What would you do?

[Shaun Hewitt]

With the amount of Kiwis going over to Aus, it got me thinking

Are we losing our fanbase to Aussie clubs?
Do you think Warrior fans are turning their backs on the club for their new local team? Are they supporting Australia now?

What would you do in their situation?

I ask this because I was born in England and moved over here when i was a lil tyke, but always supported NZ in everything with a natural softspot for England.

 

[Diesel]

I'm a Kiwi living in Brisbane, I still support the Warriors as do the majority of the crowds at Suncorp in Brissy and Skilled Park on the Goldie for Warriors games.

The Qld Kiwis as a majority still support the Warriors and I'd say watching games in Sydney and Melbourne there is a large away supporter base for the Warriors.

The Aussies don't hate the Warriors either and have a healthily respect for them.

 

[ozbash]

I actually wonder if theres more support for the Warriors in Aussie than there is here in NZ.

 

[Wheeled Warrior]

Good question aussie based fans has been rising over the years would be good to get the numbers

 

[kos]

Born in Otahuhu. One of my proudest days was our first game at Mt Smart. Season ticket holder at Mt Smart 1995-2006.
Moved to Qld in 2007.
Warriors are and always will be my number one league team.
Most -90% of the Kiwis I work with here support the Warriors. Most still love Nz but for $ reasons and in my case family have to live here.

 

[Auckland4ever]

From my own travels/experience, the most patriotic & parochial Kiwis I've met are the ones living in other countries. The Warriors would stand more chance of losing their fanbase if another NZ side came into the comp.

Personally, as far as supporting another RL club goes, the Warriors will always be the club I support, first & foremost. If we're talking supporting national teams, if I lived in another country, was settled there & had no intention of living anywhere else, I would support both countries that I had ties to, but the other country would come first.

What I've wondered is if many Kiwis living in Australia actually also support Aussie national sides? Again, only based on my personal experience, but the Kiwi expats I've met actually seemed to be just as, if not more biased against Australian sides than anyone.

 

[Blair]

I'm wondering how much a Kiwi can feel fully engaged with Australian society since the Howard government changed the rules in 2001 (more or less denying a right to permanent residency or citizenship - unless you're are greatly skilled and bother to spend over $6000 to apply)?

My brother's been here since 2002 and has never shown any support for Australian teams. I came in the '90s, became a citizen after two years, and supported the (undersiege Robbie Deans-led) Wallabies v South Africa last weekend (and against the ABs at Eden Park - but that's only cause after ten years of victories I feel the ABs are killing the Bledisloe!)

Interestingly I've become more patriotic to NZ as the years have gone by and want to return home now...but 'home' is here!

 

[Akkerz]

Most of my family are Aussie based , Brizzy, Melbourne & Sydney. We are fortunate to be able to travel over there quite often & usually try to tie it in with a Warriors clash or will see a game at some time during the season visits - love the family , but it's all about the league !!! Some of the cuzzies support Warriors but most -even the goldies support NSW sides . I've been to a fair few grounds , not Brookvale though &
the only place we had anti NZ feeling was at Titans. They were the most obnoxious bunch. Other clubs have given it to us but usually as friendly fire.

The most welcoming was Melbourne, even though Warriors kicked Storm out of the finals They have some great fans, congratulating us & saying they would support Warriors in the GF. It was really appreciated & capped off a really awesome game.

 

[Diesel]

I've also noticed that not many people talk rugby, unless it's a test. Union is about 4/5th in the list. Generally speaking during winter NRL is 1st, AFL is second. During summer is Cricket then the A-League.

 

[ozbash]

Most of my family are Aussie based , Brizzy, Melbourne & Sydney. We are fortunate to be able to travel over there quite often & usually try to tie it in with a Warriors clash or will see a game at some time during the season visits - love the family , but it's all about the league !!! Some of the cuzzies support Warriors but most -even the goldies support NSW sides . I've been to a fair few grounds , not Brookvale though &
the only place we had anti NZ feeling was at Titans. They were the most obnoxious bunch. Other clubs have given it to us but usually as friendly fire.

