3 cheers for Melbourne

[perth sharkie]

Should've stuck with the Western Reds.

 

[joel caine number 1 fan]

why do some of u guys care so much about the crowds get over it melbourne are staying SOO will most likely be live next year thanks too the great ratings they got last week so more people might watch nrl

plus if afl goes to 7 and 10 i think we may have the same time as sydney

 

[lotti]

fingers crossed it does.

 

[Dog-E]

Should've stuck with the Western Reds.

Do u think WA still has the core RL support to support a team?

And this is NOT a facetious question - it's an honest one!

 

[LESStar58]

Crowd - 6053, alright so if it wasnt raining you would get 8053, big diff

I know i will get shot down for this but..

Having a team their appears a total waste of time. It is pathetic that after what, 7 years and 7 very successful years with several exciting players that they can barely ever draw about 10000 people to a game of rugby league.

Their crowds are showing no signs of improvment even though they won a premiership and have been consistently in the top 8 for the last 3 seasons. Not a single melbourne junior has come through the ranks, they simply do not care about league down their.

Numbers of teams i would have before melbourne in no order

Adelaide
Perth
Wellington
Central Coast

These places would not be averaging consistently under 10000 if they had teams as exciting and a succesful as the Storm.

Tell me things are going to change... Something about a new stadium, MNF could be a saviour. Doubt it though

Is that you uncle Denis?

 

[shadow grinder]

or is it uncle ray?

 

[LESStar58]

Souths are nearly last. Storm are in the top 4.

Before tonites game we were 6th....

 

[lotti]

they might, see the Sharks game in perth?

 

[LESStar58]

Not a single melbourne junior has come through the ranks, they simply do not care about league down their.

How about Jake Webster you f**king moron! And Timana Tah while I think of it. Sure he's overrated but he was raised here!

 

[LESStar58]

hip hip hooray, hip hip hooray, hip hooray.

Melbournes football does the talking mate.

Earl....the voice of reason.

 

[lotti]

The NRL will see Melbourne's kind of football next week at Suncorp.

 

[shadow grinder]

Not a single melbourne junior has come through the ranks, they simply do not care about league down their.

well the junior leagues down there are finally getting decent funding now.

its hard to walk into schools and try to get kids to like league when their parents prolly love AFL and they know nothing about RL. so it isnt going to work over night.

but we are starting to see schools and youngsters get in on league. with a school entering in the arrive alive cup comp, and also the victorian under 15's winning the big national comp last week, they went through undefeted beating under 15's from NSW, WA, SA and NT ....so the future is starting to look good with the juniors.

just remember storm are building the junior base from scratch....it wont happen over night or even with in 7 years....but it will happen. the nrl need to continue its funding to junoir league down there, same as the storm and the ARL.

 

[bartman]

Low crowd averages down there seems furstrating to me occasionally, but it really comes down to matter of time. In a place which is hostile (or has had little/no rugby league history in the 100 previous years) you have to hang in there almost for a generation if your intention is to (eventually) achieve equality with the established territories.

As long as the club's planning and expectations mean they aren't bleeding money on an annual basis, then they should be happy to grow at whatever rate is possible for them in that territory. From little things big things grow, but it's not easy.

It's only a problem if it's costing the league an arm and a leg to hang in there, and I think there are other (heartland) clubs in a worse financial state at the moment, crowd figures aside?

In England, London had to be bailed out by the other clubs recently, because the club's ambitions were too impatient and the financial side fell apart. I'd rather have Melbourne slowly trying to grow over another ten year period that forcing it into high-risk manoevres just to grab a short-term (and fickle?) crowd.

Look at how long it too the Sydney Swans to be a "legitimate" crowd draw in a hostile territory - 15 years? And that's with some on-field success and plenty of off-field favouritism. I'm sure AFL looks back and thinks it was all worth it? We should be just as patient, and eventually we'll look back happy with having a side established (as much as it ever can be) in their territory.

 

[lotti]

1 of the reasons is Delta Goodrem, the Swans are her favourite AFL team.

 

[LESStar58]

The low crowds piss me off too....but we keep on winning. Muthaf**kas wrote us off for 2 years and we won the comp! Its only a matter of time before those haters up north start pulling their foots out of their mouths!

 

[LESStar58]

1 of the reasons is Delta Goodrem, the Swans are her favourite AFL team.

And both have been afforded sympathy through their lives....they're perfect for each other.

 

[lotti]

Delta is the reason I'll be in Brisbane next week-end, when I saw the Storm was playing Brisbane at Suncorp the week-end before.

 

[jilted]

A few figures to ponder over. Nrl from this year afl from last year.

Melbourne storm play in a city dominated by 9 afl teams who command about 10-15 pages a day in the herald sun. Storm gets 1 page on a good day 1 story most days.

Melborne average approx 8,922 per game while the afl ranges from 43,258 to 24,436. While in NSW where league is dominant the highest average attendance is the roosters with 18,926 while the swans averaged 31,646 per home game.

So I would be less worried about why the storm has low crowds compared to sydney nrl teams and more concerned about how the afl team with the least support in australia can pull consistently higher crowds than the best supported nrl teams.

 

[lotti]

Think Melbourne doesn't have local talent to draw from check where Jack Webster is from 29 Oct 1983, Moonee Ponds, Vic.

 

[steaming stormer]

Our crowds are struggling, but last night was to be expected. It was bloody freezing and pissing rain all day. I nearly pulled the car over on the way in it was raining that heavy. Then we get to the ground and don't get a drop from 1hour before and right through the game... by then though people have decided to stay home.

Our infrastructure is improving. Last week our U15 Schools side went undefeated through the affilliated states schools comp, showing that there are juniors now starting to play the game.