So why does the uproar about Central West Rugby Union’s finals gate prices make it feel so much like 1993 classic Groundhog Day?

Because we’ve been through this before, that’s why.

Cast your minds back to 2011 - the Parkes Boars were nigh on unstoppable, Osama Bin Laden got taken out and Charlie Sheen went insane.

More to the point, everyone blew up about the $15 charge on the gate of the Blowes Clothing Cup finals, so much so CWRU was forced to drop the price back to a tenner.

The grand final was still $15, and it worked.

It satisfied the masses, so it’s bewildering to me why the pricing system went back up almost immediately.

CWRU supremo Peter Veenstra told me on Wednesday this is the third consecutive year the cost for finals has been $15, so, from 2013 onward.

The cost of running the seven senior competitions CWRU does, along with representative sides, judiciaries and referees’ travel allowances, is used as justification for what price is set, so based on the finals price increase after 2012 those costs must have increased.

Even so, $15 is too pricey, particularly when players are paying as well.

Twenty teams and seven clubs have been, or will continue to be, represented across the top four grades - I haven’t included the women because - before you call me a sexist - they don’t play every finals fixture in the 2015 finals.

A minimum of eight teams will play on each finals day, of which there is six, so with the bare 15 players each, CWRU stands to earn over $10,000 from players alone during the finals, not including the GrainCorp Cup gate takings.

With coaches, support staff and spectators considered, it stands to reason that CWRU could earn an outlandish amount of money from this finals series.

I understand CWRU needs to earn money and I understand the finals are one of three places they do so along with sponsorship and club affliation fees. 

But surely it’s in CWRU’s best interest to increase sponsorship to offset the cost for players and spectators come the pointy end of the season, after all, they clearly provide a substantial amount of CWRU’s income.

At the very least, provide the necessary information so people know what they’re paying for without having to dig for it.

Methinks there’s going to be a lot of fences jumped this weekend.