Parramatta versus St George Illawarra marks the final Monday Night NRL fixture for now as Foxtel moves the game to a Friday night.

I wish to say goodbye to a friend, sometimes overlooked far too often.

Well, I didn’t have Foxtel for a few of those years.

It all began in 2007 and has been ratings gold for Fox Sports ever since.

But after ten good but not great years the traditional Monday night game will move to the new traditional Friday 6pm timeslot.

Some will miss it.

Some being about the average crowd numbers to attend Monday Night Football in person. Some will welcome the new Friday night straight after work straight to the pub timeslot. The extra game being an excuse to have an extra beverage or two.

For the rest it will be great background noise as Melbourne takes on either Cronulla, Manly, Souths or Parra. A nice warm up to the Broncos or the Bulldogs game on Channel Nine.

Where do people sit on the subject of Monday v Friday night NRL?

The pro Monday argument

It allowed a good enough excuse to visit a local watering hole early in the week. What better way to convince loved ones to go to the pub under the guise of NRL. Until you get Foxtel anyway.

Another good thing is that it extended the sporting weekend to Monday.

Giving rugby league fans an extra night of authority with the TV Remote. Pre-Have You Been Paying Attention there was nothing else to watch, so without Monday night rugby league it’s over to a Kitchen Show, Renovation, Someone covering Hallelujah for the 100th time or any dross served up by the ABC.

The anti Monday night rugby league argument

That come Monday the sporting weekend should be over.

After watching Thursday and Friday night football, Super Saturday, The All Sydney NRL clash on a Sunday afternoon, Both F1 Free Practice Sessions, V8 Supercars first three laps before getting bored because it is not Bathurst, five minutes of an AFL game to try and get into AFL because you know you should before switching over to the NSW Cup rugby League, Races 4-8 at Eagle Farm, Sydney and Melbourne but not Morphettville, Intrust Super Cup, the early game of EPL, watching the split screen of 4 EPL games at once to ensure you are keeping an eye on your multi selections, refreshing the BBC Live Scores updates to keep an eye on three EFL Football League divisions, flicking between French, Spanish and German but not Italian football on BeIn Sports, USPGA Golf Tour, avoiding all non major Tennis, F1 qualifying and race, after watching both GP2 and GP3 races, and UK Super League one has reached sporting saturation by Monday night.

Plus tipsters all round the nation would much rather have their results on Sunday evening ready for the next week’s selections. The three day turnaround is causing fatigue for NRL Tipping punters everywhere. Especially in the post Origin period.

There’s been some great times on a Monday night though.

If I had to name one I couldn’t, I’d name them all.

But since you’re asking, and you’re not, there is one that sticks in the mind.

Who could forget the magical night when the South Sydney turned the table on the Roosters to produce the best piece of rugby league commentary since Alan Thomas declared Wally had the ball before a shower of cans rained on the old Lang Park.

Having been declared that not even Souths could lose from here with less than five minutes to go in Round 1 2012, the Rabbitohs duly provided the first class choke.

With that in mind the Rabbitohs secured an even better comeback when they beat the Roosters despite being down by 10 point with less than two minutes remaining. The call should go into sports calling folklore.

It has also provided one of rugby league’s saddest moments with the unfortunate incident involving Alex McKinnon in Melbourne.

In between it has provided the perfect accompaniment or ending to the week of rugby league at times. Or just another NRL game. We’re not quite sure how we feel to be honest.

The one good thing is we now don’t need to wait until Monday for the gold, it comes early on a Friday night.

MONDAY NIGHT NRL STATISTICS

With just a relatively meaningless Parramatta v Dragons game to go, we think it’s time to run through the statistics of crowds, win, and games of Monday night rugby league.

For the sporting nerd, here’s some of our best.

TOTAL GAMES MONDAY NIGHT NRL PLAYED

Is anyone surprised that Melbourne top the total of games played? Possibly. I would have thought Sharks. What about Broncos and NZ Warriors with the least? No.

Monday Night Football Total Games V3

TOTAL GAMES HOME AND AWAY

Monday Night Football Home and Away Games Split V3

AVERAGE MONDAY NIGHT CROWDS

Monday Night Football Average Crowd V3

Started off with a bang in 2007, but has ultimately dropped over the 10 years. But there were two periods of slight improvement over those 10 years, including the last two seasons.

