Time for Manly fans to make an effort
Roar Rookie By bigdog2, 14 Sep 2012 bigdog2 is a Roar Rookie
Manly Sea Eagles Brett Stewart celebrates their win in the NRL Grand Final at ANZ Stadium in Sydney, Sunday, Oct. 2, 2011. Manly defeated the Warriors 24 - 10. (AAP Image/Dean Lewins)
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For the last three to four years, Manly fans have been by far the worst travellers in the NRL. It seems that they are glued to Brookvale Oval.
But, they have an opportunity to change that on Friday night.
For a team who has been in pretty good form over the last few months and is striving for back-to-back premierships, it seems a no brainer that the Sea Eagles will be able to reach 20,000 people for this match against the Cowboys at Allianz Stadium.
But at the moment, it’s looking like 10,000 to 15,000, which in my opinion is embarrassing not only for the club, but for the NRL.
The AFL would be grinning at such a poor crowd to a finals sudden death match. I would go to as far as to say that the Cowboys fans will go close to outnumbering the Sea Eagles fans at the SFS tonight.
To portray just how stubborn Manly’s supporters are, the Raiders members have bought more tickets to their respective final against South Sydney (a three hour drive for Canberra fans).
While Sea Eagles fans have every right to be angry about not having this match at Brookvale Oval, they shouldn’t act like children and they should take it on the chin.
They have a opportunity to prove myself and the doubters wrong, but at this stage they will continue the tag as being the laziest supporters in the National Rugby League.
If they can’t make the half hour trip to watch their team play in a finals match without free public transport and begging from the media and NRL, they are perhaps the least loyal, most fairweather fans in NRL history.
As a Bulldogs fan, Manly are our ‘new rivals’ but rugby league needs a good crowd.
Go and support your team. You can be angry with the NRL, but don’t take it out on the players.
They want your support, not an empty stadium. It should be a cracker of a match.
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September 14th 2012 @ 7:44am
Andy said | September 14th 2012 @ 7:44am | Report comment
I agree, it is time for Sydney fans to start supporting Rugby league, instead of listening to Media junk. For a city with a population of around 4.6m, if they cannot get a good crowd to one of their few top level rugby league matches, then they don’t deserve any rugby league games.
September 14th 2012 @ 7:51am
planko said | September 14th 2012 @ 7:51am | Report comment
So your a Manly supporter that lives north of dee why are you ? Unless you are or have been you have no reason to comment and have no way of comprehending what goes on back in your box.
I am sure you will get lots of support but non of them will be of people who live or have lived anywhere near the northern beaches.
September 14th 2012 @ 7:58am
Andy said | September 14th 2012 @ 7:58am | Report comment
What am i wrong to suggest that people who support rugby league in Sydney from other clubs should not turn up? that is the reason why there is no comparison between rugby league and AFL crowds.
September 14th 2012 @ 8:08am
planko said | September 14th 2012 @ 8:08am | Report comment
No happy for anyone to go andy. I but I have worked in the CBD , Parramatta & North Ryde. I had to go home and lucky to be home by 7 any given night I am not getting back in the car to do it again to maybe get there by half time. It will be free to get in but I would prefer not to.
September 14th 2012 @ 12:46pm
Bulldog said | September 14th 2012 @ 12:46pm | Report comment
Harden up Planko. There are NQ fans who travel at least 3-4 hours each way to get to a normal NQ Cowboys season game let alone a semi-final.
September 14th 2012 @ 1:32pm
planko said | September 14th 2012 @ 1:32pm | Report comment
LOL they dont travel 4 hours every day do they ?… Why should the people of the northern beaches/north shore not get a stadium the size of townsville. There is more people there than Townsville…
September 14th 2012 @ 1:39pm
NF said | September 14th 2012 @ 1:39pm | Report comment
They don’t deserve one planko since Manly fans don’t show up at Brookvale either despite being premiers to draw 14k is pathetic. Should be selling out Brooky since there premiers.
