Doubts over Rabbitohs crowds

[fedelta]

http://www.leaguehq.com.au/news/news/doubts-over-rabbitohs-crowds/2008/06/25/1214073339073.html



WITH two wins on the trot and Craig Wing returning, everything has been pointing up for South Sydney in recent days - but have crowd attendances been pushed too far up?

The Rabbitohs posted a crowd of 9827 as they defeated the Gold Coast for their third win of the season on Monday night at ANZ Stadium, but doubts have been raised about the figure.

The Herald captured photographs of the crowd on the night, raising questions about the number posted.

ANZ Stadium spokesman Kyle Patterson said it was up to the tenant to comment on crowd figures.

The Rabbitohs would not comment, fanning the fire. The NRL also refused to buy into the debate.

No matter. The facts remain, after the club shifted its home games to ANZ Stadium from the SFS - with about $100,000 guaranteed to the club for each home fixture - the Rabbitohs' attendances have been relatively poor this year as the team has struggled on the field. Some supporters have criticised the club for ditching their territory for financial gain.

The attendances at the stadium this year have led to questions being asked about how healthy it is for the game to have four clubs - Wests Tigers, St George Illawarra and the Bulldogs joining Souths - regularly playing out of Homebush.

Now, with doubts being raised about the accuracy of the figures, they will become even louder.

Make up your own mind.

 

[Bear]

New Zealand Knights had bigger crowds ;D

 

[Pokes]

With all those free seats....who would wanna sit up the back like those people?

 

[adz]

Notice how they are all on the half way line where the more expensive seats are...
At Gosford they all bought (or got given) cheap tickets and a few minutes into the game everyone (a couple of bays worth of people) moved across from the side bays into the middle... bloody funny to watch. I reckon that's what they do every game.

 

[skilbeck]

mmmmmmm spacious

 

[serious14]

That photo totally vindicates playing games at ANZ.  I mean, they're not empty seats - all those people are wearing blue shirts.  They NEED that extra space...... on a Monday night....... between a team from halfway across town and out of state.

 

[Bear]

The NRL will fire something out like "There were thousands more people at the game, its just the photos are all from a funny angle, and do not capture the full atmosphere of the specticle that is rugby league" or some such rubbish

 

[loyalist]

i handcounted 7,983

 

[Bex]

You've got that many fingers???????

 

[Paolo]

You've got that many fingers???????

he's from tamworth

 

[Atomic]

At least there are more people at the Rabbitohs match than are in the photo of Celtic Park in skilbeck's signature  Has anyone heard any talk of Celtic moving to Gosford? 

 

[loyalist]

At least there are more people at the Rabbitohs match than are in the photo of Celtic Park in skilbeck's signature  Has anyone heard any talk of Celtic moving to Gosford? 

no
teams based on ethnicity are not allowed in the a-league

 

[fedelta]

At least there are more people at the Rabbitohs match than are in the photo of Celtic Park in skilbeck's signature  Has anyone heard any talk of Celtic moving to Gosford? 

no
teams based on ethnicity are not allowed in the a-league

then how are melbourne in the league?

 

[loyalist]

i didnt say people of ethnicity were not allowed at games

and if you were gonna have a decent remark then it shouldve been about brisbane hollandia being in the league

 

[serious14]

then how are melbourne in the league?

*sigh*  The Victory are a completely new creation and are in no way linked to either the Knights (Croat), South Melbourne (Greek), or any of the other VPL clubs in the City, many of which still have incredibly strong fanbases.

I reckon I'd lose count of the different amount of ethnicities at a Victory game - much like Melbourne itself, it's a very multi-cultural day out.