Red-faced NRL officials have been forced to issue a grovelling apology to South Sydney members who were denied the chance to buy tickets for Sunday’s blockbuster against the Roosters.
The NRL sent an incorrect code to Souths members, which meant at 10am they were unable to access the sought-after briefs for nearly half an hour before the problem was rectified.
Souths received more than 500 phone calls demanding to know why they were unable to secure their place inside Allianz Stadium.
Rabbitohs chief executive Blake Solly said the NRL were genuine in their apology, and was confident “we’ll still have more members inside the ground by kick-off”.
“It was really disappointing for all our members and the club that we couldn’t buy tickets when we should have been able to,” Solly told the Herald.
“Hopefully the delay hasn’t stopped people from getting online to get tickets to the game. To be fair to the NRL, they called us to apologise, and confirmed they would send an apology email to all our members this afternoon.
Roosters members had a half-hour head start over their rivals when tickets went on sale on Monday.Credit:Getty
“I don’t know how many tickets would have been sold to Roosters members during that time. But I do know the NRL said they would put additional bays on hold for Souths members. I’m still really confident our passionate members will be the majority on Sunday.”
An NRL spokesperson said on Monday tickets were unavailable for Rabbitohs members for a short period following the initial release for ticketed members.
“And the error was rectified quickly and tickets made available to ticketed members,” the spokesperson said.
“Additional seating holds were placed to ensure that any members affected have still been able to access members seating within the ticketed members window timeframe.”
Souths stirred the pot over the weekend by predicting Roosters fans would be outnumbered by their rivals at their own home ground for Sunday afternoon’s sudden-death clash.
Souths expected the incessant booing of superstar Latrell Mitchell, which did not let up the entire game last Friday night, would be much quieter this time around.
In good news for Souths and the Roosters, Cameron Murray said he was on track to return from a head knock, while skipper James Tedesco confirmed Victor Radley would return from a concussion.
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