Hey guys,
I saw the article in the SMH this morning and thought I would come and have a look at this forum. By way of background I am a Raiders member (based in Canberra) who attended all 24 Raiders games last year. I also attend a number of other games when in Sydney and for instance when we play the Titans in R2 I will also go to the Broncos v Cowboys game on the Friday night.
Whilst I think this issue was probably been exagerated in today's paper and is now a non-issue, it should be a wake up call to the NRL to stop any clubs engaging in this sort of activity in the future.
The NRL has to make sure the away fans are catered for at all grounds. Lets be honest two teams put on the show so why would we restrict it to one team fans? Surely part of the considerable money that governments have put into stadiums in recent years is about having an economic impact in the city. Now I know that Cronulla fans are not going to spend a lot of time and money in the Leichhardt area, but surely having travelling fans who spend money on other things than just the game is part of the reason governments have been very generous.
Forcing people into a $65 membership is a crazy decision in the long term. RL can't afford to turn fans away. I don't have a problem with these one game memberships as such (ie the Broncos have one for the Cowboys game but it is about $5 more than a standard ticket and plenty of normal seats anyway) but it can't be to the expense of away fans nor is it smart to alienate your own fans. When you consider that there are so many other competing forces in Sydney for fans sporting dollar the NRL and the clubs should be trying to get as many people as possible to their games and it should be every clubs responsibility to encourage ALL fans to buy memberships to THEIR teams. What do you think GWS, Sydney FC or the Swans thought when they saw the article this morning?
As a Raiders member I would be totally P*ssed off if I couldn't go to a game because I wasn't a home member and this needs to be nipped in the bud now before it becomes an issue.
Perhaps a wider issue is whether the Tigers (and well done to them) have simply become too big for Leichhardt? It is crazy to be turning people away or making it diffficult for them to attend games if there are stadiums available elsewhere that can cater for the crowd. I enjoy Leichhardt, SharkPark, or the other suburban grounds as much as anyone but if the sport becomes too big for them, well that can only be a good thing.