AVERAGE MONDAY NIGHT CROWDS PER CLUB

The Broncos are no surprise, and should be at the top given their one town status. Newcastle also represent an entire city, but their position at second is mildly surprising. Two of the coldest places are in the bottom three.

Monday Night Football Average Crowd per Club V3

OVERALL MONDAY NIGHT RECORD

Canberra are the kings of Monday night wins, just ahead of Melbourne and Penrith. The Sharks and Dragons can battle for the poorest Monday night record as well as local bragging rights.

Monday Night Football Win Loss Record V3

RECORD HOME AND AWAY

Newcastle winning over 70% of their home matches, and most teams have a pro home record. The only exception is the Roosters, and the Warriors who haven’t played any in NZ for obvious reasons.

Monday Night Football Win Loss Record Home Away V3

MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL HONOUR ROLL

 Sydney Roosters6-18 South Sydney Rabbitohs2007
 Gold Coast Titans18-16 Cronulla Sharks2007
 Canberra Raiders48-18 Newcastle Knights2007
 Cronulla Sharks40-4 St George Illawarra Dragons2007
 Canberra Raiders37-28 Sydney Roosters2007
 North Queensland Cowboys6-10 South Sydney Rabbitohs2007
 Newcastle Knights20-16 Cronulla Sharks2007
 Gold Coast Titans10-24 North Queensland Cowboys2007
 Melbourne Storm38-14 Canterbury Bulldogs2007
 Manly Sea Eagles18-6 Brisbane Broncos2007
 Parramatta Eels30-6 New Zealand Warriors2007
 Wests Tigers10-38 Parramatta Eels2007
 St George Illawarra Dragons16-20 Cronulla Sharks2007
 Newcastle Knights22-18 Canberra Raiders2007
 Brisbane Broncos48-18 Wests Tigers2007
 Canterbury Bulldogs38-6 Sydney Roosters2007
 Parramatta Eels10-34 Newcastle Knights2007
 Melbourne Storm44-0 Newcastle Knights2007
 Brisbane Broncos16-20 Parramatta Eels2007
 Wests Tigers54-10 North Queensland Cowboys2007
 Cronulla Sharks16-17 Melbourne Storm2007
 Penrith Panthers26-30 (OT) North Queensland Cowboys2007
 South Sydney Rabbitohs24-18 Manly Sea Eagles2007
 St George Illawarra Dragons14-6 Parramatta Eels2007
 Melbourne Storm32-18 New Zealand Warriors2008
 St George Illawarra Dragons30-12 Gold Coast Titans2008
 Manly Sea Eagles52-6 New Zealand Warriors2008
 Wests Tigers8-30 Penrith Panthers2008
 South Sydney Rabbitohs10-12 Cronulla Sharks2008
 Canberra Raiders16-23 Melbourne Storm2008
 Melbourne Storm18-4 Newcastle Knights2008
 Canberra Raiders38-10 South Sydney Rabbitohs2008
 Canterbury Bulldogs30-22 Cronulla Sharks2008
 Sydney Roosters19-10 Wests Tigers2008
 Gold Coast Titans18-0 Melbourne Storm2008
 North Queensland Cowboys18-30 Newcastle Knights2008
 South Sydney Rabbitohs24-23 Gold Coast Titans2008
 Canberra Raiders24-36 Cronulla Sharks2008
 Canterbury Bulldogs30-34 (OT) South Sydney Rabbitohs2008
 Wests Tigers18-30 Melbourne Storm2008
 Melbourne Storm26-0 St George Illawarra Dragons2008
 St George Illawarra Dragons30-0 Canterbury Bulldogs2008
 Newcastle Knights32-12 Parramatta Eels2008
 Gold Coast Titans10-32 Newcastle Knights2008
 Parramatta Eels40-12 Wests Tigers2008
 Penrith Panthers8-40 Melbourne Storm2008
