2018 Crowd Watch

[Clifferd]

Mate was trying to buy tickets off Ticketek for the Tigers game tonight, said it was unavailable? Surely can’t be a sell out

Edit - nvm back on now, club said they were expecting about 15k

 

[The Vaulting Violinist]

I think another point which is valid.How many Cowboy's fans galloped down to watch the match live.? 50?
Basically the overwhelming majority of the crowd were locals.Whereas the AFL game across teh road were all locals one would assume.
That doesn't excuse the outhouse scheduling for a Thursday night.Bleeding ch9 needs to be hung up by Karl Stiffnick's balls.

How about the f1 crowd. Would’ve been loads of Sydneysiders in Melbourne yesterday

 

[Vee]

Nein chose the GF replay to minimize 7's ratings for the fumblers' opener.

Ideally, the Storm should play their first two games at home and build support while the AFL is asleep and then away to avoid a clash with their round 1.

 

[Stallion]

Interesting anecdote to the crowd comparison between the NRL and AFL games last night. Obviously the year 6 boys watched the AFL last night instead of the NRL which is concerning. But anyway I was asked by these boys "Did you watch the AFL last night?" I replied with "I don't watch training runs." The boys got the message and we moved on . They quizzed me with a few NRL related questions as the day went on.

 

[Mister M]

In the end the crowd wasn't THAT bad. It was 13K against one of the lowest drawing teams in the league on a Thursday night. I think there is a good chance that will be the storms lowest crowd this year which would be a good result IMO.

Would it have been better on another night not against possibly the biggest game of AFL outside of the finals this year? Obviously but it's not the end of the world.

I know that the North Queensland Cowboys are one of the "lowest drawing teams" in Sydney, but the mentality of Melbourne Storm supporters is different than that of the traditional clubs due to the rivalries that we've built in recent years. Despite what some other posters have suggested, particularly the growth of the Storm membership base aren't 'expats' but Victorians who in some cases only know of the big games from the past 5 years.

In the past three years alone we've played against the Cowboys in three finals games, thus building that interest, which is why the crowd was reasonably respectable despite the code clash. Most Victorians would be more interested in seeing the Storm play the Cowboys than any other except the Warriors and maybe the Broncos.

 

[Jamberoo]

What is it about the game of rugby league that the sports fans have not warmed to in Melbourne? What are the things the locals say?

Most people I know have a passing interest in Melbourne Storm. I wore my Storm jumper to an AFL Grand Final day BBQ last year and everyone was pumping the Storm up. But, in 20 years of asking my mates (mostly AFL club members, some also Victory fans) not once has one of them come to a Storm game even if free tickets.
And the fact that there is not a RL club within 27km of AAMI Park, makes it difficult for kids to even try it out.
I ask, are there any Storm members/fans on here that do not have a NSW/Qld/UK/NZ connection?

 

[El Diablo]

I live in WA where AFL is prominent, my kids have been brought up watching League but play AFL. The AFL had already started yesterday when I turned over to the Storm game, trust me, the first comment made was that there's nobody there. Within 5 mins they were in the other room watching the AFL with 90k screaming idiots yelling out "Ball!!!!".

so i guess your kids have never watch a GWS or Suns home game?

 

[t-ba]

Most people I know have a passing interest in Melbourne Storm. I wore my Storm jumper to an AFL Grand Final day BBQ last year and everyone was pumping the Storm up. But, in 20 years of asking my mates (mostly AFL club members, some also Victory fans) not once has one of them come to a Storm game even if free tickets.
And the fact that there is not a RL club within 27km of AAMI Park, makes it difficult for kids to even try it out.
I ask, are there any Storm members/fans on here that do not have a NSW/Qld/UK/NZ connection?

Altona Meadows?
Oakleigh?

You keep bringing this up, but I'm not sure it's entirely accurate...

 

[Hoofhearted]

Exactly. They're AFL kids. Great they are getting exposed to league but it's definitely not a priority.

NFI, my kids love League and are massive Tigers supporters. Playing AFL is only out of convenience, but my point is that young kids are easily influenced and a big crowd with atmosphere is much more attractive to them.
Do you think Origin would get 4 million TV viewers if it only got 10k at the ground.

 

[OldPanther]

NFI, my kids love League and are massive Tigers supporters. Playing AFL is only out of convenience, but my point is that young kids are easily influenced and a big crowd with atmosphere is much more attractive to them.
Do you think Origin would get 4 million TV viewers if it only got 10k at the ground.

I'm not saying people don't like popular things. That's a fact of life. I'm saying kids don't look at the TV and complain about the crowd size.

 

[Hoofhearted]

I'm not saying people don't like popular things. That's a fact of life. I'm saying kids don't look at the TV and complain about the crowd size.

