The Game 2023 Crowd Watch

[yakstorm]

I presume this is the site of the old Oasis development?

From SMH:

The preferred site for the proposed new stadium is on the corner of Hume Highway and Remembrance Avenue in Liverpool and takes in Whitlam Aquatic Centre, the netball facility and potentially Hillier Oval – the former Oasis site, owned by Canterbury Leagues Club.

 

[Burns]

Casting an eye at sales for the Australia v Samoa match in Townsville, would seem that the top half of the upper tiers haven’t been put on sale. Without knowing too much about the stadium, would figure (and going off Yakstorm’s previous posts) around 15,000 predicted?

What a dud venue for this match. Not playing at CommBank is such a mystery given the ease of access for Samoan fans (which would in of itself bring a carnival like atmosphere in the face of a likely heavy Australian victory).

I saw the other day that Australia has played only once in Sydney in the past (7?) years, and that was only against Lebanon in the 2017 RLWC.

 

[yakstorm]

Casting an eye at sales for the Australia v Samoa match in Townsville, would seem that the top half of the upper tiers haven’t been put on sale. Without knowing too much about the stadium, would figure (and going off Yakstorm’s previous posts) around 15,000 predicted?

What a dud venue for this match. Not playing at CommBank is such a mystery given the ease of access for Samoan fans (which would in of itself bring a carnival like atmosphere in the face of a likely heavy Australian victory).

I saw the other day that Australia has played only once in Sydney in the past (7?) years, and that was only against Lebanon in the 2017 RLWC.

The release is similar to the Women's Origin match (17K) earlier this year, though that game was selling a lot stronger this close to kick off. I'm not sure why they are still holding back bays in the Upper South, as that seems to be the one area that is actually selling.

Agree it is a terrible venue choice. Sydney or Auckland would have been better choices to ensure that a solid Samoan contingent is at the ground, with Brisbane or Melbourne as secondary choices (there are very few Samoans in Northern Queensland). I know part of the Townsville ground being built was X number of representative fixtures had to be played at the venue (including Kangaroo Tests), but it's not going to look great on Saturday unless there is a late surge in sales.

 

[Victoire]

Aus v Samoa drew 18,456 down in Wollongong for a Four Nations match way back in 2014. This was well before the great Pacific islands revolution too. Rather disappointing if Townsville can't beat that

 

[Perth Red]

Aus v Samoa drew 63k in England. Australia just doesn’t get international rugby league lol

 

[Wb1234]

Aus v Samoa drew 63k in England. Australia just doesn’t get international rugby league lol

Yeh nrl teams should stop touring England so they can focus on playing against France ideals d wales and Scotland

 

[yakstorm]

Ticket sales in Port Moresby has picked up. Grandstand is now around 70% sold, North & South Stand now sold out, and only limited capacity left in Western Wings and Eastern Stand. By kick off on Sunday, I imagine we'll be at 14,800 capacity.

 

[taste2taste]

Looks like the pacific championships will be played in front of abysmal crowds.

I wonder, if this series takes off and in 10 years time is played in packed stadiums we'll look back on this game the same way we look back at the first SOO game, which was played in front of 1,600 fans

 

[Billythekid]

Looks like the pacific championships will be played in front of abysmal crowds.

I wonder, if this series takes off and in 10 years time is played in packed stadiums we'll look back on this game the same way we look back at the first SOO game, which was played in front of 1,600 fans

It’s a hodgepodge tournament thrown together at the last minute with bugger all promotion. Fans are treating it that way. It’s sad but this just isn’t the way to grow the international game, run it as an afterthought and that’s how the fans will view it.

 

[Wb1234]

I

It’s a hodgepodge tournament thrown together at the last minute with bugger all promotion. Fans are treating it that way. It’s sad but this just isn’t the way to grow the international game, run it as an afterthought and that’s how the fans will view it.

its been talked about since march

the delay in the cba was the issue

 

[taste2taste]

It’s a hodgepodge tournament thrown together at the last minute with bugger all promotion. Fans are treating it that way. It’s sad but this just isn’t the way to grow the international game, run it as an afterthought and that’s how the fans will view it.

