With key matches set in the National Rugby League and Australian Football League, Sydney is bracing itself "for the biggest weekend of football since ANZ Stadium was built more than a decade ago, and one of the biggest in the city's history," according to Brent Read of THE AUSTRALIAN. Two blockbuster finals will be played at ANZ Stadium over two nights, with "bragging rights hinging on which sport pulls the biggest crowd." Officials are optimistic both preliminary finals "could attract more than 70,000" to the Olympic venue, starting with Sydney's game against Collingwood on Friday night.
The following night it will be rugby league's turn as Canterbury and South Sydney meet, the winner to earn the right to play in this year's grand final at the same venue a week later.
The occasion "threatens to smash all manner of records." The Swans-Magpies game could set a record for AFL finals crowds outside Victoria. It could also exceed the largest AFL crowd outside Victoria. The NRL's preliminary final record is 74,549 for St. George Illawarra and Parramatta in '09 (THE AUSTRALIAN, 9/17).
