THE NRL has rejected a compensation bid from the Bulldogs for hosting back-to-back Thursday night matches, which are set to cost the club $400,000 in lost gate takings.

Canterbury CEO Raelene Castle first raised the idea of compensation with the NRL three weeks ago. — after a scheduling stuff-up handed the club consecutive games against popular opponents Wests Tigers and South Sydney in the dreaded timeslot.

But the NRL said on Wednesday there would be no money forthcoming, despite the fact it was never intended that one club be burdened with two Thursday night fixtures in a row.

The Rabbitohs have also hosted two — in Round One (Roosters) and Round 23 (Broncos), but there is no indication whether they’ve asked for compensation after both those fixtures recorded underwhelming attendances.

media_camera The Bulldogs have struggled to attract crowd to their back-to-back Thursday night games.

“The NRL does not do not propose paying compensation to any club in relation to Thursday night football,” an NRL spokesman said.

“All clubs have received the benefit of the increased value of the broadcast contract — the grant has nearly doubled under the new deal. This is distributed equally across all clubs in recognition of the fact that all clubs gain commercial benefits from particular schedule spots, and all also have less preferred schedule spots.”

Expecting compensation talks with the NRL to continue ahead of the Rabbitohs clash at ANZ Stadium — which ticket sales indicate will only attract a crowd of 20,000 — Castle was shocked to learn of the NRL’s public response.

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media_camera Bulldogs CEO Raelene Castle approached the NRL after poor attendances on Thursday night games.

“We started talking to the NRL about compensation, similar to what they do with Monday nights,” she said.

“We don’t want to be negative about the concept, but the NRL appear to understand that what we are talking about is sensible.

“I also don’t want to be critical of the NRL because they’ve been locked into a TV deal that was negotiated by previous management, which, in hindsight, has some flaws that both the clubs and broadcasters would probably like fixed.

“What they’ve said publicly is different to my understanding. I was expecting to have more talks about it. I don’t think it was ever intended that one club be given two Thursday night games, and that only happened to us because there was a stuff-up with the scheduling.”\

Canterbury’s clash against Wests Tigers seven days ago, which attracted less than 10,000 people, was originally scheduled for Friday night and changed when the NRL realised it hadn’t adhered to the code’s minimum five-day turn around.

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media_camera South Sydney'’s Thursday night game against the Broncos also struggled to draw a crowd.

Canterbury is again resigned to the dreaded timeslot decimating attendance forecasts for this week’s blockbuster against South Sydney.

This season’s first fixture between the premiership heavyweights on Good Friday attracted more than 43,255 people, following an NRL record attendance of 51,686 the previous year.

Castle said club beancounters were bracing for just 20,000 for the South Sydney game, and as low as 15,000 should this week’s rain persist.

By virtue of hosting consecutive Thursday night games, the Bulldogs believe they have lost between 20,000 and 30,000 paying fans who would have attended had the matches been staged on a Friday night or Sunday afternoon.

That equates to a $400,000 direct hit on the bottom line, part of which Castle believes the NRL should be prepared to cover after making similar compensation arrangements for Monday Night fixtures. At present the NRL gives all clubs that host Monday night games a $40,000 payment.

“These are world-class athletes and they don’t deserve to be playing in front of 9,000 people,” Castle said.

Channel Nine has the unfettered right to screen five Thursday night games each season until the deal expires at the end of 2017. Four of those matches were staged in March last year, when warm weather and daylight savings made the schoolnight more bearable.

This year Nine has switched the balance toward the finals build-up, enjoying huge audiences that have seen two out of the top-three rated matches screened on Thursday night.

The bitter pill for Canterbury is the fact they were thrown last Thursday’s fixture as a result of a scheduling stuff-up. The Castle felt the previous NRL administrators who negotiated the deal had given too many concessions in a bid to crack the magic $1 billion price tag and eclipse the AFL’s contract.

“When it comes to Thursday nights, the NRL don’t have any negotiating tools in their kit bag,” she said.