The National Rugby League has been "rocked by a finals crowd-fudging scandal amid growing calls" to bring its grand final to Queensland, according to Honnery & Badel of the Brisbane COURIER-MAIL. Leaked crowd figures revealed a 15% inflation on the NRL's reported crowd attendance for Sydney games compared to actual crowd figures during this year's finals series. The scandal "has increased the pressure on the NRL to allow Queensland to host a grand final in Brisbane." A recorded 107,835 people "walked through the gates of ANZ and Allianz Stadium in the past three weeks" -- almost 15,000 fewer than the 123,030 reported by the NRL. Crowd numbers for several games were inflated, by as many as 5,474 people in some instances. An NRL spokesperson did not wish to comment on the crowd numbers but was "confident the figures we post for each finals game is accurate." The revelations about "number fudging" come on the back of figures showing ANZ Stadium averaged 14,410 people per game, "its worst year yet." Former rugby league player Wally Lewis said that "discussions should be held between the league and Sydney clubs to address the issue." Lewis: "You've got to look at what games were being played" (COURIER-MAIL, 9/28).
