and generating plenty of heat on Warringah Council in the hope they bend over and drop the fees.
The NRL does have the right to move the game from Manly’s home ground of Brookvale Oval if financial conditions do not suit; however even if there was a deadlock between the council and the NRL – Manly fans would happily part with $20 each additional gate fees to ensure the game stays in Manly.
Prior to the headlines hitting the media outlets the NRL had not even approached the Council to discuss things. However this has changed today – with both parties arranging crisis meetings to avert this problem.
Don’t fret all you Manly fans, you will certainly have your home semi-final even if it costs you more at the gate. Even though everyone loves to hate Manly and they love being hated – no one deserves to lose their hard earned home semi-final.
We’d like to hear from you Manly fans – would you pay additional gate and ticket prices to ensure the game stays at Brookvale?