September 14th 2012 @ 3:20pm
ManlyMuzz said | September 14th 2012 @ 3:20pm | Report comment
If you say Manly fans don’t turn up i’d love to hear the excuses from why in a one team town of over 2 million people, Brisbane didn’t get even close to a sell out once all year. Funny that.
September 14th 2012 @ 9:10am
JZ said | September 14th 2012 @ 9:10am | Report comment
Yes very wrong, why couldnt some one go and watch a game of footy just because its not their team ?
and as if every one at a GF go’s for one of the teams, in fact every one should turn up just to see manly lose,
September 14th 2012 @ 8:00am
eagleJack said | September 14th 2012 @ 8:00am | Report comment
Agree 4 hour round trip for those north of Brookvale. Big ask on a Friday night after work. I would love Paul Kent, the ringleader of all this talk, to make the trip and report back. But then his reporting would actually include facts so it probably wouldn’t be printed!
September 14th 2012 @ 4:44pm
Renegade said | September 14th 2012 @ 4:44pm | Report comment
“4 Hour round trip” … I’ve heard it all.
The match isn’t in Newcastle mate – it’s at the SFS.
September 14th 2012 @ 7:10pm
eagleJack said | September 14th 2012 @ 7:10pm | Report comment
So you have done the trip on a Fri night before Renegade?? Please leave the conversation to the adults who have actually experienced what they are saying.
September 17th 2012 @ 8:23am
Freddy said | September 17th 2012 @ 8:23am | Report comment
Yep – left Newport at 5.30 to pick up mates at Brookvale at 6pm. Arrived SFS 7.35. Trip home was 1h25mins to Newport.
I love Manly, and yes they put on buses from Warriewood and Brooky which was great. That’s how many of the 16000 odd got there but you need a lot of buses to fill up the SFS – 365 Bendy buses to achieve 30,000.
I really object to being told we don’t travel to support our Club. We are the only Club north of the Bridge but the Fan bases is the Peninsula. Most of the other Sydney Clubs are in much more densely populated areas, have rail and bus access as well as decent roads.
Last time I went to a Manly home game it was against Newcastle and before that Canterbury. Both had great numbers.. not so many non Manly fans though. Why? Its a long freakin’ way to go!
Manly fans are just as loyal as any other – the fact we don’t travel should never be taken as a lack of loyalty.
September 14th 2012 @ 7:52am
eagleJack said | September 14th 2012 @ 7:52am | Report comment
As a Manly fan I do hope we get plenty of numbers out there tonight. For the fact it will be a great game. And to put to bed the myth of us not travelling.
Surely you jest when you say that Cowboys fans could outnumber Manly fans tonight? Of the 13,972 at last year’s non-sudden death final there would have been about 600 Cowboys fans. And that is being generous.
Now let’s look at some crowd stats for this year. Manly ranked 6th highest for Home and Away crowd average in 2012. That means that games involving Manly had greater numbers than the Sharks, Raiders, Storm, Cowboys, Titans, Tigers, Eels, Panthers, Roosters and Warriors. Yet no stories on them?
Only a couple of weeks ago I attended the Titans game on the Gold Coast. The crowd of 14,927 was made up of well over 10,000 Manly fans. Yet we don’t travel?
If the NRL were truly wanting tonight’s game to get greater numbers they would have scheduled it for Saturday night. But no Channel 9 call all the shots. This has meant that many families wont go simply because they won’t get there before the start of the match. Mates of mine will head straight to the game from the city after work, they can’t head home to collect the kids. It’s just not possible.
Would Canberra fans ditch work to travel up for a Friday game?
Tonight will see 20,000 minimum. The Broncos/Manly game at the SFS last year got 32,000 of which 25,000+ were Manly fans. That number would have been beaten in my opinion if the game was a day later.
September 14th 2012 @ 8:04am
planko said | September 14th 2012 @ 8:04am | Report comment
Eaglejack I hope you sitting there by yourself you wont be. On this blog we going to hear from from Hypocritcal people who have not had there finals matches moved. To venue of not of their choosing ?
