yes it looks like it.
50% of the clubs are below where they need to be (15k which isnt asking a lot surely), 6 of that 8 are Sydney clubs. Sht form plays a big part but geez there is a lot of ground to make up. Its hard to see things being much better than this current purple period for Sharks so god knows where they are going to get any growth from. You can see potential in Eels, Titans and Doggies but hard to see how Sharks, Panthers and Manly are going to improve (and that Manly avg is very much boosted by their away from home games, Brookvale was under 9k I believe)
Anyone else underwhelmed by the NRL's alleged reclaiming of scheduling rights they were supposed to get this year? There seemed to be a lot of potentially high drawing games still slotted into sht times.
Why? It's not hard to see how to improve crowds ,scheduling for one.In Sydney toss 6pm.Play local derbies at family friendly times for all derbies ,not a Thursday or Friday night.
And yes improving facilities is another.Manly has only to get their sh*t together.
The Sharks played their main crowd drawer at home the Dragons(local derby) on a Thursday night,and got 13,500,whhch is very ordinary against the same Dragons , which would have drawn a hell of a lot more on a Saturday or Sunday.
Two 6pm games on a Friday produced two of the Shark's poorest crowds;
V Roosters 11,855
V Raiders 10,016(as if Raiders fans could get there by 6pm let alone Shark's fans)
Playing the hopeless Eels on a decent saturday night crowds 12,073
Played Cowboys (with few of their fans) with light rain on a Saturday night crowd 12,270.
Played Tigers on a Sunday 2pm game with rain 13,093.Bigger drawing team proving my point.
Hell the Sharks got over 13,200 when they played the imploding Sea Eagles,on a 2pm Sunday game.
Did not play South Sydney at home in 2018 which draws a big crowd.And which they have drawn big crowds in the past.
You don't have to be Luigi the Unbelievable,to know derbies, big drawing clubs and time slots are going to help the averages.
Call the above facts excuses ,so be it no skin of my honker, but they do influence crowd numbers.All these factors intertwine, into formulating the final crowd results.
And I don;t agree with the BS ,that certain clubs cannot improve their crowds.I just spelt some of the reasons why they can.
