As a souths supporter I can understand why you wouldn;t, as a RL supporter I would hope you would understand why you would.
14k at ANZ is no different than 20k at nib? Don't talk silly. One makes the game look like backyard footy, one makes it looks like a vibrant sport people want to go and watch.
Mate we take 3 games away from ANZ stadium each year which is probably 2 too many. Anymore then that and we might as well rename the club from South Sydney to "Australia Rabbitohs". What would be the point of me renewing my season ticketed membership??? Each year we play 1 home game at;
1. WA (Usually vs Warriors, sometimes Broncos)
2. Cairns (Usually against the Titans, this year against the Knights)
3. Gosford (Usually against Manly as they hardly bring any supporters to away games anyway although for the first time this year it was their home game.)
That's almost 1/4 of our home games played away from ANZ. I know the Dogs took a game up there this year but why dont other clubs like the Roosters, Tigers, Sharks or even the Panthers take a game to WA to promote Rugby League? Souths take more then enough home games away to promote Rugby League, let the other clubs do their bit now.
So from a RL perspective it might be good for Perth but for the club, the fans and players it sux, it sux because you're playing in a different time zone, different stadium not to mention the annoying 5 hour flight and the fact that it's really not a home game anymore.
So I have to disagree with you with the whole 14K vs 20K concept. It's 1 thing if Perth had a World class facility such as ANZ, MCG, Suncorp or SFS to name a few and the game guaranteed a 50K sellout crowd but if all Perth has to offer is a 25K capacity stadium that will get 20K at best it's hardly all that enticing hence why there aren't all that many clubs taking games away to Perth.
Besides if Souths wanted a stadium to look full they could always take 1 game back to Redfern Oval where 16-20K would look full without all the hassles of going to Perth but then again that kind of defies the whole purpose of trying to squash these crappy little 20K capacity grounds.
