Crowd

[BennyV]

kogarah is love...kogarah is life....

:sarcasm::lol:

I would say leave the gong for Saturday and Sunday games. Too far and too difficult for the Sydney fanbase to travel to the game after work on a friday.

 

[Silky]

Maybe if the club tried a bit harder to identify themselves with the area people would get more passionate about it... playing in the Red V at WIN Stadium is a f**king joke for starters...

.. and if i hear another commentator refer to the team simply as 'St George' i am going to cut sick haha

It has literally rained all week and local footy kicks off today.. i wasn't expecting a big crowd.

 

[gonz]

Maybe people don't like price / doust

 

[Sent to St Georges]

Ok, I don't expect you to understand if you're not from the area.
We are talking disposable income. Take a family with two boys that play junior rugby league as an example. At this time of year the parents would have just forked out approx. $100 rego, $80 boots(ours were actually $120), mouth guard, and possibly shorts and socks on top, for EACH child. Heaven forbid they have a girl who plays netball.
Something has to give... A family pass to the footy at WIN starts at $50. Given the weather of late, not too many families are going to opt to sit on the hill so a sheltered family pass in either the southern or northern stand is $95.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying this is the only reason why the crowd was poor tonight but it is certainly a contributing factor.

I see where you're coming from DragonBuck, there are many who can afford the ticket prices, but a hell of a lot who can't.

 

[Willow]

Maybe if the club tried a bit harder to identify themselves with the area people would get more passionate about it... playing in the Red V at WIN Stadium is a f**king joke for starters...

.. and if i hear another commentator refer to the team simply as 'St George' i am going to cut sick haha

It has literally rained all week and local footy kicks off today.. i wasn't expecting a big crowd.

First question: Were you there?

St George has done everything possible to identify with the Illawarra. The local fans didn't turn up, it's as simple as that. For whatever reason - money, weather, time of the week... rattle them off. But it's not because the club hasn't tried - the Illawarra has a very compliant partner in St George, we have practically relocated there. We've given up the local derby against Cronulla, given up the Charity Shield, played more games in Wollongong than Kogarah. How many more concessions do you want?

But you raise an interesting point that is worthy of debate, so my next question is what do you see as the solution? Do you suggest that we just dissolve the Joint Venture? St George can field the team they can afford and play at Kogarah. The Steelers can field a team they can afford and play in Wollongong, wearing a red shirt. How's that sound?

 

[bottle]

Maybe if the club tried a bit harder to identify themselves with the area people would get more passionate about it... playing in the Red V at WIN Stadium is a f**king joke for starters...

.. and if i hear another commentator refer to the team simply as 'St George' i am going to cut sick haha

It has literally rained all week and local footy kicks off today.. i wasn't expecting a big crowd.

Your av is a disgrace.
Anything that defaces the Saints badge is an insult to ALL of its fans, but especially its players.

The Red V is Saints, it was a non negotiable part of the JV and agreed to as part of it by the Illawarra partners.
Buy in. Saints is Illawarra and Illawarra is Saints. What's the difficulty?
The club identifies continually with the Illawarra. You're whining is no different to the whining of the Kogarah mafia. The club can't be all things to all people, it's impossible.

Ok, I don't expect you to understand if you're not from the area.
We are talking disposable income. Take a family with two boys that play junior rugby league as an example. At this time of year the parents would have just forked out approx. $100 rego, $80 boots(ours were actually $120), mouth guard, and possibly shorts and socks on top, for EACH child. Heaven forbid they have a girl who plays netball.
Something has to give... A family pass to the footy at WIN starts at $50. Given the weather of late, not too many families are going to opt to sit on the hill so a sheltered family pass in either the southern or northern stand is $95.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying this is the only reason why the crowd was poor tonight but it is certainly a contributing factor.

Fair enough. If this is true though, and people can't afford to go there at prices that the club deems viable, why should the club continue to take games there?
Same goes for Kogarah btw.
Low turnouts gives the club more reasons to take games elsewhere.
Use it or lose it will be the mantra if people aren't careful.

 

[Redvpassion]

We should move our games to ANZ :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

 

[gonz]

We should move our games to ANZ :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

Good idea that way doust won't be behind on rent

 

[bottle]

We should move our games to ANZ :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

Don't misunderstand, not my preference.
However the club will use low crowd numbers to justify heading this way if it sees fit.

 

[saint.nick]

Because they were playing a Qld team that has f&^k all fans in the area.... What sort of crowd would you have expected in Kogarah? I'd imagine it would have been pretty similar all things considered but would be brushed off with the old "we were playing an out of town team".

Aside from that....
Many here in the 'gong can't afford to. That simple...Unemployment is rising rapidly, ticket prices are ridiculous, food/drink prices are ridiculous. Despite winning 3 in a row the team over the last 2 years has been terrible. When things get tight hard decisions need to be made about where money goes.
There is also still a lot of people in the area that still struggle to identify with the team. Where was the red strip tonight?

Cue the St George die hards with their anti Illawarra BS

I'm sorry, but playing Brisbane should not mean we get a bloody shit crowd. I'm confident Kogarah would have attracted more than what Wollongong did, that's for sure. If more people a couple of years ago turned up to watch us when we were winning more frequently, then surely the same people should feel obligated to go after they had a whinge about games being moved to ANZ stadium?

Ticket prices may be expensive, but dude, cutting out the food prices maybe fixes half that problem! IMO, you don't need to eat their shit, cheap quality food to enjoy the game. If people don't want to pay, they should just take their own, or even just buy maccas on the way if they plan on eating junk food that night.

