Todd GreenbergGETTY IMAGES
National Rugby League CEO Todd Greenberg "defended the game's decision to hold next week's preliminary final at Allianz Stadium, predicting the game would only draw a crowd of up to 50,000," according to Matt Encarnacion of the AAP. Greenberg confirmed that, under the NRL finals policy, the location of the grand final qualifier "is at the behest of the governing body" and that the league "wanted to reward the minor premiers." He said, "The discretion is for us to play it at the right stadium. We think we're playing in the right stadium. If we put a house-full sign up, that's a good thing for the game. We think, in a forecast number, that looks maybe somewhere between 40,000-50,000 crowd. And that's why we're playing at Allianz." The capacity at Allianz Stadium is 45,500 and Greenberg believes the NRL would be criticized "no matter which way" it went. He said, "If we get 45,000 and we play it at ANZ, I know there'll be criticism: 'Why aren't we playing it at Allianz?' If there's 55,000, there'll be criticism saying, 'You could've got more'" (AAP, 9/12).
