Wasn’t there a time, when there would be something like two episodes of Frasier or that Cybil Shepherd sitcom after Burke’s Backyard before the Friday Night game? or was that super league?
Might have been before Super League, as that was on 8.30 Monday nights on Nine in 1997.
Burkes Backyard was always Friday nights.
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I thought it was during the Super League war that Nine aired Friday (and Monday) Night Football at 9.30pm.
Happy to be corrected on that if I’m wrong though.
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You might be right about Super League being 9.30, not 8.30.
Friday Night Football on Nine was always 8.30 in the 90s.
Premininary Finals
TWO UNMISSABLE BLOCKBUSTERS TO DECIDE THE NRL GRAND FINAL
Two mouthwatering blockbusters this week on Nine will decide the teams to meet in the NRL Grand Final on Sunday, October 6.
Nine will be the only place to watch both Preliminary Finals and the Grand Final LIVE, FREE and in HD.
On Friday Night Finals Footy, the Canberra Raiders play the South Sydney Rabbitohs at GIO Stadium in front of a sellout, hostile home crowd. The Raiders have momentum on their side and a lot to play for, having last appeared in an NRL Grand Final 25 years ago in 1994, when they defeated the Bulldogs.
Both teams are virtually unchanged from their previous game, although the Bunnies have lost damaging centre James Roberts through injury.
Having conceded 56 points in their past two games, Souths must tighten up their defence against a side who pride themselves on theirs. The three Burgess brothers, Sam, George and Tom, will have to defend Souths’ wall in what is being dubbed “The Battle of Britain”, when they line up against their English compatriots Josh Hodgson, Elliott Whitehead and John Bateman.
Souths have already braved the mad Canberra fans this season, beating the Green Machine, and they will be quietly confident of doing it again.
On Saturday Night Finals Footy , the Grand Final match-up many expected comes one week early as the two sides who made the decider last year meet again. The Sydney Roosters and Melbourne Storm have clashed twice this year in games that were match-of-the-year candidates, with a single point or two splitting the difference, indicating another grandstand finish is on the cards.
The Roosters have been in ominous form for several weeks but they will be without enforcer Jared Waerea-Hargreaves against a monster Melbourne pack that includes Nelson Asofa-Solamona, Jesse Bromwich and the tough Dale Finucane.
Roosters co-captain Jake Friend is trying to make a miracle return from injury and will be given until match day to prove his fitness. Whether Friend or young replacement hooker Sam Verrills runs out, they will be marking Cameron Smith, arguably the best player in the world, who burns for revenge after the Storm’s loss to the Roosters in the 2018 Grand Final.
Should the Storm prevail, it will be the final game for champion halfback Cooper Cronk, at the hands of the team where he made his name.
Round three of the NRL finals also sees the final regular round of the NRLW season, continuing on Saturday night when the Broncos face the Warriors, and on Sunday as the Dragons face the Roosters, with Grand Final spots still up for grabs.
As happened in the inaugural season of NRLW last year, all four teams are still eligible to qualify for the Grand Final, making every game crucial.
BROADCAST TIMES
Friday – September 27
1ST PRELIMINARY FINAL – Raiders vs Rabbitohs
Sydney 7.00pm LIVE on Nine
Brisbane 7.00pm LIVE on Nine
Melbourne 7.00pm LIVE on 9Gem
Adelaide 6.30pm LIVE on 9Gem
Perth 5.00pm LIVE on 9Gem
Saturday – September 28
NRLW – Broncos vs Warriors
Sydney 5.00pm LIVE on 9Gem
Brisbane 5.00pm LIVE on 9Gem
Melbourne 5.00pm LIVE on 9Gem
Adelaide 4.30pm LIVE on 9Gem
Perth 3.00pm LIVE on 9Gem
Saturday – September 28
2ND PRELIMINARY FINAL – Roosters vs Storm
Sydney 7.00pm LIVE on Nine
Brisbane 7.00pm LIVE on Nine
Melbourne 7.00pm LIVE on Nine
Adelaide 6.30pm LIVE on 9Gem
Perth 5.00pm LIVE on 9Gem
Sunday – September 29
NRLW – Dragons vs Roosters
Sydney 1.00pm LIVE on Nine
Brisbane 1.00pm LIVE on Nine
Melbourne 1.00pm LIVE on 9Gem
Adelaide 12.30pm LIVE on 9Gem
Perth 11.00am LIVE on 9Gem
FIVE DAYS OF FOOTY LIVE ON NINE
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26:
- MACCA’S GOLDEN POINT
Paul Vautin, Johnathan Thurston, Ruan Sims, Andrew Johns and Danika Mason join host James Bracey from 10.30pm AEST as the panel preview the action in the Preliminary Finals and NRLW matches in week three of Finals Footy on Nine.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27:
- 1ST PRELIMINARY FINAL – Raiders vs Rabbitohs , LIVE from GIO Stadium at 7.00pm AEST on Nine.
