Cronulla coach Shane Flanagan wants the NRL to rethink its finals' stadium criteria and consider a return to suburban grounds for playoffs against poor-drawing interstate teams.
Between 15,000 and 18,000 people are expected to attend each of Allianz Stadium's elimination finals on Saturday and Sunday, despite the NRL's best efforts to attract crowds.
While there is no excuse for poor numbers between Manly and Penrith - as the AFL sells out the SCG next door - the Sharks are hosting the poor-drawing North Queensland on Sunday.
Under NRL rules, finals matches must be played in the major stadiums in the home cities of the higher-ranked team in the first week of the finals.
But Flanagan said in such cases as Sunday, matches should be able to be played at the home team's traditional base.
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"I think you need to have flexibility in those decisions," he said.
"We want to play in big stadiums but also if we're not going to fill them, we want to have the option to play them here at Southern Cross Group Stadium."
NRL finals haven't been played at suburban grounds since 2010, when thousands of St George Illawarra fans were locked out of Kogarah for their qualifying final against Manly.
The following year just under 14,000 attended a qualifying final between Manly and the Cowboys at Moore Park, while North Queensland's only other week-one trip to Sydney since then was part of an Allianz Stadium double-header.
But Flanagan said he understood the complexities which the NRL faced in scheduling and stadium arrangement, with the major grounds made available weeks in advance.
"We want to fill Allianz on one hand, but if we're not going to fill it we want to play here (in Cronulla)," he said.
"If it is 16,000, we can have it here. But I want to have more than 16,000. I want to have 26,000.
"It's a catch-22. When do you make that decision?
"I understand the NRL's position."
Instead, Flanagan said the onus was on the fans to turn up.