September 14th 2012 @ 9:53am
Springs said | September 14th 2012 @ 9:53am | Report comment
You need to learn proper grammar for God’s sake.
Week 2 semi finals in Sydney have always been at the SFS or ANZ. There has never been one at Brookvale. They used to have games like Storm-Cowboys, Warriors-Raiders etc at the SFS in week 2. If Manly get less than what those teams did you are a disgrace.
September 14th 2012 @ 10:15am
planko said | September 14th 2012 @ 10:15am | Report comment
Oh no Manly fans are a disgrace lol…
September 14th 2012 @ 4:54pm
Renegade said | September 14th 2012 @ 4:54pm | Report comment
Exactly Springs.
Warriors vs Raiders at SFS pulled over 30’000
Storm vs Cowboys at SFS – 16’000
Brisbane vs Newcastle at SFS – 22’000
Manly vs Cowboys at SFS – 13’000
How all these games that didn’t involve a sydney team pulled more than the manly-cowboys game is laughable.
Pathethic….
September 14th 2012 @ 8:15am
ManlyMuzz said | September 14th 2012 @ 8:15am | Report comment
Obviously written by a guy whose never travelled from the northern beaches to the city on a Friday night hence why he seems to think it only takes half an hour.
It’s half an hour on the ferry alone from Manly to Circular key, if you’re coming from the northern half of the peninsular after getting home from work you’re gonna miss the start of the game.
As for Canberra fans travelling up, they’ve had few and far between finals apperances and if Manly hadn’t been involved in the finals for so many years i’m sure alot more people would be making a bigger effort to get there.
We’ve been blessed with the best team over the last 5 years and have seen Manly play in so many finals games that the only criticism I could offer would probably be a bit of complacency, myself included.
I’m confident they’ll get through to the semi and i’ll definitely be attending that one.
September 14th 2012 @ 8:30am
eagleJack said | September 14th 2012 @ 8:30am | Report comment
ManlyMuzz the semi will be in Melbourne. Get out there tonight. It should be a cracker!
September 14th 2012 @ 9:49am
Springs said | September 14th 2012 @ 9:49am | Report comment
You think you had 10,000 travelling Manly fans on the Gold Coast yet you could barely get that many at ANZ last week?
If you really had 10,000 on the Gold Coast then anything less than double that at the SFS is a disgrace.
September 14th 2012 @ 12:36pm
oikee said | September 14th 2012 @ 12:36pm | Report comment
Hehehe, yes, Manly tell you they had 30 thousand turn up to a Bulldogs game at ANZ, the crowd, 33 thousand.
Tell you something, next week the Swans play, the tickets twice the price of NRL, the Stadium ANZ, lets see who gets a big crowd, it could be time for Sydney rugby league shakeup, no more sugar coating a game on death row.
The other codes are killing us in our heartland, Sydney has let the game wither, wither i tell ya, on the vine like a rotten fruit, Well it is time Brisbane, super league took the game to China, not mnaly.
Manly in China is nothing but Cunfuscious dreams .
Let Queensland run the game, Sydney have had their go, and failied badly, big time.
September 14th 2012 @ 12:51pm
Bulldog said | September 14th 2012 @ 12:51pm | Report comment
Word on the street in Townsville is that there are quite a few fans on their way to Sydney for this one. That means a 2+ hour flight each way and flight costs $500+, accommodation costs, time off from work to make it down on a Friday night. Harden up Manly.
September 14th 2012 @ 8:15am
stanza said | September 14th 2012 @ 8:15am | Report comment
Its funny how Manly fans all complain about the trip and how long it could take getting over the bridge. In comparison half my family does the fornightly run on saturday nights from Cairns to Townsville. Its an 8 hour round trip but they wouldn’t have it any other way.
September 14th 2012 @ 8:21am
ManlyMuzz said | September 14th 2012 @ 8:21am | Report comment
Saturday night??
This is a moot point as Manly averaged more to their home games than the Cowboys this year and that was with Brookie under construction lessening the seating capacity.
