I've been strongly critical of Sydney's crowds in recent years, so allow me to make a few things clear...
1. That crowd for the test on Friday night was senfarkingsational!!! 34,500+ to an international at the SCG was nothing short of a great effort for the growing international game, particularly after the one-sided scorelines for one off tests in recent years. Well done to all who went!
2. The crowds for some Sydney club games are unacceptable, while others are passable to very decent. It really just depends on the clash - we've seen some shockers already this year, but we've also seen some absolute pearlers.
3. Okay, Brisbane is half the size of Sydney. So, if we were going on percentages alone and had four Brisbane teams in the competition, there's no WAY that the teams would be getting 30k to every match. We too would undoubtedly be looking at closer to 15k for most matches that the non-Broncos teams hosted.
4. Culling, merging or relocating teams in Sydney isn't the answer. Do you think that if the Sharks were killed off or relocated to Perth, the Sharks fans would then simply jump on supporting the Dragons or some other team and attending all of their home games? Pffft, ain't gonna happen.
Better marketing, better price systems, effort and TIME will improve the crowd situation in Sydney. It will just require patience and a concerted effort on behalf of all of those in the administration of the NRL and the clubs. Oh, and not adding ANY more Sydney teams will help, too.
Sure, there are a lot of clubs there. But they are sustainable, not on the brink of collapse and have plenty of room to grow.
Brilliant and well constructed post mate, well said. Good to see someone without an agenda step in with some fresh ideas.
