11,887 people for the weekends game.
Thats a big turnout for the first game at their new home.
So what are the excuses now?
New team needs time? Herr hruumm concesions
Played against a low supporting team? False
Too far to travel? Hardly
Too cold? heh
It was raining? LOL
There was traffic? LOL
Sydney just doesnt give a rats toss about AFL? Correct!
I can't wait when GWS finally get the boot or become a merged team in 2015. This is going to be the funniest FAIL ever.
I pretty much agree with you there - less than 12k was a poor turnout - and whilst I wouldn't exactly say I can't wait for them to get the boot, I have said all along that this is a very risky proposition by the AFL.
Just a word of warning though WHTG - you could cop it from a few people here for 'not supporting the good of the game' or something similar....
I couldnt careless about the good of the game TBH. The code will never die out as long as its a religion in Melbourne. I have been saying for a few years now about the reality of the code in Sydney and all i have been met with from arrogant people is that this code is just so friggen awesome everyone in Sydney was just waiting for a non swans team so they could have a real sydney team.Originally Posted by jono2707
Well it's there and only 11k show up which i expect 1/4 of those where free, 1/4 were just ex pats or swans fans hanging out for a live game and the rest were just bomber fans. Which leaves crumbs for GWS support.
Watching on TV it reminded me of the SCG in early 1993. Embarrassing really.
I thought the crowd was a bit disappointing, but still had a good night.
Scoff if you must, but there were mitigating circumstances which mightn't deter the welded on AFL fans in the southern states but wouldn't have helped the AFL or GWS from drawing a crowd.
The main point that didn't help the crowd IMO was the timing of the Swans game. It's fair to say that there would be a fair few Swans fans who will venture to Skoda for a footy fix when it suits them. They're not keen enough to actually buy a membership, but they will go and have a look if it suits.
You can laugh about it being too cold, but Saturday afternoon I sat in a freezing cold stand with gale force winds watching rugby and it was bitterly cold. Given the choice of those conditions AND having to miss the Swans game in the comfort of a warm loungeroom, I'm not surprised there was not a big turnout from the less enthusiastic AFL indoctrined.
Point the bone all you like, GWS are here to stay regardless of how much you want to see them fail.
Driver of the Dan Hannebery bandwagon....all aboard. 4th April 09
There is always an excuse, isn't there when crowds dont show up.
Freezing cold? You want freezing cold? Come to the MCG in the middle of june..go on. Sit in the outer during a blustering cold melbourne day with artic wind hitting you! One of the coldest days i have ever had at the MCG was 2005 Rich vs Sydney. It was 4 degrees but the wind was so cold it hurt a lot.
And so going by your theory GWS is made up of nothing more than Swans fans. There really isnt any real support for the artificial team..none at all.
I've been to Swans games at the SCG that had less people.
I don't doubt that folks at GWS HQ would have liked more, but it's a long term venture and I think their panic stations alert would have been set to trigger for a crowd <8k.
I knew him as a gentle young man, I cannot say for sure the reasons for his decline
We watched him fade before our very eyes, and years before his time
I was thinking the same thing, there was basically zero travel time from completion of the Swans game on tele to when the Giants game started. I'll admit I was one couch potato who had certainly planned to go along to the game but when I saw the conflict with the Swans time I didn't end up doing it.
I knew him as a gentle young man, I cannot say for sure the reasons for his decline
We watched him fade before our very eyes, and years before his time
I was there on Sat night and had a great time - Skoda is a fantastic stadium for watching footy ... Close enough to feel part of it but you can see the other side just as easily ... And the scoreboard is definitely massive!
I don't think the AFL are too worried about this year. The fact is that Sydney love a winner and GWS have all the potential to be an incredibly powerful team sooner rather than later. Yes, it may not work out if they can't keep their stars together etc but I have done some work around the club for a uni assignment and it has a great feel about it. If it does work out and they start dominating the comp then I think we'll see a groundswell of support for them.
I have no issues with people bemoaning their introduction but as a football fan, if I can see a live game in Sydney nearly every weekend, then I'm happy.
So the AFL need to engineer a result in order to get people watching. Thats pretty terrible IMHO.
Sydney loves a winner, sure, but i don't think so with GWS. Sydney people are not as stupid or gullible as thier southern cousins.
Of course it has a great feel. I mean it's like a tap of money for them.
Own little gated community at Picnic point, paid hairdressers, servants and just about everything a gen yer/z wants in order to keep their attention spans going.
Wonder what happens once the tap is turned off!
I think I saw that the NRL games in Sydney that day got about 10k, 11k as well. So in context, it's not too bad. This is a long term investment by the AFL, and they will do whatever it takes for it to succeed.
177th Senior AFL Match - Round 4, 2009 - Sydney vs Carlton, SCG. This is obviously out of date. I suppose I'll update it once I could be bothered sitting down with the fixture and working it out....
Des' Weblog
Lol, don't let facts get in the way of a good rant....
Driver of the Dan Hannebery bandwagon....all aboard. 4th April 09
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