September 14th 2012 @ 8:26am
Andy said | September 14th 2012 @ 8:26am | Report comment
They expect a crowd just above 15000 to turn up, which is above the average for games at Brookvale this year. For an away game it is a very good effort from the Manly fans. The real question is where are the other Sydney supporters that enjoy watching rugby league? The Daily telegraph have gone about it the wrong way in trying to get a crowd to the game. Forcing the issue onto only Manly fans turning up was the wrong way to do it.
September 14th 2012 @ 9:55am
Springs said | September 14th 2012 @ 9:55am | Report comment
It’s not an away game. It’s at the SFS. And it’s nowhere near a good effort. If this is an away game then the R26 Eels-Dragons game was an Eels ‘away’ game. They managed 45,000.
September 14th 2012 @ 10:27am
ManlyMuzz said | September 14th 2012 @ 10:27am | Report comment
With all due respect Springs, that is the most ridiculous argument i’ve ever heard. You cannot use the R26 Eels – Dragons game as an example for anything as there were 4 of those clubs greatest players all retiring.
And from memory that was a Sunday arvo too. Hardly a fair comparison.
September 14th 2012 @ 11:30am
Springs said | September 14th 2012 @ 11:30am | Report comment
Sunday night, don’t you remember all the Eels fans complaining about the timeslot?
I can use it as an example all I want. You were complaining that a final against the Cowboys at the god damn SFS was an away game, Mr ‘most ridiculous argument I’ve ever heard’. Yes, with the players retiring they had a good crowd, but with the poor timeslot and the neutral ground they didn’t claim travel or time as excuses and turned up.
If Manly can’t even get a third of that in a sudden death semi final, possibly their last game of the year, then it is no way a ‘good effort’.
September 14th 2012 @ 8:33am
Atawhai Drive said | September 14th 2012 @ 8:33am | Report comment
A half-hour trip on Friday night from the Peninsula to Moore Park?
With respect, bigdog2, you haven’t spent much time in Sydney traffic in recent years.
September 14th 2012 @ 8:39am
planko said | September 14th 2012 @ 8:39am | Report comment
It is 45 plus mins from one end the beaches to the other …. I had to go to a funeral in the middle of the day it took 40 mins from Manly Vale to Mona Vale. The author of this is clueless.
September 14th 2012 @ 1:44pm
apaway said | September 14th 2012 @ 1:44pm | Report comment
Yep, last night it took me half an hour to get from the north side of the harbour tunnel to the Moore Park exit of the Eastern Distributor.
September 14th 2012 @ 8:58am
B.A Sports said | September 14th 2012 @ 8:58am | Report comment
You Manly guys make out like it is any different from any other part of the city (Northern BEaches people thinking they are different and more hard done by – there’s a shock).
Newsflash;
M5 – s/fight.
M2 – car park
M4 – crawl
Parramatta Rd – death trap
Victoria Rd – not much better
And as everyone knows, on a Friday night it is worse in both directions.
But this isn’t a Rd 17 match in July, it is a Finals match! It is one of the 5 biggest games of the season. I get that not everyone can go, but it wouldnt be a story if it were Penrith, Canterbury, Parramatta, or the Wests Tigers…. They would at least manage 22-25,000 against a non-sydney team. That still isn’t a good enough crowd for a National competition, but it wouldn’t carry all the whinging…
September 14th 2012 @ 10:43am
astro said | September 14th 2012 @ 10:43am | Report comment
Completely agree that all other parts of the city are basically gridlock on a Friday night, but one thing to note B.A….no train line from the northern beaches. That’s not whinging, just a fact, and something that makes getting in and out of the northern beaches very challenging.
September 14th 2012 @ 9:04am
Mals said | September 14th 2012 @ 9:04am | Report comment
Here are some facts for you bigdog2 as you are sadly lacking any in your piece.
