Burraston pours cold water on talk of inflated crowd figure
BY BRETT KEEBLE
04 Aug, 2010 04:00 AM
KNIGHTS chief executive Steve Burraston has defended the club against suggestions they announced an inflated crowd figure for the 32-14 victory over Manly at EnergyAustralia Stadium on Monday night.Some patrons who have attended home games since the club's 1988 foundation season were in contact with the Newcastle Herald yesterday to question the authenticity of the official attendance of 14,267.
That took the total number of fans for nine home games this season to 120,368 at an average of 13,374 - almost 900 less than their all-time lowest average of 14,257 set in 1997.
The Knights will have to average at least 15,878 fans at their three remaining home games against the Bulldogs on Sunday, the Broncos (August 20) and Dragons (August 28) to avoid posting a sub-14,000 average home crowd for the first time in their history.
"It definitely was a 14,000 crowd. I've got the money in the pocket, and that's the main thing," Burraston said yesterday.
"If people are questioning whether it was 14,000 or not, that's exactly what it was . . . It was definitely 14,000, and ticket sales tracked that way all week.
". . . I'm not sure why people are questioning it because it certainly was a 14,000 crowd, and I thought a great crowd for a Monday night in wet conditions."
According to Knights sources, the Turton Rd carpark was full for the first time all season and hundreds of cars were turned away in the hour before the 7pm kick-off.
Burraston was pleased with the walk-up crowd on the night, given the chilly conditions and eventual rain, and said there were more than the usual number of patrons in the top deck of the Andrew Johns Stand.
The Knights received $40,000 from the NRL, which included a $10,000 Fox Sports advertising package, and enjoyed the same handout for the Eels game on June 21.
The NRL had introduced that incentive this year to help all host clubs promote Monday-night games and offset losses.
"But the disappointing thing there is that if that was Manly on a fine Sunday afternoon, we'd have probably got 18,000 in," he said.
Four of Newcastle's past five home games have been rain-affected - severely in the case of night matches against the Tigers (14,458), Eels (8474) and Sea Eagles - which Burraston believes is the main reason for below-average attendances this year.
Long-range weather forecasts predict more showers and a maximum of 16 degrees for Sunday, when the Knights host the Bulldogs in a game both teams must win to stay alive in the finals race.
Burraston anticipates a crowd of at least 16,000 if there is a change in the weather.
"The Bulldogs game has been selling well for us and we've had a lot of pre-sales for the last three or four weeks or so," he said.
"Given the form we were in last night, a fine day, the fact the Bulldogs have a good travelling crowd, it could even be more than 16,000."
