Sydney Semi-Final Crowd

[brendothejet]

And what perspective may that be..??

That going out on a cold sunday night at 8pm for a match which is almost a foregone conclusion re: result might not be on every sydneysiders mind when the city and state is pretty much in the toilet financially.

Sydney has had to carry the load of the WC with more games than anyone else. We've supported it just fine.

You wanna point fingers look at places like the Gold Coast, Townsville, Melbourne who only had to sell out 1 game and failed to do so.

 

[Pass the Ball]

That going out on a cold sunday night at 8pm for a match which is almost a foregone conclusion re: result might not be on every sydneysiders mind when the city and state is pretty much in the toilet financially.

Sydney has had to carry the load of the WC with more games than anyone else. We've supported it just fine.

You wanna point fingers look at places like the Gold Coast, Townsville, Melbourne who only had to sell out 1 game and failed to do so.

Fair points - Where you happy with the figure in Sydney last night though?

 

[brendothejet]

Fair points - Where you happy with the figure in Sydney last night though?

I think it is fair enough yeah. i was happy to be part of it, i can tell you that much.

I'll be happier next time around when the ground work done this time leads to sellouts.

You always want more people, but given all the reasoning mentioned yeah im happy with the crowd and im happy with the way the sydney public has turned out for the whole cup.

 

[Timmah]

Given the circumstances, absolutely. The weather was overcast and threatening most of the day, the state is financially and literally f*cked, the game was held at 8:00pm on a Sunday night, hardly ideal footy time the night before school for so many children... and far too late for families.

To be fair the tournament's been much better attended than I thought it ever would be, and every region should get a pat on the back (and the RLIF/Bluetongue management a kick up the backside for downwards fudging of the figure at SCO/FIJ).

 

[brendothejet]

Given the circumstances, absolutely. The weather was overcast and threatening most of the day, the state is financially and literally f*cked, the game was held at 8:00pm on a Sunday night, hardly ideal footy time the night before school for so many children... and far too late for families.

To be fair the tournament's been much better attended than I thought it ever would be, and every region should get a pat on the back (and the RLIF/Bluetongue management a kick up the backside for downwards fudging of the figure at SCO/FIJ).

what do you mean about the bluetongue figure...who fudged it...why?

 

[Timmah]

It was posted as 9.7k, there were at least 12k there if not more. Been to plenty of games there and was utterly stunned at such a low figure.

 

[JW]

And what perspective may that be..??

Realism.

 

[Billythekid]

That going out on a cold sunday night at 8pm for a match which is almost a foregone conclusion re: result might not be on every sydneysiders mind when the city and state is pretty much in the toilet financially.

Sydney has had to carry the load of the WC with more games than anyone else. We've supported it just fine.

You wanna point fingers look at places like the Gold Coast, Townsville, Melbourne who only had to sell out 1 game and failed to do so.

Considering the fact the Rugby league is almost non existent in Melbourne and the way rugby league is treated down there by channel 9 i would say getting the biggest crowd of the tournament barring the final isn't to bad.

I'm not disagreeing with your comments re NSW and QLD but it's kinda hard to fault the Melbourne crowd.

 

[adamkungl]

Sydney bashing...is it fun for you guys?

Seriously, more people attended world cup matches in Sydney and NSW than anywhere else.

The Telstra Dome should have been full if Victorians are the sporting mad inhabitants of the Sporting Capital of Australia like they proclaim they are.

Nth Queensland could only muster 26k people to games involving heavyweights like England and Australia, and PNG.

The Gold Coast attendance at the Qualifying final was rediculous and the Rockhampton game was total wank.

Without Sydney this tournament would have fallen on its arse bad. We have supported it just fine thank you, turning up to plenty of 'nothing' games between minor nations, we have generated more media coverage than anyone else, we have generated plenty of revune and promotion for the game.

The sydneybashers have got to get over themselves sometimes.

Brisbane will get a big crowd for the final, but its not really hard to do when you only have to do it for 2 games. I wonder how many brisbane fans would be turning up to the final if they had already been into their pocket for 5-6 games like Sydneysiders have.

Yes I'm from sydney and I'm being parochial, but to continually bag off sydney when it clearly generates more money, more players, more attendences, more media presence is just bullsh*t.

Without sydney RL would die.

Thank you. Imo Gold Coast, Newcastle, and Townsville crowds were terrible, considering the amount of games they had, the teams that were playing, and how passionate they allegedly are about their footy. Before bashing Sydney yet again they should be looking at themselves.

 

[brendothejet]

Considering the fact the Rugby league is almost non existent in Melbourne and the way rugby league is treated down there by channel 9 i would say getting the biggest crowd of the tournament barring the final isn't to bad.