 Manly Sea Eagles28-10 Gold Coast Titans2008
 Wests Tigers34-26 Canberra Raiders2009
 Cronulla Sharks12-24 Newcastle Knights2009
 Manly Sea Eagles10-12 Penrith Panthers2009
 Canberra Raiders23-18 North Queensland Cowboys2009
 Canterbury Bulldogs14-12 South Sydney Rabbitohs2009
 Wests Tigers16-6 Melbourne Storm2009
 Penrith Panthers34-20 Gold Coast Titans2009
 Sydney Roosters10-28 Melbourne Storm2009
 Melbourne Storm46-6 Canberra Raiders2009
 North Queensland Cowboys36-10 Newcastle Knights2009
 South Sydney Rabbitohs18-34 Canberra Raiders2009
 Gold Coast Titans28-24 St George Illawarra Dragons2009
 Parramatta Eels6-23 Wests Tigers2009
 Cronulla Sharks46-12 Brisbane Broncos2009
 Newcastle Knights25-20 South Sydney Rabbitohs2009
 Manly Sea Eagles19-12 Canterbury Bulldogs2009
 Gold Coast Titans18-10 Parramatta Eels2009
 Parramatta Eels18-16 Melbourne Storm2009
 South Sydney Rabbitohs40-20 Sydney Roosters2009
 Wests Tigers19-18 Manly Sea Eagles2009
 Brisbane Broncos30-10 Cronulla Sharks2009
 Newcastle Knights26-14 Melbourne Storm2009
 Canterbury Bulldogs28-4 Sydney Roosters2009
 Canberra Raiders30-14 Newcastle Knights2009
 Wests Tigers26-22 Manly Sea Eagles2010
 Canberra Raiders22-14 Brisbane Broncos2010
 Cronulla Sharks8-30 South Sydney Rabbitohs2010
 South Sydney Rabbitohs38-16 Canterbury Bulldogs2010
 Parramatta Eels14-24 Canberra Raiders2010
 Melbourne Storm16-18 Manly Sea Eagles2010
 Manly Sea Eagles22-24 Gold Coast Titans2010
 Sydney Roosters14-32 North Queensland Cowboys2010
 Manly Sea Eagles10-19 Parramatta Eels2010
 Penrith Panthers31-16 Canterbury Bulldogs2010
 Gold Coast Titans16-30 Sydney Roosters2010
 South Sydney Rabbitohs32-4 North Queensland Cowboys2010
 Melbourne Storm6-38 Sydney Roosters2010
 Newcastle Knights6-4 Parramatta Eels2010
 Canberra Raiders10-18 Canterbury Bulldogs2010
 St George Illawarra Dragons8-32 Penrith Panthers2010
 Parramatta Eels36-24 North Queensland Cowboys2010
 Wests Tigers26-16 North Queensland Cowboys2010
 Brisbane Broncos30-34 Sydney Roosters2010
 Newcastle Knights32-14 Manly Sea Eagles2010
 Canberra Raiders30-26 Penrith Panthers2010
 St George Illawarra Dragons32-10 Manly Sea Eagles2010
 Sydney Roosters14-23 Gold Coast Titans2010
 Canterbury Bulldogs18-24 Penrith Panthers2010
 Canterbury Bulldogs24-14 Wests Tigers2011
 Cronulla Sharks16-10 St George Illawarra Dragons2011
 North Queensland Cowboys34-6 Melbourne Storm2011
 Melbourne Storm30-16 Canterbury Bulldogs2011
 Brisbane Broncos17-6 Newcastle Knights2011
 South Sydney Rabbitohs0-16 St George Illawarra Dragons2011
 Melbourne Storm14-18 New Zealand Warriors2011
 Manly Sea Eagles20-0 Canberra Raiders2011
 Gold Coast Titans12-16 Manly Sea Eagles2011
 Parramatta Eels40-6 Cronulla Sharks2011
 Penrith Panthers22-10 South Sydney Rabbitohs2011
 Wests Tigers17-16 (OT) Newcastle Knights2011
 Melbourne Storm21-4 Sydney Roosters2011
 Manly Sea Eagles22-18 Parramatta Eels2011
 St George Illawarra Dragons24-6 Manly Sea Eagles2011
 Sydney Roosters10-38 Canberra Raiders2011
 Newcastle Knights10-22 North Queensland Cowboys2011
