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2018 Crowd Watch

Messages
1,421
He’s got the hide to tell us we should move our games to some shit stadium over an hour in traffic away ....
A stadium that already can’t get crowds from teams located a lot closer to it than us.

and people wonder why we stick up for the local club we grew up following.
I think I’ve said it before but we have to stop aiming so high, don’t take this as a defeatist attitude but the fact is we will never get 20K average, it’s just not going to happen.

In saying that to me there is nothing better than 14K in at shark park making the noise of 20K.

They move away I’m not going, I travel 45 mins as it is to get to shark park, I’m not going to the city and that’s my call. The NRL will have to deal with my decision along with many others who choose the same option.

If they are happy with 8000 at Homebush then fine but don’t complain when they don’t get 15K there when it’s their doing in the first place

I guarantee you that this weekend there is more fans at Cronulla nth qld st shark park than there would be at Homebush or sfs.

TLDR - go and watch if you can, if you can’t don’t worry. It is what it is. Up the sharks.
 

big hit!

Bench
Messages
3,452
My point is, teams move and still represent the location they are named after. Just like Souths have done.

Move within the region. That's fine. Move out of the region to an area already serviced by teams from or near that area. That's an Australian thing.

As explained above, Jets & Giants moved to other areas within their metropolitan area. Same as the Cowboys. Arlington is wholly within the Greater Dallas metropolitan area. Comparing to US is moot though because they have one team (2 tops) per region or market. A comparison here is say the Sydney Kings. Moved from Haymarket to Olympic Park, but still within the metropolitan area of its name and that it represents.

Our situation is more akin to London football clubs. Tottenham considered moving from White Hart Lane to East London but were thwarted by the FA which considered West Ham & Leyton Orient's (to a much lessor extent) claims to the region. Spurs ended up rebuilding at White Hart Lane in their borough. West Ham moved from the Boleyn in Upton Park to Stratford, still within East London. Arsenal moved from Highbury to Holloway - just 1km away - and their name isn't even tied to North London.

You have to remember that those London clubs don't just draw supporters from their areas, but across the home counties.
 

Perth Red

Post Whore
Messages
65,405
We're not going back here again. This isn't an expansion forum. Take the talk elsewhere.

tbf the original narrative was about crowds, and if playing in suburban grounds (and by the nature of this keeping your fanbase restricted to a small local historic population reach) with 15k comfortable capacity is going to help grow crowds. Carch then went on a weird angle about Perth moving to Darwin in some hypothetical world only he understands lol.

20k avg is way out of reach of the sport at the moment the way it is run and the clubs we have got but at least seeing a minimal crowd increase (which in a business sense is in fact increasing customer base which all businesses are striving for) should be an achievable goal.
 

Perth Red

Post Whore
Messages
65,405
I think I’ve said it before but we have to stop aiming so high, don’t take this as a defeatist attitude but the fact is we will never get 20K average, it’s just not going to happen.

In saying that to me there is nothing better than 14K in at shark park making the noise of 20K.

They move away I’m not going, I travel 45 mins as it is to get to shark park, I’m not going to the city and that’s my call. The NRL will have to deal with my decision along with many others who choose the same option.

If they are happy with 8000 at Homebush then fine but don’t complain when they don’t get 15K there when it’s their doing in the first place

I guarantee you that this weekend there is more fans at Cronulla nth qld st shark park than there would be at Homebush or sfs.

TLDR - go and watch if you can, if you can’t don’t worry. It is what it is. Up the sharks.

If we take 15k avg as an acceptable, if meagre, pass mark here are the suburban ground crowd avg's this year so far:

Kogorah 16,583 (well done St's fans!)
Leichardt 15,056

----------------------------------
Penrith 14,595
Cronulla 12,809
Campbelltown 10,836
Brookvale 8,887
Belmore 8,510

Seems some fans really dont love these grounds as much as some seem to think.
 
Messages
1,421
If we take 15k avg as an acceptable, if meagre, pass mark here are the suburban ground crowd avg's this year so far:

Kogorah 16,583 (well done St's fans!)
Leichardt 15,056

----------------------------------
Penrith 14,595
Cronulla 12,809
Campbelltown 10,836
Brookvale 8,887
Belmore 8,510

Seems some fans really dont love these grounds as much as some seem to think.
Exactly my point. So why move them to where the crowds will be even worse? Why?
 

Perth Red

Post Whore
Messages
65,405
Exactly my point. So why move them to where the crowds will be even worse? Why?

Because if we stay the same, we will stay the same. Is this really the best we can be? Can they be worse? How do we make sure they are not worse? If this really is the best we can hope for then it seems pretty defeatist and the sooner the NRL gets new big city clubs in that can realise the potential to be in smart new stadiums in front of 20-25k avg crowds the better.
 

Timmah

LeagueUnlimited News Editor
Staff member
Messages
100,874
Because if we stay the same, we will stay the same. Is this really the best we can be? Can they be worse? How do we make sure they are not worse? If this really is the best we can hope for then it seems pretty defeatist and the sooner the NRL gets new big city clubs in that can realise the potential to be in smart new stadiums in front of 20-25k avg crowds the better.
With Leichhardt and Kogarah performing strongly, I think we can give Penrith and Cronulla pass marks as well.

