The Rumours Thread

[kit66]

So, in 2024, the year after we won just 5 games, our crowds were down. Go figure.

Last year we defied the odds, despite numerous setbacks, to finish 11th and as Lancaster says in the article - " the Dragons 2024 TV viewing was up 12.8% on the previous year and our home crowds at WIN and Kogarah were up 26% on 2022".
The fans are still there, we just need more success to get those fans out of their loungerooms and down to the game.
A lot of fans were probably also put off by the antics of Hunt and Lomax and maybe even a few were concerned about Flanno's baggage, understandable. There's lots of factors.
Add the disappointing finish to 2024, those last 3 games were infuriating. We need a good start to 2025 with some solid wins, show the fans we're heading in the right direction at least with Flanno and his new siginings paying off and the fans will come back.
Buzz is a troll. I hope we finish over the top of Brisbane again just to piss him off.

 

[True_Believer]

So, in 2024, the year after we won just 5 games, our crowds were down. Go figure.

Last year we defied the odds, despite numerous setbacks, to finish 11th and as Lancaster says in the article - " the Dragons 2024 TV viewing was up 12.8% on the previous year and our home crowds at WIN and Kogarah were up 26% on 2022".
The fans are still there, we just need more success to get those fans out of their loungerooms and down to the game.
A lot of fans were probably also put off by the antics of Hunt and Lomax and maybe even a few were concerned about Flanno's baggage, understandable. There's lots of factors.
Add the disappointing finish to 2024, those last 3 games were infuriating. We need a good start to 2025 with some solid wins, show the fans we're heading in the right direction at least with Flanno and his new siginings paying off and the fans will come back.
Buzz is a troll. I hope we finish over the top of Brisbane again just to piss him off.

I can only speak for myself kit but I got to a point where I stopped watching the games live. I'd record them and if we won I'd watch it. The reason for this was because we were still very difficult to watch. So up and down that my old heart couldn't take it. And towards the end of the season it did start to feel a bit like the same ol' same ol'. Although I thought we did make progress last year, we fell away yet again when it mattered.

Much like everyone else, I'm tired and frustrated by the results over the last 10 or more years. I can understand why some supporters might be falling away. We just can't seem to get our shit together and I'm over seeing the same teams in the finals year after year when we just can't seem to pull ourselves out of the shit.

As for going to the games, I'd love to but I just can't get to many without it costing an arm and a leg. Maybe when I retire I'll make a commitment to making an annual pilgrimage south to Jubilee or WIN.

 

[Old Timer]

Crowd figures are arbitrary numbers as the draw is not the same for all teams and some opponents travel to you better than others.

Unless the heads are checked off to each individual club then they don't count for a lot.

 

[stretch neilsen]

For the record, and to save anyone else the trouble of looking it up, here are the games at Jubilee last year:

Saturday March 23, 5:30 pm, vs Cowboys - 9,252
Saturday May 11, 5:30 pm, vs Souths - 7,517
Sunday June 30, 2 pm, vs Dolphins - 8,252
Saturday August 10, 7:35 pm, vs Dogs - 18,416
Saturday September 7, 3 pm, vs Canberra - 11,189

So no Thursday or Friday 6 pm slots. We should be getting better crowds than that. No idea why the Souths game was so poorly attended unless it was pissing down rain or something.

Anyway, and just so it's not all doom and gloom. our average home game crowd last year was 15,036. Sharkies average home crowd last year was 11,712.

Data from here: https://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/seasons/nrl-2024/st-george-illawarra/summary.html

Although Shark Park had significantly reduced capacity last year.

Personally, I would love to see some blockbusters played at Allianz, say 4 matches, then have 4 at Kogarah and 4 at WIN.

 

[saints4ever]

Although Shark Park had significantly reduced capacity last year.

Personally, I would love to see some blockbusters played at Allianz, say 4 matches, then have 4 at Kogarah and 4 at WIN.

We did that with the right game, right venue policy

it was a disaster

Its really simple, if we are a good team who are at LEAST entertaining to watch, fans will go. If we actually have semi decent time slots for home games with a schedule that makes sense (ie Kogarah opponents are Dogs, Rabbits, Sharks, Parra, Tigers) the rest go to the Gong.

Its not hard

Our social media is the thing that needs the most amount of work. We need more of the Titans rnd 1 game, behind the scenes stuff, that was great, And they only did it once

 

[Inisai Toga]

The disappointing thing is that when we do get the big crowd; be it Win, Kogarah or Anzac Day (last year), we just haven’t performed well.. Fans don’t mind a close loss, but gotta be in the contest. The good crowds are a result of building momentum and new belief in the team and then we have fallen ‘flat as a tack’ on the big stage. Gotta do better in these big ones for the fans to continue to come to the game and their belief in the squad/team/Club!