At first glance the crowd (14,500) at Campbelltown appears a little disappointing. But in all honesty & with no hidden agendas you'd have to admit there were legitimate reasons for it being about 3K less than you'd expect.
Mothers day WAS an issue. Not to the extent that it would account for an extra 3 or 4 thousand not turning up, but maybe another 1000 would have turned up on a normal Sunday.Other issues that would account for another 2-3 thousand are weather, ground ameneties, & FTA TV coverage.
There was rain about on Sunday morning, & with Campbelltown having minimal coverage from the elements this would have deterred some from going. Also the game was being shown on FTA television.
So when you think about it, we have a game being played on Mother's Day, with rain about, at a ground with no cover from the weather, which will be shown on FTA TV on a 1 hour delay. Not hard to see that those who had intended to go, woke up on Sunday morning, took everything into account & opted to give this one a miss. This would be particularly true for families.
My understanding is that ticket pre-sales for the game were good but game -day sales were lower than anticipated. That would support my theory.
Finally lets not forget that crowds were down in all games (with the possible exception of Brisbane). Next to the Broncos (who will almost always boast the weeks largest gate) the game at Campbelltown was next best.
St.Geo/Illa v NZ - 10,100
Brisbane v Manly - 24,900
Storm V NQC - 10,800
Dogs v Parra - 13,200
Wests Tigers v Knights - 14,500
Raiders v Sharks - 9,700
Penrith v Souths - 10,900