Campbelltown is a struggle but many would argue that's as much about fixturing (i.e. shit out of town opponents) as it is about the ground itself. Belmore gets two games so I'm not sure how instructive it is to include in your list if for no other reason for you to whinge about suburban grounds. Brookvale, I think the general consensus here is that Manly are probably the biggest anchor in Sydney for crowds and only aren't last in averages because they hosted one of the Brisbane double headers.

There needs to be some action to redress the Brookie situation - whether that's Manly playing at an alternative ground, or the venue itself getting an overhaul, or even partial relocation to Gosford.

Otherwise, there's plenty of value in keeping a mix of grounds, particularly once WSS opens. I hope WSS opening means that ANZ is used less personally, even for Canterbury
 

Frailty

First Grade
Messages
9,299
We do need to improve to improve crowds, but I'm not sure that the NRL is that invested in doing so given their apparent moves to discourage fans from attending.

The central stadium policy is good in theory but practically at this stage will not work unless major investment is made to improve access to these stadiums.
The central stadium policy in the AFL works because both stadiums are easily accessible via the train and tram network (where a single train is required) due to their locations on the edge of the CBD. On top of this, the 'heartland' of the Melbourne teams are all within the inner suburbs (the comparable would be if Annandale, Glebe, Newtown teams were still in the top league competition).

So what is comparable? We could look at English Soccer due to the similarities of multiple teams in a crowded market, but the cultural and population bridge may be too big to use. The lower tier premier league teams average about 20K-25K. Is this achievable in the near future?
 

carcharias

Immortal
Messages
43,120
Because if we stay the same, we will stay the same. Is this really the best we can be? Can they be worse? How do we make sure they are not worse? If this really is the best we can hope for then it seems pretty defeatist and the sooner the NRL gets new big city clubs in that can realise the potential to be in smart new stadiums in front of 20-25k avg crowds the better.

Why not 50k ?
 
Last edited:

carcharias

Immortal
Messages
43,120
If we take 15k avg as an acceptable, if meagre, pass mark here are the suburban ground crowd avg's this year so far:

Kogorah 16,583 (well done St's fans!)
Leichardt 15,056

----------------------------------
Penrith 14,595
Cronulla 12,809
Campbelltown 10,836
Brookvale 8,887
Belmore 8,510

Seems some fans really dont love these grounds as much as some seem to think.


How many games have kogarah and Leichhardt had this year compared to the others?

I noticed cows got 11k against the storm this year
Canberra got about 7k against someone

Seems teams in city’s with big stadiums and no competition can’t get huge crowds every week as well,
 

taipan

Referee
Messages
22,402
tbf the original narrative was about crowds, and if playing in suburban grounds (and by the nature of this keeping your fanbase restricted to a small local historic population reach) with 15k comfortable capacity is going to help grow crowds. Carch then went on a weird angle about Perth moving to Darwin in some hypothetical world only he understands lol.

20k avg is way out of reach of the sport at the moment the way it is run and the clubs we have got but at least seeing a minimal crowd increase (which in a business sense is in fact increasing customer base which all businesses are striving for) should be an achievable goal.

And 20,000 will be out of the reach of Perth,as the Force showed in the past.Let's not get too excited.
The only way any club and even then I doubt it to secure close to 20,000.
1) A purpose built stadium eg Parramatta.
2) Scheduling for families.
3)Game day experience dragging people away from TVs
4) A competitive football side.
5) Pricing to ensure those who can least afford it, get an opportunity.

And playing games in the bush,which we must continue to do, affects crowd averages.
 

carcharias

Immortal
Messages
43,120
And 20,000 will be out of the reach of Perth,as the Force showed in the past.Let's not get too excited.
The only way any club and even then I doubt it to secure close to 20,000.
1) A purpose built stadium eg Parramatta.
2) Scheduling for families.
3)Game day experience dragging people away from TVs
4) A competitive football side.
5) Pricing to ensure those who can least afford it, get an opportunity.

Tomato soup
Don’t forget the soup!!
 
Messages
1,421
Because if we stay the same, we will stay the same. Is this really the best we can be? Can they be worse? How do we make sure they are not worse? If this really is the best we can hope for then it seems pretty defeatist and the sooner the NRL gets new big city clubs in that can realise the potential to be in smart new stadiums in front of 20-25k avg crowds the better.
Yes. That’s my point. We are aiming too high. I’m telling you straight up with teams in and out of form, high prices and it live on TV we are not going to get better. Stop blaming fans.
 

taipan

Referee
Messages
22,402
f**king bingo. I can see it on my massive tv 5 metres from my fridge and only have to walk 10 metres to fall on my bed pissed.

Solution bring said fridge to game,and watch the big screens at the ground.At the same time attract more mates with a thirst.
You know it makes sense.
 

Cumberland Throw

First Grade
Messages
6,436
What's the reason why these clubs can't average 20k each in 2019

Broncos
South's
Parramatta
Dogs
Roosters
StGeorge
Newcastle
Melbourne
Warriors
Tigers
 

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