Hello? What planet are you living on. They play the game at AAMI Park which for a Preliminary Final has a tiny capacity of 30,000 and yet there was still empty seats.
Well done to the Storm fans that went, but that crowd figure is not good enough for a self-proclaimed 'sporting capital of Australia' with a team as dominant as the Storm have been should't have a single empty seat in such a small stadium.
BUT - the Melbourne fans are not totally at fault here: I also blame the NRL. The lesson learnt here is that the NRL has erred in not playing this game at Etihad. Playing the match at such a small stadium does not give the match a 'special event' type feel that this match demanded. In 2007 the Storm played Parramatta on AFL grand final night and got 33,000 - 8,000 more than last night. How much more do you think they might have got at Etihad last night with no AFL competition? The NRL has gone backwards since 2007 and has no faith in it's own product. You aim low and you get a low result. Had of they had the balls and played it at Etihad they might have enouraged more casual sports fans to go for the 'big event' ticket and they might have got 35,000. Whilst this is nowhere near capacity I would rather play in a bigger stadium and two thirds capacity for a larger crowd than at a small stadium which encourages no-one other than core Storm fans and gets 4,500 empty seats.
The only thing going for AAMI Park over Etihad is that it is a rectangular stadium. Last night's match should have been at Eithad for the same reason that they played State Of Origin 1 there instead of at AAMI Park. Or for the same reason the Warriors would play a Preliminary Final at Eden Park instead of Mount Smart.
OK what we need here is a dose of perspective.
1. The game in 2007 against Parra that got 33.4K at Etihad was on a Sunday arvo (23/9/07) one week before the AFL GF (not on AFL GF night). The AFL had a final on the Friday night (21/9) at the MCG, and one the night before in Adelaide. So there was no AFL game that day in Melbourne. It was when the NRL PFs were on Sat night and Sun arvo. There were also heaps of Parra fans at that game for some reason, possibly because quite a few traveled down or there are plenty who have relocated to Melb.
2. Last night's crowd at AAMI (25.5K) was the second largest for a Storm game at AAMI. The largest was last year's PF against the Warriors that got 28.5K, only 3K more. Not bad considering a decent proportion of the crowd that night were going for the Warriors. Could have been as many as 10-12K Warriors fans. There were less than 3K Manly fans there last night, so at least 22.5K were following the Storm, compared with at most 18K at the game last year.
3. It was the fourth largest crowd ever for a Storm game in Melbourne.
1. 33.4K v Eels 2007 @Etihad,
2. 28.5K v Warriors 2011 @AAMI
3. 27.7K v Broncos 2009 @Etihad (on the night following the AFL GF)
4. 25.5K v Manly 2012 @AAMI
The higher crowds than last night's crowd were against teams with plenty more away supporters than Manly can muster.
4. Also remember one little thing that occurred that may have affected crowds in Melbourne a wee bit since 2007 - THE SALARY CAP SCANDAL. The Cap Scandal decimated support in Melbourne and a lot of the work they had done previously was eroded away. They have basically had to start again from their core supporters and build up since 2010 and try to regain the trust of the Melbourne public (the ones that actually care that they exist anyway).
