It may be the NRL off-season but it’s the perfect time to go and get a membership to support your team.
For a long time memberships seemed foreign to us league supporters, as the general opinion a while ago was sitting on the couch is enough ‘support’ for your team. But that is not the case at all.
Rather, that attitude is just laziness and as result empty seats seem to be a common occurrence of the ‘TV sport’ mindset that has plagued my fellow rugby league fans.
The only true way to support your team is through a membership, whether it’s a non-ticketed or seasoned membership. At least your showing your support that way.
When you consider the history of rugby league in Australia, in particular in Sydney, the membership numbers and attendance should be way higher.
But laziness of the league administration and the supporters contribute to the slow uptake of the development of a membership and attendance culture.
The correlation of membership and attendance shows that more members means higher attendance. The AFL over the past decades has proven that and the same should happen to the NRL.
It will never reach the level of AFL but over time it will get better and soon everyone from club to fans will benefit from it.
I’ve been a North Queensland Cowboys member for two years and soon to be three in 2013.
Being a member is where the true supporters are as they are the most committed about the great game of rugby league.
Texan Rabbitt
Guest
The Bunnies are the template for success as far as membership goes..22000 to date and rising. Out doing the next best tally by 6 thousand, being the Broncos. Not bad for an inner city club!
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Sam Thaiday always appears to be punching above his weight,especially after a head higher.
NF
Roar Guru
oikee Ideally, in a couple of years the Broncos would be getting 40k minimum and sell-outs occur every now and again in Suncorp against QLD teams, St George,Storm,etc on a regular basis too every now and again. I would like a 2nd Brisbane team which would mean guarantee sell out for the Brisbane derby. All I want oikee is for rugby league to reach it's full potential for once as the 'dinosaurs' as you say have held this game back for far too long. I dream of the day where Suncorp is selling out, the Storm get the massive crowds they should be getting when you consider the talent they have, NSW leaguies get off the couch and fill the surbaban grounds to capacity, the likes of Allinaz/ANZ either 3/4 capacity or full house every now & again. A Perth team up and functioning too & going well producing WA talent. I want rugby league to see the light for once as it's being in the dark ages for far too long. No other code has done the idiotic things rugby league has done, yet league keeps on doing yet somehow it keeps on trucking. All I want is for rugby league is to go one direction up, I'm sick of the negativity that has plagued this code since it was formed. It's time to embrace our code no better way than getting a membership :)
oikee
Guest
The Broncos always punch well above their weight. They prop up huge crowds for most teams. 35 thousand average for teams like Cronulla, Penrith, Titans, Manly, Bunnies. Those teams are suburban teams not state teams. Rugby supports states, i keep trying to tell you this. Look, comparrision, you really want me to compare, OK. Origin, Origin is our state teams, now compare mate to Union and AFL. Go on, you keep pressing until you made me force it down your throat, now sit back and compare, TV crowds as well if you like.
oikee
Guest
And as i said above, the Reds are a state side, the NRL has 3teams in Queensland it could have 5 if it felt like introducing that many. The AFL only have 1 team, stuggling at that, The Suns are not really a team, just folly. Gifted a stadium that will need repairing in 10 years time. The Titans are a better indication of how much coastal teams struggle. It is a tourist spot. Having said that league over time will be OK. Not to sure if or when AFL will ever be able to support themselves without millions of injections. The Lions lost 2 million again this year. The Broncos made 1.5 million half year without add-ons for increase in 7 million which has doubled nearly the clubs funding. So they look like they should make around half of what Collingwood made last year, which is not bad. As someone mentioned, the Club has over 50 thousand members, most Brisbane league clubs have over 20 thousand paid members. I was a member of easts leagues for 10 years or more , as was my father and his partner. They never missed a Friday night for 20 years.
oikee
Guest
The Reds are a State team. The Broncos are a city team. Look, as i said below, we have a State comp, Union is not able to support a state comp as far as i know. Cowboys and Titans could also be followed by another 1 or 2 NRL teams, if that happens then Queensland alone would be supporting Australian rugby unions total teams in a 3 country comp. Another NRL team in Brisbane would increase derbies and crowd figures. Rugby is lucky it is winning, the reds were in peril just a few years ago. And the rugby club was sheer folly. Is now gone hopefully with Union back to Ballymore i see. Rugby union does not do alot for the poor, except move a few into their system as they do with the farming community, they dont put much back. Rugby league on the other hand thrives on the poor, it is why our indigenous are such a huge success, we even support a All Stars team. Just let me know what part you think is not true, i will support it with facts and links. Pleased to help.