Host and commentators: Erin Molan, Paul Vautin, Peter Sterling, Billy Slater, Danika Mason, Brad Fittler, Johnathan Thurston, Darren Lockyer, Mat Thompson.
9Now extra feeds available: Player cam, coach cam, match statistics.
Live Blog on WWOS : Darren Lockyer.
NRL on Nine Instagram Takeover: Brad Fittler.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28:
- SATURDAY FOOTY – NRLW ROUND 3: Broncos vs Warriors, LIVE from the Sydney Cricket Ground at 5.00pm AEST on 9Gem.
Host and commentators: James Bracey, Peter Psaltis, Ruan Sims, Phil Gould, Allana Ferguson.
- 2ND PRELIMINARY FINAL – Roosters vs Storm , LIVE from the Sydney Cricket Ground at 7.00pm AEST on Nine.
Host and commentators: James Bracey, Ray Warren, Phil Gould, Andrew Johns, Brad Fittler, Billy Slater, Johnathan Thurston, Danika Mason, Paul Gallen.
9Now extra feeds available: Player cam, coach cam, match statistics.
Live Blog on WWOS : Paul Gallen.
NRL on Nine Instagram Takeover: Billy Slater.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29:
-
SPORTS SUNDAY – Sunday at 10.00am AEST, LIVE on Nine. This week: host James Bracey is joined by Australian netball superstar Liz Ellis, former AFL champion Shane Crawford, recently retired Cronulla Sharks legend Paul Gallen, journalist Neil Breen, and more.
-
SUNDAY NRL FOOTY SHOW – LIVE from 11.00am AEST on Nine. Host Erin Molan will cover all the action of the third week of the finals so far with Peter Sterling, Brad Fittler and Darren Lockyer, with guests including Adam “Mad Dog” MacDougall, Mark Hughes and Robbie O’Davis.
-
SUNDAY FOOTY – NRLW ROUND 3: Roosters vs Dragons, LIVE from Leichhardt Oval at 1.00pm AEST on Nine.
Host and commentators: James Bracey, Phil Gould, Jo Barrett, Peter Psaltis, Allana Ferguson.
- SUNDAY FOOTY – Canterbury Cup NSW: Grand Final – Newtown Jets vs Wentworthville Magpies, LIVE from Bankwest Stadium at 3.00pm AEST on Nine for NSW viewers ONLY.
Host and commentators: Peter Psaltis, Jamie Soward, Danika Mason.
- SUNDAY FOOTY: Intrust Cup QLD Grand Final – Wynnum Manly Seagulls vs Burleigh Bears, LIVE from Dolphin Stadium at 3.00pm AEST on Nine for QLD viewers ONLY.
Host and commentators: Mark Braybrook, Scott Sattler, Adam Jackson.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 30:
- 100% FOOTY – 9.50pm AEST on Nine. 100% Footy is the home of the strongest opinions in rugby league from the people who count. Phil Gould returns with Paul Gallen, alongside Darren Lockyer, journalist Neil Breen and host James Bracey.
PODCAST – SIX TACKLES WITH GUS
- James Bracey discusses the biggest issues of the week with rugby league legend and expert commentator Phil Gould on Six Tackles with Gus .
This week:
- A preview of both Preliminary Finals
- Who will have the mental edge, injury concerns, and scouting the opposition teams
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Yes both were 9:30pm on Nine in 1997 to get both parties to get back together again the following year.
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I detected an obvious bit of Roosters bias in the commentary tonight.