Of the seven Sydney-based clubs to play a non-NSW club at the SFS in the finals Manly has averaged a crowd of 27,643 people in 4 games. This compares favourably with other clubs:-
West Tigers -> 31,836 in 2 games
Parramatta -> 28,524 in 1 game
Dragons -> 19,259 in 1 game
Canterbury -> 23,176 in 4 games
Roosters -> 23,297 in 2 games
Cronulla -> 27,570 in 1 game.
September 14th 2012 @ 9:26am
eagleJack said | September 14th 2012 @ 9:26am | Report comment
It’s funny hey Mals that when actual stats are introduced the people blinded by the Daily Terrorgraph still choose to ignore them
September 14th 2012 @ 5:06pm
Renegade said | September 14th 2012 @ 5:06pm | Report comment
It’s a shame that you actually believe that as a stat…..
Other teams would have packed out the SFS but the games below were at ANZ to cater for the fans (which any game involving Manly, you don’t really need to cater for extra seats)
Parra vs Cowboys – 05
Roosters vs Cowboys – 04
Sharks vs Warriors – 02
Penrith vs Warriors – 03
Dragons vs Storm – 06
September 14th 2012 @ 10:23am
Springs said | September 14th 2012 @ 10:23am | Report comment
Three of those were prelim finals, of which in the last five years Cronulla is the only other team to have hosted a prelim final at the SFS. Plus these figures are skewed in favour of Manly by only including SFS figures. There have been just as many finals at ANZ in that time where Sydney teams have managed over 40,000 against out of town teams.
In 2009 Eels got 28,000 against Titans in week 2, last year Tigers managed 27,000 against the Warriors. Back when week 2 finals were always at the SFS even Melbourne Cowboys managed 16,000, Raiders and Warriors had 31,000 back in 2003.
September 14th 2012 @ 3:38pm
Calcio said | September 14th 2012 @ 3:38pm | Report comment
Mals, No wonder there were no facts. It is a rehashed version of a Sydney Telegraph article. They never include facts.
September 14th 2012 @ 9:07am
JZ said | September 14th 2012 @ 9:07am | Report comment
Just remember its your team, and when they send out the call you should support them in the time of need.
September 14th 2012 @ 9:09am
oikee said | September 14th 2012 @ 9:09am | Report comment
This is not a 9-5 slog each week, this is not 4 hours of travelling every day of the week. This is a one off semi final once a year on a Friday night.
I love all the excuses, it to far to travel, all the traffic, it was cold, it was raining, my head hurts, i am only 4. ???
Come-on. Enough is enough.
The refs need to do their jobs from now on, penalise Manly outta the finals, for the good of the game, so the game can grow and flourish, Manly have to pick up the spoon from now on, it is the only way we can grow the game.
Manly are now offically embarressing and bringing the game into disrespute.
No major code in the world would put up with this nonsense.
Penalise King for fighting,Watmough for kneeing, Stewart for holding down and pinning Jersey’s, Cherry-Evans for his hand in the ruck, Lyons for twisting legs and ankles, Kite and Rose for laying on the tackled player with their guts, Matai for taking out players with swinging arms,Williams for lifting and Toovey for ref bashing.
Penalise them, outta the contest for the good of the game.
Written and said by the NSWRL department of health and wellbeing.
September 14th 2012 @ 9:28am
eagleJack said | September 14th 2012 @ 9:28am | Report comment
Again facts and stats are absent from your repetitive rants.
September 14th 2012 @ 9:29am
planko said | September 14th 2012 @ 9:29am | Report comment
You right Oikee for most of my jobs in Sydney I had to travel 4 hours every day .. Minimum 3 yes 90 mins eachway hours anywhere up to 2.5 hours each way . When you have lived in Sydney get back to me… BA mostly I agree with you. Most parts of sydney have roughly the same problem in transport however why cant North Shore or the Northern Beaches have a “decent” ground ? Last thought Blue Tongue would have been a better option it has roughly the same capacity of NQLD any thoughts. It would also do more for Rugby League ?
September 14th 2012 @ 9:34am
dan said | September 14th 2012 @ 9:34am | Report comment
Well said eaglejack!