 St George Illawarra Dragons38-8 Cronulla Sharks2011
 Canberra Raiders24-19 St George Illawarra Dragons2011
 Parramatta Eels18-22 Melbourne Storm2011
 South Sydney Rabbitohs56-6 Parramatta Eels2011
 Cronulla Sharks10-19 Canterbury Bulldogs2011
 Newcastle Knights6-26 Brisbane Broncos2011
 Wests Tigers39-10 Gold Coast Titans2011
 South Sydney Rabbitohs20-24 Sydney Roosters2012
 Parramatta Eels20-36 New Zealand Warriors2012
 Cronulla Sharks17-14 Manly Sea Eagles2012
 Wests Tigers16-30 Canberra Raiders2012
 Canberra Raiders6-22 North Queensland Cowboys2012
 Manly Sea Eagles30-0 Penrith Panthers2012
 Newcastle Knights34-14 Penrith Panthers2012
 South Sydney Rabbitohs34-28 Cronulla Sharks2012
 Penrith Panthers13-12 (OT) St George Illawarra Dragons2012
 Canterbury Bulldogs26-6 Cronulla Sharks2012
 Sydney Roosters12-30 Canterbury Bulldogs2012
 Parramatta Eels29-20 Cronulla Sharks2012
 Penrith Panthers16-30 New Zealand Warriors2012
 Manly Sea Eagles22-26 Melbourne Storm2012
 Newcastle Knights38-20 Wests Tigers2012
 Canberra Raiders22-18 St George Illawarra Dragons2012
 Cronulla Sharks14-14(OT) Sydney Roosters2012
 Sydney Roosters22-24 South Sydney Rabbitohs2012
 North Queensland Cowboys27-19 Wests Tigers2012
 Brisbane Broncos22-42 Parramatta Eels2012
 Wests Tigers51-26 Parramatta Eels2012
 Newcastle Knights26-4 Cronulla Sharks2012
 St George Illawarra Dragons22-32 North Queensland Cowboys2012
 Melbourne Storm20-18 Cronulla Sharks2012
 Newcastle Knights42-10 Wests Tigers2013
 South Sydney Rabbitohs14-12 Cronulla Sharks2013
 Newcastle Knights34-6 North Queensland Cowboys2013
 Sydney Roosters50-0 Parramatta Eels2013
 Melbourne Storm26-12 Wests Tigers2013
 Penrith Panthers44-12 Parramatta Eels2013
 St George Illawarra Dragons18-24 Manly Sea Eagles2013
 Manly Sea Eagles4-16 Sydney Roosters2013
 Melbourne Storm10-10 (OT) Manly Sea Eagles2013
 Cronulla Sharks14-12 South Sydney Rabbitohs2013
 Brisbane Broncos18-56 New Zealand Warriors2013
 Canberra Raiders30-18 Brisbane Broncos2013
 Brisbane Broncos32-12 Wests Tigers2013
 Gold Coast Titans18-12 Melbourne Storm2013
 Sydney Roosters18-12 Manly Sea Eagles2013
 Manly Sea Eagles50-10 Parramatta Eels2013
 North Queensland Cowboys14-34 Manly Sea Eagles2013
 South Sydney Rabbitohs18-22 (OT) St George Illawarra Dragons2013
 Wests Tigers18-36 Manly Sea Eagles2013
 St George Illawarra Dragons20-39 Canterbury Bulldogs2013
 Canterbury Bulldogs16-26 Gold Coast Titans2013
 Wests Tigers14-56 Sydney Roosters2013
 Cronulla Sharks32-22 Sydney Roosters2013
 Parramatta Eels26-22 St George Illawarra Dragons2013
 Cronulla Sharks10-18 Gold Coast Titans2014
 Canterbury Bulldogs42-4 Cronulla Sharks2014
 Melbourne Storm28-20 Newcastle Knights2014
 Gold Coast Titans13-12 North Queensland Cowboys2014
 North Queensland Cowboys28-2 Newcastle Knights2014
 Melbourne Storm28-24 St George Illawarra Dragons2014
 Penrith Panthers14-12 Gold Coast Titans2014
 Wests Tigers6-22 Gold Coast Titans2014
 Parramatta Eels42-24 Cronulla Sharks2014
 Manly Sea Eagles15-14 Newcastle Knights2014
 Cronulla Sharks0-18 South Sydney Rabbitohs2014
