This thread should be more correctly titled "The myth of the Sydney clubs".
Let's have a look outside of Sydney.
1. Brisbane. Clearly head and shoulders above anything else the NRL has to offer. The trendsetters, not likely to be caught be the cockroaches anytime in our lives. Rating: A
2. Melbourne. Having their best crowds ever. All of this in a city that is saturated with football teams that its' residents aren't frightened of supporting in person. Like, say, Sydney. But move on. Melbourne is doing fantastically. Rating: A
3. New Zealand: Have built up a solid niche for themselves in the city of sails. Can build on this base in the next few years. Rating B-
4. North Queensland: Stemmed the flow in recent years and has kept crowds at a respectable level. Rating: C
5. Gold Coast: Holding on by their fingertips. On the long road to reengage the coast after the previous administration disenfranchised most. Rating: C-
6. Newcastle: The wheels are slowly coming off their crowd figures just like the wheel have come off Tinkler's "empire". Rating: C-
7. Canberra: Wasting the NRL's oxygen when it comes to crowds. The excuse-ridden poor crowds huddle around in an empty venue that makes an echo chamber look vibrant. The best thing you can say about their "crowds" is that they are higher than the four-digit figures they posted for much of the 80s. Just. Rating: E+
You've done the Sydney teams to death, but here's a quick wrap up:
1. Bulldogs: Solid averages. Would be nice to see them became a real high drawing team like the Swans in the next decade. Until then, still on the reserves bench. Rating: B.
2. Cronulla: Doing alright by their own modest standards, but certainly not capable of drawing the sort of crowds one would expect from a self-appointed global city hosting national sporting teams. Venue would be at home in the Queensland Cup. Rating: C-
3. Manly: Aside from some statistical noise, Manly's crowds have been paused since the middle of last decade. Don't expect them do going anywhere in the next decade. Rating: C-
4. Parramatta: Or as they should be called, Greater Western Parramatta. Enough said. Rating: D
5. Penrith: Calling Penrith a heartland of rugby league is like calling the Vatican a heartland of Hinduism. Clearly out of their depth in a national competition. Another home ground that is not much better than Langlands Park. Rating: E+
6. Souths: For all of the LOLling @Souffs they are carving something out during their tenancy @ANZ Stadium the Second. For a team with multiple generations of failure etched into their double helices, they are somehow coping. If they ever manage to translate their membership into their crowd base... watch out. Rating: C+
7. Dragons: Two supporter bases. About two supporters in toto, it seems, as well. Another park team pulling park crowds in Sydney. Rating: D
8. Roosters: Having one thing going for them, and he is known by three initials. If SBW goes AWL then crowds will POQ. Rating: C+
9. Wests: If Penrith, Parramatta and Cronulla didn't exist you would call their crowds a singular embarrassment. Instead the are collectively a quadral embarrasment. Which still makes them an embarrasment. Rating: D-