I don't know if I can buy the excuse about unemployment. Look at teams like the Bulldogs. The main demographic at their games are people from the Canterbury-Bankstown area, as well as other places in Western Sydney. Big working class areas. And they still found a way to go to ANZ to watch, yes, the Broncos, where 17000 people rocked up, not bad for a demographic where unemployment is relatively higher and income is relatively lower. I'm not expecting 17000 at WIN, simply because facilities aren't as great, but 10000 is very slack.

Like Willow said, what more do you want the club to do to identify with Illawarra? Let's see what they've done:
-They train there
-The players live there and hang around there
-They are partly based there
-They more often that not play in the red strip at WIN stadium
-They've played more games at WIN than Kogarah
-They've improved the only stadium in the area, which used to be a rusted metal dumphole
-They organised a big GF-victory reception in Wollongong

In fact, I sometimes feel that the Dragons actually identify more with Wollongong than St.George, considering that they are always down there. I just don't understand. Everyone knows why they moved to ANZ (with most people being against it), yet, if we keep up with this rate of crowds at our suburban crowds, all it's going to do is justify Doust's decision to relocate.

 

[Willow]

Because they were playing a Qld team that has f&^k all fans in the area.... What sort of crowd would you have expected in Kogarah? I'd imagine it would have been pretty similar all things considered but would be brushed off with the old "we were playing an out of town team".

Sorry Buck, but that's not a soild argument. I suggest you look at the draw and then you'll see how well Wollongong has faired. Kogarah is being dumped with the away teams with their no-show fans and Wollngong is getting the better end of the deal with the drawcard away teams.

 

[St from the Gong]

I don't understand the logic that there would have been a bigger crowd at Kogarah. Take last years match against the dogs, a true local derby and the crowd was just over 12K. That was pathetic.

Its also difficult for the Wollongong fan base to travel to Kogarah, ANZ (we do exist !!) on a Friday or Monday night due to work commitments.

Take a family to a game = $100
Months subscription to Austar/Foxtel = $100
I believe that's the answer to the poor crowds across all NRL games !!

SFTG

 

[Redvpassion]

Don't misunderstand, not my preference.
However the club will use low crowd numbers to justify heading this way if it sees fit.

Mate I hope not. If that's the case the the crowds will Definatly only get worse. To our defence we played a Queenslad team. And doust knew what games he was allocating to which grounds. But roosters v manly are 2 Sydney teams who just played the 2013 GF and you would think would attract bigger crows than that. We all knew these 2 teams supporters base dont travel. Now that's a disgrace more than our game.

 

[God-King Dean]

lol, 1 loss it's a back to a 'St George v Illawarra' shitfight.

 

[saint.nick]

I don't understand the logic that there would have been a bigger crowd at Kogarah. Take last years match against the dogs, a true local derby and the crowd was just over 12K. That was pathetic.

Its also difficult for the Wollongong fan base to travel to Kogarah, ANZ (we do exist !!) on a Friday or Monday night due to work commitments.

Take a family to a game = $100
Months subscription to Austar/Foxtel = $100
I believe that's the answer to the poor crowds across all NRL games !!

SFTG

We're not saying that Wollongong fans have to come up to Kogarah. And 12000 in a horrendous season is better than 10000 for our first game, off the back of 3 straight.

 

[saint.nick]

Mate I hope not. If that's the case the the crowds will Definatly only get worse. To our defence we played a Queenslad team. And doust knew what games he was allocating to which grounds. But roosters v manly are 2 Sydney teams who just played the 2013 GF and you would think would attract bigger crows than that. We all knew these 2 teams supporters base dont travel. Now that's a disgrace more than our game.

It was a disgrace, but we need not be wasting our time comparing ourselves to shit clubs like the roosters.

 

[jenninga]

The NRL need to really look at this problem of crap crowds.We come up with all the excuses ,but the AFL have same issues to deal with but their crowds are terrific.
The NRL tamper with the game too much, the more they want to try to improve it ,the more they are ruining it.
Things like taking away the toughness,trying to speed up the game,scrum fiascos,video ref over use etc.Banning the shoulder charge is another one,like the lifting tackle if it goes wrong then throw the book at the guilty player.Lifting should have been dealt with years ago BTW.
The AFL is still a great spectacle and still tough,just not as dirty.This is the difference.

 

[Dragon_Taylor6]

The NRL need to really look at this problem of crap crowds.We come up with all the excuses ,but the AFL have same issues to deal with but their crowds are terrific.
The NRL tamper with the game too much, the more they want to try to improve it ,the more they are ruining it.
Things like taking away the toughness,trying to speed up the game,scrum fiascos,video ref over use etc.Banning the shoulder charge is another one,like the lifting tackle if it goes wrong then throw the book at the guilty player.Lifting should have been dealt with years ago BTW.
The AFL is still a great spectacle and still tough,just not as dirty.This is the difference.

I just can't agree.

 

[rainman44]

I just can't agree.

+1

 

[Willow]

I don't understand the logic that there would have been a bigger crowd at Kogarah.

With respect, it would have been more than 10,500.

Looking at the crowd figures from last year, Wollongong got only 9,000 on two occasions. There was indeed a drop in crowds last year at both venues, but not once did we get less than 10K at Kogarah.

The AFL is still a great spectacle and still tough,just not as dirty.This is the difference.

LOL! Sometimes it's best just to finish one sentence earlier.