2016 Crowd Watch

[Clifferd]

It was a Sydney comp back then so that was fair enough. Hasn't been the case for a long time.

TBH I could cop playing in Sydney better if the Prelims were day games like they were back in the 80s/90s. The 6 hour round trip at night just doesn't work for a lot of people.

Friday nights for finals are just a cancer in general. Saturday night and Sunday arvo should be the go for prelims/and all semis

 

[Jamberoo]

Would you go and watch the Swans in Sydney over watching your favoured sport and team live on Television playing in the finals?

I think I understand your analogy but there are no Melbourne AFL teams playing anywhere Saturday night. Just Swans v GWS. Then again Storm are a lot deeper into the paper unlike last week they were back page. We could have had a much bigger crowd last week had the club not announced a sell out. Good publicity yes, but there were still plenty of seats left.

 

[Canard]

I think I understand your analogy but there are no Melbourne AFL teams playing anywhere Saturday night. Just Swans v GWS. Then again Storm are a lot deeper into the paper unlike last week they were back page. We could have had a much bigger crowd last week had the club not announced a sell out. Good publicity yes, but there were still plenty of seats left.

Still a good crowd, was a pain trying to take a piss and get a beer though.

Also I'd still rather watch an NRL final on TV then a live AFL game regardless of who was playing. But each to their own.

 

[dogz08]

Why? If Cronulla or Canberra host a prelim chances are it'll be at ANZ, no?

neither side would get 45-50k against the storm, cowboys, broncos or titans surely

 

[Raiderdave]

That doesn't make any sense though - you don't have a ground capable of it.

Which is the entire point.

and playing a prelim between us & the Cowboys or another non Sydney side in front of a half empty SFS
does make sense ?
lol

wow
just wow

 

[Raiderdave]

Canberra have played 24 Finals matches at the SFS since 1988. The lowest crowd they played in front of was 16,441 v Roosters in 2000. More often than not between 1989 and 1995, those crowds exceeded 30k.

in a completely different era
as has been explained to several half wits on in here including yourself

 

[Timmah]

and playing a prelim between us & the Cowboys or another non Sydney side in front of a half empty SFS
does make sense ?
lol

wow
just wow

in a completely different era
as has been explained to several half wits on in here including yourself

A different era?

Where Australia's (and Sydney's) population was much smaller and it took longer to get to Sydney?

By gosh Dave, you're right.

 

[SLRBRONCOS]

I think Dave is referring to the difference in ticket prices, all round event (NRL games are starting to turn into an immature pre game farce), can't do anything at the games etc.

My father just constantly raves about how good it was to be at the games live in the 70s-90s, now a complete swap - better to watch from home, have a barbecue with mates etc.

 

[Paullyboy]

A different era?

Where Australia's (and Sydney's) population was much smaller and it took longer to get to Sydney?

By gosh Dave, you're right.

You're not doing yourself any favours in this argument, you're clearly avoiding the obvious truth that we all know.

Rugby League in the period of the Raiders dominance (ie pre Super League) was the only show in town for anyone from Queensland, NSW or ACT.

It had everyone's attention no matter who was playing.

Unfortunately times have changed. AFL, Soccer and Union have become viable options for a lot of people. Add on to this that people can now watch games on their phone, tablet or in HD on a massive screen at home for a tiny, tiny fraction of the cost.

Yes the died in the wool fans are still there, but it's the fence sitters that take a crowd from 15k to 30k, and hence why comparing average crowds a team could pull in 1994 with 2016 is just about as ignorant as you can get. You showed it perfectly in your own stats, the lowest drawing crowd is one that happened post Super League in 2000.

Having said that, your logic of assuming what worked in 1994 will work in 2016 puts you on the same line of thinking as the NRL, so maybe this is all part of your hilarious effort to somehow gain employment from them through this forum.

 

[Raiderdave]

A different era?

Where Australia's (and Sydney's) population was much smaller and it took longer to get to Sydney?

By gosh Dave, you're right.

Lol
Are you thick?
It would appear you are

I've explained several times now , why you can't compare then & now.

If The ridiculous situation does eventuate & we play another non Sydney side in a prelim in Sydney. You'll see what I.mean dopey

 

[Timmah]

You're not doing yourself any favours in this argument, you're clearly avoiding the obvious truth that we all know.

