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In the wake of the Melbourne Storm situation, the question was asked of their supporters: “who will stand with us?” And there was a resounding 23,906 who said they will stand with them. Though for how long is a question that will not be resolved until next year.
But this show of support does ask the question: “Which team has the most passionate supporters?”
Passionate has many definitions, but just quickly, this will be judged on the average supporters of the club – not the extremes of the supporter base.
One could argue the Broncos (my team) dominates in this area, due to the crowd attendance alone. But, unfortunately, I do not agree. They have a larger supporter base to draw from yet can only average over 30k a game, not much greater than places that only have a slice of Sydney.
Others could argue for North Queensland, due to the travel that a majority of the supporters make, and this would make it a high contender.
I see a lot of Cowboys’ supporters in Brisbane. Well, wearing a lot of merchandise, anyway.
But one would expect more from a team that boasts the greatest player in the world.
A case could be made for Sydney Roosters, but it is obvious (due to their inability to attract a decent crowd to matches) that this case would be flawed.
St. George-Illawarra could fight for this title as most people know they wear their jersey more than any other club to games. They have the heritage and the right people to promote the team, yet their crowd average is not as convincing as their winning percentage last year.
Probably the most parochial bunch out of League fans are the Rabbitohs. And rightly so: they have the greatest history out of any club, they have an Academy Award Winner as a co-owner, they have increased their membership almost two-fold, and are amongst the most marketable club with their American-like merchandise (which I believe all clubs should tap into).
But, I believe the award goes to the Bulldogs.
They have repelled extinction during the Coffs Harbour scandal, the salary cap debacle and the hooliganism displayed by their fans. They constantly average the highest crowds outside of Queensland, and they always support as a pack.
I always see pictures of supporters that remind of football fans behind the goals.
They have Greenburg, who has given them identity as the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, and they seem to have the community on their side. They have embraced immigrants more than any other club, which has paid dividends.
They have showed their commitment to making the Dogs the family friendly team by hiring young family men as players and this is why their fans are the most passionate.
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April 28th 2010 @ 6:18am
adrien66 said | April 28th 2010 @ 6:18am | Report comment
good article! But i think the titans deserve a mention too
April 28th 2010 @ 7:00am
oikee said | April 28th 2010 @ 7:00am | Report comment
And Parramatta, both loyal, but the dogs have always been my faverite fan base, and i am a Broncos supporter. Love the Bronco’s, but walking out on your team is a no-no. I dont care if we get belted by 50, i would never walk out.
April 28th 2010 @ 7:51am
Paul J said | April 28th 2010 @ 7:51am | Report comment
“Others could argue for North Queensland, due to the travel that a majority of the supporters make, and this would make it a high contender. ”
I think you got it right here, some fans drive 3 or more hours just to get to the game.
April 28th 2010 @ 8:23am
mickey said | April 28th 2010 @ 8:23am | Report comment
I’ve never trusted Bulldog fans.
I just think they’re all a bit shady. Even the kids.
And I’d put my vote in for the Cowboys fans – what with the travel but also; the Cowboys disappoint on so many occasions, and they underperform even with JT in their team yet they still get a vocal home crowd and massive support. Defs the Cowboys fans.
April 28th 2010 @ 9:12am
wallythefly said | April 28th 2010 @ 9:12am | Report comment
You were joking about the Roosters right?
April 28th 2010 @ 9:32am
Jay said | April 28th 2010 @ 9:32am | Report comment
Rabbitohs fans marched in the streets to protest being thrown out of the comp (something like 100-200k?). Thats passionate.
Roosters with passionate supporters? Please!
April 28th 2010 @ 1:28pm
Emperor Penguin said | April 28th 2010 @ 1:28pm | Report comment
Please.
Most of the protest crowd was from other clubs, angry at the way News had ravaged the game. Save South Sydney became the rallying cry to every disgruntled league fan in the country. I’m a Dragons fan, and found myself supporting the Rabbits case. Wests, Balmain, Norths fans were all equally angry and supportive of the Rabbits plight.
Creative myth making is nice, but have a look at the footage again before claiming 200k Rabbits fans marching…
April 28th 2010 @ 9:47am
Geoff said | April 28th 2010 @ 9:47am | Report comment
When they merge Parramatta with the Bulldogs they will have a great supporter base.
Go the Parramatta Dogs!!!!!
April 28th 2010 @ 11:57am
Corey said | April 28th 2010 @ 11:57am | Report comment
This article didn’t get to cover all the teams, due to the article length (I usually do not read long articles), but Titans do deserve a mention being so young with a strong support base already- though this I give credit to Michael Searle. I think Parramatta are showing their colours recently though this is due to their winning ways.
Aussies, and in particular RL people, are fickle fans- we only follow what we are good at (although it does bewilder me how the Poms watch the Soccer World Cup so religiously although they are not that likely to win). I would like to see fans turn up to games even though they are likely to lose, like oikee said, you don’t walk out on your club. LONG LIVE LEAGUE.
April 28th 2010 @ 12:06pm
Bay35Pablo said | April 28th 2010 @ 12:06pm | Report comment
Dogs supporters can be passionate, and certainly get out in numbers, but I still think they sometimes lack ticker (at least some of them).
I remember going to an early season game (if not the opener) in the early noughties at the Showground to cheer on my mighty Tigers. The Dogs were down about 8 points with 5 or 10 to go from memory, They hadn’t been playing well, but they could always come back with a quick try or 2. Suddenly Dogs fans started leaving. My mate and I were on the edge of our seats cr@pping ourselves the Dogs might come back, and their fans (well some of them) had given up on them.
That’s not the last time I saw it happen too.
Most stayed, but the number leaving early was more than I have seen at other games. Made we lose a bit of respect for some of their fans.
Having said that, I have some mates who are Dogs supporters, and they can be a rabid bunch. They remind me of some of the AFL fans in Melbourne ….
April 28th 2010 @ 12:13pm
Dogs Of War said | April 28th 2010 @ 12:13pm | Report comment
Not all of us are like that. I remember going to a Storm match in Melbourne. Melbourne flogged us on the field, but I stayed to see if the Dogs could score a try…..
Unfortunately they didn’t, so I just got to watch a 50 point thrashing, and my team score nothing.
April 28th 2010 @ 2:22pm
bazza said | April 28th 2010 @ 2:22pm | Report comment
Manly have the most passionate fans.
Sometimes they travel over the bridge to watch a game
April 29th 2010 @ 11:15am
Corey said | April 29th 2010 @ 11:15am | Report comment
haha, I could say the same thing mate, it takes me at least 40 minutes (just the train time alone) to get to my Broncos games and I have to do that every game. When they were at ANZ stadium that was great, my school was the closest school to them, so we just stayed at school on Friday afternoons and waited till the parents got there and walked up to the stadium.