Parkes fans are not happy about the Tooheys New Group 11 grand final being scheduled for Dubbo on Sunday week, but their club has been given the opportunity to make big money by operating the bars.
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The Daily Liberal website has been flooded with online comments from disgruntled fans, while some others agreed that the games have to be played in Dubbo.
Some Parkes supporters have even suggested that Parkes and Forbes should move to Group 10.
That’s not the first time that has happened. Wellington also made that threat several times when not given grand final hosting.
However, Group 11 secretary Bob Walsh has defended the decision of his management committee to take the games to Apex Oval where he predicts a bigger crowd and in turn more monetary gain for all eight clubs involved in the competitions.
“When making tough decisions like allocating the venue for the grand finals we have to look at the big picture. Three of our clubs - Cobar, Nyngan and Narromine - are struggling and they need help. They have limited opportunities in their towns to gain revenue,” he said.
“This means we need to consider the best financial gain from the best possible venue. We believe we can achieve that in Dubbo.”
Cobar, Nyngan and Narromine clubs have been given food catering rights for the grand final and Parkes the bars.
The Group 11 management committee met in Parkes on Sunday after the major semi-final with president Ross McDermott (Dubbo) the chair.
Alongside him were Michael Greenwood and Derrick Hoe (Parkes), Bob Walsh and Tony Barlow (Narromine) and Paul Loxley (Dubbo).
“It wasn’t an easy decision to make in light of Parkes’ outstanding form,” Walsh said.
“But we believe taking the game to Dubbo and the excellent facilities on offer at Apex Oval will give us a better chance of drawing a bigger crowd there than at Parkes.
“Some people are saying that Parkes was assured of getting the game. That was never the case.”
In 2008 a gate of more than $25,000 was attracted to the big games, last year it was a similar amount but patrons were faced with an increase in admission fees.
Some fans are arguing that the grand finals should be hosted by the first team to qualify.
That has happened before on two occasions - at Cobar and Manildra and another year saw Forbes as hosts (a decision made by Group 11) - but on all three occasions the numbers were down.
This year’s final series have been topped with a gate of $8628 at Parkes on Sunday. Saturday night’s game between CYMS and Wellington drew only $4800 while the first two weeks at Forbes ($5938) and Dubbo ($6912) were only fair.