Rugby League in the period of the Raiders dominance (ie pre Super League) was the only show in town for anyone from Queensland, NSW or ACT.

It had everyone's attention no matter who was playing.

Unfortunately times have changed. AFL, Soccer and Union have become viable options for a lot of people. Add on to this that people can now watch games on their phone, tablet or in HD on a massive screen at home for a tiny, tiny fraction of the cost.

Yes the died in the wool fans are still there, but it's the fence sitters that take a crowd from 15k to 30k, and hence why comparing average crowds a team could pull in 1994 with 2016 is just about as ignorant as you can get. You showed it perfectly in your own stats, the lowest drawing crowd is one that happened post Super League in 2000.

Having said that, your logic of assuming what worked in 1994 will work in 2016 puts you on the same line of thinking as the NRL, so maybe this is all part of your hilarious effort to somehow gain employment from them through this forum.

I love how it turns from a reasoned argument to a petty personal attack. Keep that shit out of it.

I still don't agree with it. Most importantly, the thing that hasn't changed is big crowds attending preliminary finals. Regardless of the opponents. That's why I believe there'd be few issues cracking 30k with an out of town prelim final at Allianz or ANZ.

 

[Clifferd]

Lol
Are you thick?
It would appear you are

I've explained several times now , why you can't compare then & now.

If The ridiculous situation does eventuate & we play another non Sydney side in a prelim in Sydney. You'll see what I.mean dopey

Dopey Dave at it again

GIO Stadium sells out for a week 1 final in a matter of 48 hours. Crowd of around 26k expected with many more thousands surely to miss out...let's say the inevitable happens and Canberra play a prelim in 2 weeks time (yes plenty of time to plan ahead) on a Saturday , 8pm at Allianz

What's stopping these same 20-26k (plus many more thousand) from making the short 3 hour trip granted on a Saturday night to see their team play in a prelim for the first time in 20 odd years? it'd feel way more at home for the Raiders than it would for the other team

It'd crack 30k+ easy and the NRLs decision would be justified immediately.

 

[Paullyboy]

I love how it turns from a reasoned argument to a petty personal attack. Keep that shit out of it.

I still don't agree with it. Most importantly, the thing that hasn't changed is big crowds attending preliminary finals. Regardless of the opponents. That's why I believe there'd be few issues cracking 30k with an out of town prelim final at Allianz or ANZ.

Aren't you advocating that all finals should be moved to Sydney, not just Prelims?

Let's look at that first. Sydney is renowned for loving a marquee event (I'm not saying it's on its own in this regard by the way). Things like the Wallabies, the Swans and whatever else is trendy in town will always do well in Sydney. Grand Finals fit that same mould - hence why two out of towners sold it out last year. There was no big event fatigue for attendees as there'd been no other game in town for ages (both prelims were held interstate).

If you held prelims both prelims in Sydney last year there would have been very poor crowds because only one Sydney team was in the final 4 (Roosters) and they are renowned for having a very small supporter base. If there was one prelim, maybe it would have had that marquee feel and would have drawn a crowd - but when you're stretching them out over two games you're diluting that small group of people and impacting both crowds.

Now let's imagine we add on two more weeks (6 more games) of finals in Sydney before this. All I can say is you'd better hope there's 6+ Sydney based teams (which isn't looking likely anytime soon).

What you're calling for would be an absolute mess. You're basing your decision off significantly out of date, and therefore useless, data.

Now let's move back to the argument for prelims only. If we have two Sydney prelims (I realise that is unlikely this year), you've got the same problem of stretching the limited market of people who are willing to fork out the dollars to attend. It makes no sense. The only possible thing I can think of is nostalgia (effectively where you're coming from), which is such a ridiculous thing to build a business case on.

(I apologise for the length of this)

 

[Timmah]

Aren't you advocating that all finals should be moved to Sydney, not just Prelims?

Advocating is a strong word. I felt the centralised finals gave finals a sense of occasion they're lacking - yes, but I doubt it would ever go back to that model and I wouldn't push the point.