Sorry, I can see we've gone a bit off track. It wasn't so much the crowd size that they noticed, if the Storm game was the only thing on they would of happily kept watching, and yes I agree they wouldn't of noticed the crowd.
Problem was that on the other channel at exactly the same time was another game with 90k screaming fans, so for a kid it got there attention. League doesn't need 90k to create an atmosphere, proper scheduling and marketing this particular game should have pulled 25k+ which would of looked and sounded just as good as the AFL.

 

[OldPanther]

Sorry, I can see we've gone a bit off track. It wasn't so much the crowd size that they noticed, if the Storm game was the only thing on they would of happily kept watching, and yes I agree they wouldn't of noticed the crowd.
Problem was that on the other channel at exactly the same time was another game with 90k screaming fans, so for a kid it got there attention. League doesn't need 90k to create an atmosphere, proper scheduling and marketing this particular game should have pulled 25k+ which would of looked and sounded just as good as the AFL.

Completely agree on creating an atmosphere.

 

[Mister M]

I ask, are there any Storm members/fans on here that do not have a NSW/Qld/UK/NZ connection?

I'm a Storm member and between myself and the extended family we are 6 members. We are Victorian's with no connections to any expat areas in the past 50 years (relatives came out from Europe but that was post-WWII).

We started having a passing interest of watching games when they were on TV during the late 2000's (mostly finals), had an emotional investment in the club following the Salary Cap Saga (went to a few games live to support the players through the tough situation), got hooked on watching the game because of the quality of the AAMI Park facility and as a family we've been members since 2012 in varying numbers (started out as 2 and grew).

I've been to 3 NRL Grand Finals in that time, 2 Origin games in Melbourne and at least 50 NRL Games in those 6 years. I even flew to Sydney on Grand Final day last year to see the Storm after spending the entire day at the AFL Grand Final the day before.

I know you believe that all supporters are 'expats', but from my own personal experience (both with my family and talking to people I sit around regularly) I don't think that is the case. It's more likely that they are Melbournian sports fans who appreciated the quality of the team/game day experience.

 

[Hoofhearted]

Mate was trying to buy tickets off Ticketek for the Tigers game tonight, said it was unavailable? Surely can’t be a sell out

Edit - nvm back on now, club said they were expecting about 15k

Is it raining over there, if so 15k would be a good crowd considering.

 

[Clifferd]

Is it raining over there, if so 15k would be a good crowd considering.

Not atm, predicted 2-5mm max tonight so rain shouldn’t be an excuse at all

 

[Suitman]

Is it raining over there, if so 15k would be a good crowd considering.

http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDR714.loop.shtml#skip

Should be a dry night.

 

[King hit]

Its way more popular now... Storm have been awesome for RL. Loads of people get behind them and as I stated before media identities.
As for heckling... I've never experienced that once as an RL fan in AFL territory. My AFL mates that were born in Melbourne and Adelaide all like RL now.. yes thanks to me.
The only thing between the codes I notice comes from some RL fans that seem to have a deep seeded hatred towards AFL.
And if the powers that be at the NRL were smarter the Grand Final rematch would of been huge... so frustrating that something like that can be so easily overlooked.

I've meet all kinds of flogball type people who passionately hate League and are proud of it. I meet a Victorian family on holidays once and they said that Rugby League was for rapists, criminals etc and said that only the lowest forms of life watched it and played it. They fear other sports. At least for us Rugby League people there is at least they have a reason for hating it.

Good to hear that you have converted some people

 

[Jamberoo]

Altona Meadows?
Oakleigh?

You keep bringing this up, but I'm not sure it's entirely accurate...

Happy to be proven wrong. Waverley Oakleigh is 20k and Altona 22k. Still not good enough. Too far for any mum in the inner or eastern suburbs to drive twice a week to train/play.

 

[Jamberoo]

I'm a Storm member and between myself and the extended family we are 6 members. We are Victorian's with no connections to any expat areas in the past 50 years (relatives came out from Europe but that was post-WWII).

We started having a passing interest of watching games when they were on TV during the late 2000's (mostly finals), had an emotional investment in the club following the Salary Cap Saga (went to a few games live to support the players through the tough situation), got hooked on watching the game because of the quality of the AAMI Park facility and as a family we've been members since 2012 in varying numbers (started out as 2 and grew).

I've been to 3 NRL Grand Finals in that time, 2 Origin games in Melbourne and at least 50 NRL Games in those 6 years. I even flew to Sydney on Grand Final day last year to see the Storm after spending the entire day at the AFL Grand Final the day before.

I know you believe that all supporters are 'expats', but from my own personal experience (both with my family and talking to people I sit around regularly) I don't think that is the case. It's more likely that they are Melbournian sports fans who appreciated the quality of the team/game day experience.

Fantastic. You are the first one I know. All the Storm fans I know and meet have NSW/Qld connections like me.

 

[taipan]

How about the f1 crowd. Would’ve been loads of Sydneysiders in Melbourne yesterday

Thursday night? Friday night more like it.