I'm not disagreeing with your comments re NSW and QLD but it's kinda hard to fault the Melbourne crowd.

I feel its hard to fault Sydney but plenty of people are.

Melbourne had it on a silver platter. Australia v England, one of the biggest games there is. A top notch stadium, with no chance of getting wet thanks to the roof. No other sport playing melbourne, an entire season to sell the joint out but the sports mad people of melbourne proved they are a myth.

Yes it was a big crowd but it should have been bigger.

*this is the logic applied to sydney so see how it sticks when thrown victoria's way*

 

[Gaba]

Sheffieled Shield matches draw - what - 300 people? .

Even that is higher then what club rugby gets with the crowd and tv combined , also pay tv made the decision not to broadcast an exhibition union game between nsw and qld , because people are not interested in it, there was only 150 tickets sold that, the game was played in regional nsw

Quite embarrassing for union

 

[Rastus_in_Melbourne]

Like I said earlier.

The gatekeepers and vendors could be the only ones at the game and people would still be making excuses.

The weather, NSW financials, 9/11, Daily Telegraph conspiracy, take your pick of excuse.

Anything, except the fact that the competition hasn't been supported anywhere in Australia.

 

[Cheezel]

Like I said earlier.

The gatekeepers and vendors could be the only ones at the game and people would still be making excuses.

The weather, NSW financials, 9/11, Daily Telegraph conspiracy, take your pick of excuse.

Anything, except the fact that the competition hasn't been supported anywhere in Australia.

Hasn't been supported? :roll:

A quarter of a million people who have past through the turnstiles over the last 3 weeks would disagree.

And of course the 127 Nations who have had the games beamed into their households would also disagree. And the unknown amount of people who have watched the games online and listened to it on radio would also disagree.

Now don't get me wrong but I am still trying to work out how you came to the conclusion that it wasn't supported? :?

Feel free to let us all know how you came to this conclusion. ;-)

It might not be as big as the Football or Rugby World Cups but has people turning up to games and the Final is sold out! Not bad for a tournament that you say no one is interested in!

 

[nqboy]

I fully understand the frustration many people have with 9's scheduling decisions. However, try for a minute to see things from their perspective.

There were 10 countries in this World Cup. Four of the ten are Pacific island countries, and three of those four combined have fewer people than any state capital except for Hobart. Can you really expect 9's programming execs to rate those countries? What does having 1/3 of the teams in a World Cup from such small countries say about a sport's international profile??

Two other countries (Ireland and Scotland) are very new to the game and have fledgling amateur competitions that so far have produced a small handful of players who've stepped up to the pro ranks, only one of whom (Brian Carney) is known to the Australian public.

PNG is a traditional RL country. If you look back at the postings from before their opening game against England, almost every English fan expected England to win big and they all saw it as terrible when they didn't. It's clear that very few of the English fans rated PNG as an opponent despite their proud RL heritage and the presence of Papuan players in the English pro game.

The unfortunate truth as that to get more respect from 9 for the next World Cup the RLIF needs to focus all its' development support on countries that can raise the profile of the international game to the point where 9 would show it live.

No, I just expect them to honour their commitment to live coverage of Pool A games and finals. Or pay a premium for not doing it.

 

[shiznit]

i think the main problem for people is the fact there comparing the LWC with the RWC.

the RWC has been around for over 20 years now.... apparently the first one in 87 was a real rubbish job... the crowds wernt that crash hot and none of the northern unions took it seriously.

they kept at it and its slowly got bigger and better... its now a real world 'event'... 'event' being the key word... usually a host country will get in behind a genuine 'event'.

you can laugh all you like about Georgia & Namibia but Georgia V Namibia at RWC07 was played infront of 32,000 people. that shows how much of an 'event' it is...

at the moment the RLWC is not seen as a genuine 'event'. so people arent rushing to the stadiums just to be part of it.

this is the foundation for competition to start fresh... and rebuild a legacy for the game to grow and expand.

 

[Timmah]

The RLWC has been around since 1954... where does it go from here? :?

 

[Brownie.Kougari]

The RLWC has been around since 1954... where does it go from here? :?

UK :sarcasm:

 

[mrbishi]

If they want to get big crowds, bite the bullet and cut ticket prices

 

[ozzy_ozman]

Nations will develop. You just watch. I'm hearing some good plans for the international game in the future. I know union people and their 678 countries won't like it, but that's to be expected.

thats not going to happen whilst Love is the chairman of the RLIF

The AFL and union scribes have every right to mock RL. Who can blame them. Colin Love and Geoff Carr should resign, they are useless.

I agree.... the quicker Colin Love re-signs from his position as chairman of the RLIF the better... he will be picking up a fat pay cheque by the time this WC is over