If you held prelims both prelims in Sydney last year there would have been very poor crowds because only one Sydney team was in the final 4 (Roosters) and they are renowned for having a very small supporter base. If there was one prelim, maybe it would have had that marquee feel and would have drawn a crowd - but when you're stretching them out over two games you're diluting that small group of people and impacting both crowds.

The Roosters have had two prelims in Sydney in the last 15 years - 40k+ v Cowboys in 04 (ANZ) and 37k v Newcastle in 2013 (Allianz). The other prelim both seasons was in Sydney as well. Both of those figures are well north of anything GIO can offer.

Now let's move back to the argument for prelims only. If we have two Sydney prelims (I realise that is unlikely this year), you've got the same problem of stretching the limited market of people who are willing to fork out the dollars to attend. It makes no sense. The only possible thing I can think of is nostalgia (effectively where you're coming from), which is such a ridiculous thing to build a business case on.

(I apologise for the length of this)

It's not unlikely, it's impossible. Canberra v Cronulla being in week 1 means the other prelim is in either Townsville or Melbourne.

But to debunk your attendee fatigue argument about two Sydney prelims regardless:

 

[Cumberland Throw]

I remember when I was a kid my parents work used to organise a bus trip to Sydney RL final always in week 1 or 2 of the finals,

70 odd people went, every year..

As soon as the finals went away from Sydney they stopped doing it, as it was to hard to predict..

I would imagine their were 1000's of others in a similar position, casual fans just stopped going to finals, about 10 years ago

 

[Timmah]

I remember when I was a kid my parents work used to organise a bus trip to Sydney RL final always in week 1 or 2 of the finals,

70 odd people went, every year..

As soon as the finals went away from Sydney they stopped doing it, as it was to hard to predict..

I would imagine their were 1000's of others in a similar position, casual fans just stopped going to finals, about 10 years ago

But finals crowds are up in the last 10 years?

 

[SLRBRONCOS]

This is going to be the worst Brisbane finals crowd since 2005 I think.

A mixture of rediculous pricing, frigging Friday night, wallabies test on Saturday and impending awful weather is keeping all away.

 

[Raiderdave]

Dopey Dave at it again

GIO Stadium sells out for a week 1 final in a matter of 48 hours. Crowd of around 26k expected with many more thousands surely to miss out...let's say the inevitable happens and Canberra play a prelim in 2 weeks time (yes plenty of time to plan ahead) on a Saturday , 8pm at Allianz

What's stopping these same 20-26k (plus many more thousand) from making the short 3 hour trip granted on a Saturday night to see their team play in a prelim for the first time in 20 odd years? it'd feel way more at home for the Raiders than it would for the other team

It'd crack 30k+ easy and the NRLs decision would be justified immediately.

Hahahahahahaha
Oh dear
Ol clifart demonstrates his sub level of intelligence

Let's forget it's hardly the point raiders fans should have to travel when the fans of 13 other clubs don't

But if you seriously think a 6 hour round trip with a 1am arrival time back here isn't a huge deterrent for many people., certainly families
Then you are officially a dickhead

 

[Timmah]

Hahahahahahaha
Oh dear
Ol clifart demonstrates his sub level of intelligence

Let's forget it's hardly the point raiders fans should have to travel when the fans of 13 other clubs don't

But if you seriously think a 6 hour round trip with a 1am arrival time back here isn't a huge deterrent for many people., certainly families
Then you are officially a dickhead

Are you suggesting that all fans of all Sydney clubs live within a 20 minute drive of ANZ and/or Allianz?
People travel from Goulburn, Gosford, Newcastle, Wollongong and beyond every weekend for Sydney clubs. Its just what fans do. It's not new.

 

[Clifferd]

Hahahahahahaha
Oh dear
Ol clifart demonstrates his sub level of intelligence

Let's forget it's hardly the point raiders fans should have to travel when the fans of 13 other clubs don't

But if you seriously think a 6 hour round trip with a 1am arrival time back here isn't a huge deterrent for many people., certainly families
Then you are officially a dickhead

Um I live down the south coast (near Kiama) and i make the effort to do a 4-5 hour round trip every weekend my team plays in Sydney.

If I can do it nearly every weekend surely your buddies in Canberra can do it in a once in a blue moon scenario? Lol get over it