How could they have done it better ?
This year Tonga are missing, next year Australia will be in England.

Any thoughts ?

 

[yakstorm]

The tournament only got confirmed on August 16, venues were officially confirmed almost a week later, matches only went on sale in September, far from large lead in times for selling, especially kicking off in Townsville when the Cowboys last game at home was August 17.

It doesn't help either that the Kangaroos have only played once in Australia since the end of the 2017 RLWC (2019 in Wollongong) and then the two teams taking part in the match have been based out of Airlie Beach (270km north of Townsville) and Redcliffe (1300km south of Townsville) for the lead up.

Eden Park, Melbourne and the Final are on track for better crowds than Townsville. It is likely all these matches will get a boost off the back of the clash kicking off, especially if Australia can play terribly and an understrength Samoan team can over perform and be competitive.

Anyway here is how QCB Stadium is selling so far. Green is pretty much sold out (or down to single seats), yellow is around 90% occupied. Western grandstand is a real unknown, if majority of corporate has been allocated it will potentially take a 14K crowd to 17-18K.

 

[yakstorm]

How could they have done it better ?
This year Tonga are missing, next year Australia will be in England.

Any thoughts ?

Australia isn't going to England next year. England is coming to Australia in 2025, but next year Australia will be taking part in the Pacific Championship.

 

[titoelcolombiano]

How could they have done it better ?
This year Tonga are missing, next year Australia will be in England.

Any thoughts ?

Invite England, make it a 6 or 8 nations, play Samoan and Tongan games in NZ... Just a few ideas that would have drastically improved things.

Even leaving Tonga and England out, a Samoa, NZ, Australia tri nations should be played in NZ to maximise crowds. The one exception might have been Aus v Samoa at Commbank accessible to Western Sydney's huge Samoan population.

 

[titoelcolombiano]

Australia isn't going to England next year. England is coming to Australia in 2025, but next year Australia will be taking part in the Pacific Championship.

Yes, England will be looking to invite Samoa or the Kiwis over though, so someone will be missing.

 

[jim_57]

How could they have done it better ?
This year Tonga are missing, next year Australia will be in England.

Any thoughts ?

4 teams in the top tier at the very least would have helped. This 3 team group format is a waste, we get a very limited international window and we have teams having a “bye” for a week? No wonder some players preferred to sit it out.

Lebanon could have given 1 or 2 of the bye teams a game and NZ could be playing Fiji this weekend as a warm up for both teams.

 

[Iamback]

The government funded it using Pacific money, it gets content which will grow over time

 

[Wb1234]

The government funded it using Pacific money, it gets content which will grow over time

Suspect the arlc will make a decent profit off this plus the tv rights should be worth up to five million more pa

 

[Ride the Lion to Zion]

It’s a hodgepodge tournament thrown together at the last minute with bugger all promotion. Fans are treating it that way. It’s sad but this just isn’t the way to grow the international game, run it as an afterthought and that’s how the fans will view it.

BBC cricket pundit Jonathan Agnew once spotted someone in the crowd at Lords and asked an Aussie co-commentator, "What's that bloke wearing?" - "It's an Australian Rugby League jersey" came the reply.

Before they launched the Pacific Championships, the NRL should have run a massive educational campaign, particularly in NSW and QLD, explaining that Australia has a national team. They are called the Kangaroos and the jersey is green with two gold chevrons.

 

[Wb1234]

BBC cricket pundit Jonathan Agnew once spotted someone in the crowd at Lords and asked an Aussie co-commentator, "What's that bloke wearing?" - "It's an Australian Rugby League jersey" came the reply.

Before they launched the Pacific Championships, the NRL should have run a massive educational campaign, particularly in NSW and QLD, explaining that Australia has a national team. They are called the Kangaroos and the jersey is green with two gold chevrons.

Personalise Rugby League Australia Kangaroos 1908 Vintage Centenary Jersey – YourGears

yourgears.club

reality is samoa and Tonga will be as popular in certain parts of Sydney as the kangaroos if not more so

most neutrals would probably cheer for them too as will fans of their club sides