I'm living in London at the moment and over here people go out all the time on week nights. It does help the sun doesn't set til nearly 10pm at this time of year, but there is definitely much more of an events culture during the week.
I think the key would be to play matches near where people work. When I was working in North Sydney I would have loved to head up to North Sydney Oval on a Thursday after work for a match. And that's heartland territory where a lot of rugby fans work (not to mention it's also very convenient for anyone working in the City, St Leonards or Chatswood). Out of the office, beer at the Rag and Famish, and walk up to the ground for a 6:30 kick off. Home by 9:15. Would have been great.
For the Rams, a match in Parramatta could have the same focus. Promote it with posters and things around the office buildings and food courts. It'd be one match a year, there is a novelty value.
While Thursday night is less convenient for families, for uni students and young adults without kids it's arguably more convenient. There's always other things to do on a Saturday night, while Thursday night people are much more likely to be free.
That's because there's absolutely nothing else to do over there! And the fanaticism of their crowd support is the envy of rugby both there and here.
In a start up year, scheduling matches on Thursday night is suicide. The traffic snarls alone would put people off. Let's look at that based purely from the feeder clubs.
Eastwood to Parramatta Stadium - anyone who has traveled the M2, Epping Road or Pennant Hills Rd routes in peak hour will know how long it takes to get into Parramatta. Same could be said for the Eastwood/Parra supporters who live in the Hills District, good luck getting down Windsor Rd.
From Southern Districts to Parramatta - ditto for M5, King Georges Rd etc. Nightmare.
From Concord to Parramatta - this is the best one. You have the choice of 2 of the worst traffic jams in Sydney, M4 or Parramatta Rd. The choice is yours!
Penrith to Parramatta - eastbound on the M4 at peak hour. Take the book War and Peace. You'll finish before you get to the Church St exit!
Even the trip through Parramatta itself, on a Thursday is usually just short of hell.
If you're taking kids (which I'd like to do) that rules out public transport. Game finishing at 9.30pm then public transport home means the little ones won't be in bed much before 11.30pm on a school night. Mrs Two Blues won't go for that in a million years.
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for this competition. I think it has the potential to take rugby to the people, which is something this code has NEVER done before. However, it can't be at the expense of the JID, Shute Shield, Hospital Cup tournaments. And it can't be lame duck just running so Uncle Bill can show Sanzar he has a national comp in a vain attempt to get more $$ from the next TV deal.
If the competition doesn't have strong crowds and great tv ratings, Sanzar will laugh the ARU out of the room (assuming they let them in).
They need to give the clubs time to get the franchise model right, the ARU need to take time to get the competition and marketing model right so the comp is a success from the get go. Rushing into for 2014 is in my opinion, sadly suicide.
And the game may not recover if it's a fizzer.