innsaneink
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Roosters? :-# :lol:
WESTS Tigers supporters are eternal optimists while crowd figures suggest many Sydney Roosters fans have been fair-weather friends.
While the announcement of attendance statistics at NRL games often provoke the response of "I'd like to have that guy sell me carpet", the figures also show that only four clubs' numbers are up on last year.
These include the premiership-winning Tigers, whose crowds are up by 1.5 per cent and are on average even higher in round 20 (19,069) than they were in round 10 (18,437).
For the fans, at least, the title defence is still alive, even if the Tigers have lost four of their past five matches to be 12th.
The other clubs to have lifted attendances despite the wettest winter since the early 1990s are Newcastle (up 15.5 per cent), competition leaders Melbourne (13 per) and St George Illawarra (3.8 per cent).
Roosters crowds have plummeted by 25.2 per cent compared with 2005, from an average of 16,057 in 2005 to 12,016 after round 20 this year as the struggling side misses a finals spot for the second straight year.
The Roosters' biggest crowd, 21,246, was against Brisbane in round six, and their poorest, 6806, against the New Zealand Warriors in round 14 - the traditional turnout of Bondi's expat Kiwis failing to materialise.
It seems New Zealanders are staying away from the Warriors, docked four competition points for salary cap breaches, with the team's attendances down 29.6 per cent on last year.
The Warriors averaged 13,101 in 2005, reduced to 9218 this year, which includes 6240 against Newcastle in round 15.
Penrith are the other big losers, support dropping by 25.8 per cent from an average of 15,576 last year to 11,565, although their lowest figure, 7017 against Melbourne in round six, was posted at Adelaide's Hindmarsh Stadium.
Speaking about the return of Monday night matches next year, NRL chief executive David Gallop said last week it was early days to be worrying about the overall drop in supporters numbers of about 10 per cent.
And he may have been right with last weekend's average crowd of 16,414 up on the season average of 15,132 and five out of the seven home sides bettering their 2006 averages.
But there should be plenty of spare seats when South Sydney and Canberra meet at the 80,000-capacity Telstra Stadium tonight, the last-placed Rabbitohs attendances have dipped 4.7 per cent since the move from Aussie Stadium and the Raiders' down 16.3 per cent.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/league/tigers-supporters-loyal-roosters-fans-lose-faith/2006/07/28/1153816383998.html