New South Wales's team? Not quite: Sydney Roosters fans after their win over the Broncos. Credit:AAP Instead of the Roosters playing the Eels next Saturday night before a crowd of more than 45,000 at a sold-out Allianz Stadium, the only Sydney side left standing will play a team from Townsville at a stadium that now will be half-full. The selfish school of thought around this time of year is the grand final is a stinker if a Sydney — or at the very least NSW — side isn't playing in it. It's only happened twice before: in 2006 when the Broncos beat the Storm; and 2015 when the Cowboys beat the Broncos in golden point. This myopic view is wrong. The NRL needs the best two sides in the grand final and it doesn't matter where they come from.

For the broadcasters, Melbourne versus Brisbane is the best result — although that's not possible this year because they play in Friday night's first preliminary final — because it drags in Victorian and Queensland viewers. According to ratings in 2006 and 2015, NSW fans will tune in regardless. Two years ago, when Brisbane met the Cowboys, about 3.7 million people were watching. Only fractionally more watched last year as the Sharks made history when they won their first premiership, beating the Storm. For the Sydney economy, it's enormous. When one, let alone two well-supported sides from outside of NSW reach the grand final, it drags hundreds of millions of dollars into the local economy through visiting fans. Perhaps the NSW government could use some of these bucks to upgrade Sydney's decaying stadiums so it doesn't lose the grand final to other cities. Thoughts, Ms Premier? Something? Even militant fans from rival clubs could acknowledge the magic of a possible Eels appearance in the grand final following last year's annus horribilis of salary cap scandals, the ugly departure of captain Kieran Foran and police charges levelled at stars Corey Norman and winger Semi Radradra.

There were fears behind closed doors at Parramatta last week they could struggle against the Cowboys, but fancied their chances against the Roosters the following week despite a 40-10 loss to them earlier in the season. Instead, the fairytale now belongs to Paul Green's Cowboys, who in March lost Matt Scott (the best prop in the game) to injury and then, in June, lost Johnathan Thurston (the best player in the game) to injury. It's some story. In the second last game in the final round of the regular season, the Cowboys were 17 minutes away from Mad Monday. The Dragons led 20-14 against the Bulldogs. They just had to hold on to win and leapfrog the Cowboys into eighth position. Instead, they blinked and handed the match to the Bulldogs.

The Cowboys were in. Now, nobody can get them out. North Queensland playmaker Michael Morgan mightn't be playing with Thurston-like panache but he's certainly playing with Thurston-like control. He shut down Cronulla last week. He did the same against the Eels. Roosters half Mitchell Pearce will need to come up with his best performance of a streaky season if his side is to reach its first grand final since 2013. And if they don't? If the Roosters don't make it? If for only the third time in history the grand final does not feature a side from NSW? Sydney will go on. We've survived the warmest winter on record. We've survived Vivid. We've even forgotten Origin III.

But there needs to be an acknowledgement from administrators at all levels that the game in NSW needs support and love. ARL Commission chairman John Grant proudly wears a Maroons scarf into a dejected Blues room after Origin losses. His decision a few weeks ago to edge former Queensland Premier and Broncos fan Peter Beattie onto the commission was a parting shot at Sydney clubs. Unpopular: John Grant. Credit:AAP Grant leaves in February next year. The talk is the chairs of Sydney clubs will be holding his farewell in a phonebox, such is his popularity. They are bemused about Grant's vision for the game.

"We need to play it to bigger audiences," he told Fairfax Media on Sunday. "The only way to be growing our topline revenue is to be playing in new markets. That means US, China, any of those. We are doing work across the Americas and Asia and Europe to understand where that is. That's formative. But if you ask me what is the next step, that's got to be one of the next big things." It's grandstanding at a time when the NRL is struggling to pay the electricity bill. It cannot find a bank prepared to lend it the $30 million needed to make up for a serious shortage of cash in the final few months of the year. So dire has the situation become, the NRL will consider asking sponsors and even the Western Australian government for early payment on hosting rights for marquee matches so it can make ends meet. With yawning banks of empty seats at ANZ and Allianz stadiums for much of this year, Grant's comments are ill-timed.

Perhaps concentrate on shoring up the heartland before worrying about setting up goalposts in Shanghai — not least with Greater Western Sydney now into the AFL preliminary final against Richmond at MCG on Saturday. Average NRL home crowds across the nine Sydney clubs are only marginally worse this season (13,057) compared to last season (13,760). Familiar sight: a sparsely-populated ANZ Stadium. Credit:Craig Golding Something to celebrate? No. There should be far more people attending Sydney games, no matter how much blame is placed on old stadiums, overpriced beer and food and the city's mind-numbing transport system and congested roadways. Turmoil at powerhouses like the Bulldogs and Tigers and poor seasons from Souths and the Dragons haven't helped.

A Roosters grand final appearance will not appease self-respecting fans from rival Sydney clubs but the health of the game in Sydney remains an issue for all concerned. Within a few months of arriving at the Dragons ahead of the 2009 season, Wayne Bennett admitted he had underestimated the importance of the game to Sydney and beyond. Loading There's a belief in Queensland, strongly perpetuated by Bennett, that rugby league is strong as long as it's strong in Queensland. "I didn't realise how much it meant to so many people here in Sydney," Bennett said at the time.