 South Sydney Rabbitohs29-10 St George Illawarra Dragons2014
 Canberra Raiders4-28 Brisbane Broncos2014
 Gold Coast Titans20-24 Melbourne Storm2014
 Newcastle Knights36-28 North Queensland Cowboys2014
 St George Illawarra Dragons24-12 Melbourne Storm2014
 South Sydney Rabbitohs10-14 Gold Coast Titans2014
 Penrith Panthers35-34 Brisbane Broncos2014
 St George Illawarra Dragons12-21 Manly Sea Eagles2014
 Canberra Raiders18-34 South Sydney Rabbitohs2014
 Wests Tigers6-28 Melbourne Storm2014
 Sydney Roosters26-18 Gold Coast Titans2014
 Penrith Panthers23-22 North Queensland Cowboys2014
 Penrith Panthers10-24 Melbourne Storm2014
 North Queensland Cowboys20-19 Cronulla Sharks2014
 St George Illawarra Dragons4-12 Melbourne Storm2015
 Wests Tigers22-4 St George Illawarra Dragons2015
 Sydney Roosters20-12 Penrith Panthers2015
 North Queensland Cowboys18-17(OT) Melbourne Storm2015
 Penrith Panthers10-30 North Queensland Cowboys2015
 South Sydney Rabbitohs12-30 North Queensland Cowboys2015
 Cronulla Sharks18-10 South Sydney Rabbitohs2015
 South Sydney Rabbitohs16-10 St George Illawarra Dragons2015
 Manly Sea Eagles10-11 Penrith Panthers2015
 Newcastle Knights18-31 Brisbane Broncos2015
 Sydney Roosters24-2 Melbourne Storm2015
 Parramatta Eels30-36 North Queensland Cowboys2015
 Melbourne Storm22-26 Parramatta Eels2015
 St George Illawarra Dragons14-19 Sydney Roosters2015
 Canterbury Bulldogs20-4 Melbourne Storm2015
 Wests Tigers16-28 Parramatta Eels2015
 Gold Coast Titans6-38 Manly Sea Eagles2015
 Manly Sea Eagles12-20 North Queensland Cowboys2015
 North Queensland Cowboys46-4 Parramatta Eels2015
 Gold Coast Titans24-14 Parramatta Eels2015
 Canberra Raiders18-20 Wests Tigers2015
 Cronulla Sharks2-30 Melbourne Storm2015
 Melbourne Storm6-20 Newcastle Knights2015
 Canberra Raiders34-18 Penrith Panthers2015
 Melbourne Storm18-16 St George Illawarra Dragons2016
 Wests Tigers36-22 Manly Sea Eagles2016
 Manly Sea Eagles22-12 Cronulla Sharks2016
 Cronulla Sharks14-6 Melbourne Storm2016
 Canterbury Bulldogs10-22 Canberra Raiders2016
 Melbourne Storm12-18 Canterbury Bulldogs2016
 Sydney Roosters16-20 Penrith Panthers2016
 Melbourne Storm42-0 New Zealand Warriors2016
 Gold Coast Titans26-6 Sydney Roosters2016
 Parramatta Eels6-18 Melbourne Storm2016
 Newcastle Knights18-20 Parramatta Eels2016
 Canterbury Bulldogs18-20 Cronulla Sharks2016
 Cronulla Sharks13-10 North Queensland Cowboys2016
 Gold Coast Titans30-10 Manly Sea Eagles2016
 North Queensland Cowboys30-26 Manly Sea Eagles2016
 Manly Sea Eagles36-6 St George Illawarra Dragons2016
 Canberra Raiders26-12 North Queensland Cowboys2016
 Sydney Roosters20-32 Cronulla Sharks2016
 South Sydney Rabbitohs10-20 Manly Sea Eagles2016
 Gold Coast Titans18-18 Cronulla Sharks2016
 Penrith Panthers38-18 Sydney Roosters2016
 Canberra Raiders22-8 Melbourne Storm2016
 South Sydney Rabbitohs12-6 Cronulla Sharks2016
 Parramatta EelsTBD St George Illawarra Dragons2016

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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