When Joseph Manu had a try disallowed from a kick as James Tedesco was ruled to have touched the ball in flight (it touched his thumb), Andrew Johns complained that the try should have been allowed - his remark was “I don’t care if it touched his thumb”.
Sorry Joey, a knock on is a knock on.
I thought it was about ratings? A post on reddit suggests Nine didn’t want to move Water Rats from its Monday 8:30pm slot to air Super League?
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Roosters and Raiders Grand Final next Sunday. Big Ratings in NSW, as usual for the Final.
Numbers will be down in Melbourne now, with their loss tonight.
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Ratings will be huge in regional NSW too, especially with Canberra playing.
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You’d think this year’s NRL Grand Final could very well get over 100k viewers in Canberra (which to put things into perspective, is probably the national capital equivalent of 1 million in Sydney) with the Raiders playing?
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The Sunday Telegraph’s Phil Rothfield writes next Sunday’s NRL Grand Final at ANZ Stadium will include crossbar cameras at both ends of the playing field for the very first time. The cameras are of similar quality to cricket’s stump cam.
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My top 10:
10: ARL on ESPN (yes that actually happened in glorious 360p NTSC signal on Optus Vision) - it was Western suburbs Magpies v North Sydney Bears on Friday night, the only reason why it was on ESPN was because there was a Super League International between New Zealand v England which was broadcast on Nine on Friday night (I think it was the Easter round)
09: 1st round of 1996 season, it was a write off as the Super League aligned sides basically did not turn up to play against the ARL sides.
08: the slogan used by the ARL in 1997 “It’s my Game” … what were they thinking.
07: The Penrith Cats (yes they were gonna use the name Cats as they were not allowed to use Panthers after the 1st court case).
06: Cronulla Dolphins … Yes that was almost a thing.
05: New Zealand in Super League version of State of Origin being called “Tri Series Internationals” … only 1 international team and two state teams … yeah real good marketing there.
04: South East QLD Crushers (remember them?) getting something like 1,000 people to attend their home games at Lang Park in 1997, they basically decided to open the gates and they actually drew less people giving the game away for free.
03: ARL 1997 Top 7 finals series that made no sense at all, poor North Sydney Bears got duded due to that final series make up.
02: 1997 Cronulla v Brisbane Super League GF being an absolute fizzer of a game
and the number 1 ridiculous moments of the Super League War?
01: Adelaide Rams, enough said.
Honorable mention, the ARL actually had started the concept of a Melbourne based Rugby League side in late 1994 for a 1997 launch, they were gonna name them the “Melbourne City United”, it was basically going to be a ARL side based in Sydney being relocated to Melbourne, that team was either Balmain Tigers or the Eastern Suburb Roosters.
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Because they were the establishment, being the clubs that didn’t defect to Super League.
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Let’s be realistic here: Probably the single highlight for rugby league in Australia during 1997 was the ARL Grand Final with a thrilling finish that has only been rivalled since by the 2015 & 2016 NRL Grand Finals?
But back to the topic at hand, Nine’s coverage of the game. Do we think this will be Ray Warren’s final call or will he return next year?
Which IIRC they renamed themselves to the Sydney Tigers and the Sydney City Roosters lol
I don’t think he will go unless they push him out. He really should have retired a few years ago.
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I’d like to think it will be his swansong, but according to the Daily Telegraph, Nine apparently wants him for another year.
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The story is originally from Phil Rothfield
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/fallout-in-the-nine-commentary-box-david-klemmers-generosity-and-flanno-to-the-dragons/news-story/86bde887bc19f24e9084a2dd572a2129
Interestingly, Phil Rothfield and Erin Molan worked together on the 2GB Continous Call Team yesterday.
Yes, I recall the NSWRL (it was still that name in 1994 before switching to ARL for start of 95’ season) did have such plans, remember Bulldogs, Tigers and Rosters all changed their “home name” to Sydney, the Roosters kep the name even though they don’t represent Sydney at all but you know whatever.
The other was one was the merge the St George Dragons with the Eastern Suburb Roosters.
There were also plans to merge the Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs with the Western Suburb Magpies and have the team based out at Liverpool/Hoxton Park, they tried twice, once in the early 80’s and again in 1992.
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