The most welcoming was Melbourne, even though Warriors kicked Storm out of the finals They have some great fans, congratulating us & saying they would support Warriors in the GF. It was really appreciated & capped off a really awesome game.

Yea the Skilled Park crowd are hardcase alright, wont say boo outside but once inside, its all on. Great stuff.
I think that because the kiwi-aussie ratio is so even they scream that bit louder. Great place to watch footy..

 

[Akkerz]

Yea the Skilled Park crowd are hardcase alright, wont say boo outside but once inside, its all on. Great stuff.
I think that because the kiwi-aussie ratio is so even they scream that bit louder. Great place to watch footy..

It's a brilliant set-up alright with the transport etc .
Wish we had a set-up like that. Perhaps if we ask Uncle Owen really nicely he might..... just dreaming

 

[Iafeta]

From what I've seen, the Kiwi expats who have been here for some time (pre '95) tend to have an old Winfield Cup side that they affiliate with. The ones who have come since the inception of the Warriors.... I'd say a very high majority are passionate Warriors fans. Kiwi expats tend to be quite parochial about being New Zealanders and supporting New Zealand sides.

 

[rygrco]

unless you're are greatly skilled and bother to spend over $6000 to apply

$6000?! The official Australian Citizenship website fees state $260 for a standard application. I guess that $6000 is what one would have to pay some corrupt official when their application is rejected.

 

[jaseg]

From what I've seen, the Kiwi expats who have been here for some time (pre '95) tend to have an old Winfield Cup side that they affiliate with. The ones who have come since the inception of the Warriors.... I'd say a very high majority are passionate Warriors fans. Kiwi expats tend to be quite parochial about being New Zealanders and supporting New Zealand sides.

This is very much the case from what I've seen/experienced also - I moved to Australia close to 20 years ago now (haven't lived here the entire time since, but most of those 20 years), and supported a local NSWRL team (Bears). They lost their spot in top grade and I have supported the Warriors since then. NZ national team will always have my support.

 

[AuckMel]

I support Victoria in most sports. I agree with Iafeta too.

 

[Shortstuff]

I live in Central Queensland after moving over from CHCH in 1994 and support the Roosters it's a bit like NZ's 2nd team. I also follow the Warriors and when it comes to Test footy I support the Kiwis as do my daughters who were both born here in OZ. Like the saying goes "You can take the girl out of NZ but you can't take the Kiwi out of the girl".
I support Kiwis, Roosters, Warriors, All Blacks and Canterbury.

 

[Blair]

$6000?! The official Australian Citizenship website fees state $260 for a standard application. I guess that $6000 is what one would have to pay some corrupt official when their application is rejected.

I think you'll find that the $260 fee is for applying for citizenship once you've already been granted permanent residency and lived in Australia for four years or more.

Obtaining permanent residency is where the real cost is. It can be a long and costly process. Pre-2001 Kiwis used to get it automatically on arrival. These days they're considered 'temporary residents' despite having an indefinite visa.

The Commonwealth government still taxes Kiwis as 'permaments' though. Funny that. State governments won't give public money to Kiwis in many circumstances either, as was discovered during the Qld floods.

I thought Key was doing something about this, but no.

 

[Meth]

If I moved to Australia, I'd still support the Warriors. I might adopt the local team as a second team (depending on who it was) to give me an excuse to go watch live Rugby League.

 

[Warrior@Heart]

Born in Auckland, raised in Te Atatu. Moved to Perth when I was 18 and am still a die hard warriors supporter, but then again if the Pirates get a team I may become a 50/50 supporter. But if anyone on here attended the game in Perth I'd say 75% of that crowd were Warriors supporters. A state of the art stadium could help the boys as far as building a bigger fan base.