NF
Roar Guru
Oikee Australia has a congested sports market but at the end of the day League is top dog in QLD/NSW. Competition drives the best out of everyone so the likes of the Reds/Lions should be pushing the Broncos to there best in gaining there share of the market. Also,a 2nd Brisbane team should of being introduced along time ago as not everyone in Brisbane is a Broncos supporter who like RL. Last I check oikee, the Queensland cup isn't the NRL, the main focus of this article is the NRL. The Broncos should be leading the way in QLD in memberships but there not the QLD Reds are which is once again Broncos under-performing off the field.
oikee
Guest
I have been explaining this to you all the time. You giuys keep thinking that Brisbane only supports 1 league team. Look, your wrong, and most the league clubs in Brisbane are huge clubs. Ipswich just down the road supports a rugby league of its own, they have 6-8 senior teams, They have Ipwich Brothers and Ipswich Lets and other clubs all in this and surrounding areas. Down the road in the other direction you have the Redcliffe Dolfins, who won this years grand final of the Queensland cup at Suncorp in front of 10 thousand fans. They are shown on FTA tv each week in a landmark deal. Easts leagues win best caterer awards at Corparoo. Wynnum Manly club is fully funded. Logan is down the road and has probably the second largest junior base in Australia, why AFL wanted to set up pookie heaven to take from the poor to feed the rich. On top of that you have rugby union which is huge in Queensland, they alone have 50 thousand juniors. AFL is no shrinking violot either. They are not like NRL down in Melbourne which has only been truely around for just over 12 years. So getting your head around all that, forgot to mention soccer, they also along with hockey and Basketball plus we have the Bandits baseball and have to supply olympians as well. Our sports market has always been full to the brim with all codes. Forgot about Cricket, as you know we do well . So also supplying the Clive Palmers, the Mega Truckers and Steve Irwins and Guy Mcleans for the world, surely you can see that the Broncos that can fill stadiums for derbies and double headers and not to mention fill stadiums for most codes does pretty well with having to support the Broncos from a very congested sports model in which the Queensland cup has 10 senior teams throughout our state. We support all this on our own, no help from anyone else. Sponsers,TV,fans,voluteers the lot. xxxx alone supports nearly every code, as well as life savers and has its own cheerleaders and runs that Island and just about anything else they can help out. That is passion mate, that is support. No code gets huge favours, Origin is the umbrella for the lot. That will never change.
NF
Roar Guru
'Our culture is still catching up to memberships.' oikee the fact it took til the late 2000's for the NRL to embrace memberships from a 100+ year competition show how backwards and incompetently run rugby league has been the past couple of decades. For every other code, memberships go part and parcel with the code for decades, it only took rugby league til now to finally get the message. Talk about slow oikee those damn dinosaurs as you say.
oikee
Guest
There has been huge growth in memberships. Last thing we want is them forced down people's throat's. Some clubs have grown 500% over the last 5-6 years. Our culture is still catching up to memberships. No need to push. The game and the growth along with our players now more connected to the fans is and will grow the game. I think our memberships are very good now compared to our growd figures. ? What i mean is our crowds can number 200 thousand and our memberships might only number 200 thousand. So it is now up to future real growth and allow natural membership growth to happen. Which is happening.
NF
Roar Guru
I'm wondering what oikee thoughts are in regards to membership his team the Broncos should be the spearhead of the membership movement in the NRL but time & time again it under-performs despite all the advantages it has compared to everyone else off the field. Oikee how does it feel when the Reds or the Lions outdrew/out-member the Broncos despite both teams have lesser success than the Broncos who are without a doubt the most successful sporting Queensland club. Being the most successful QLD club it must be reflected as such is crowds & membership but in the past Broncos failed that test when other codes outdrew them despite Brisbane being a 'league city'. Awaiting oikee's explanation for this for a so called league city the Broncos at time don't reflect it.
NF
Roar Guru
Von League fans better get out to the game and get memberships en mass over the couple of years to close the gap. We shall see I expect increases in remember year by year aleast, same with attendance as it's correlated high membership = high attendance. League fans need to hold up there end of the bargain by showing up to games for once not just sit on the couch which is not 'support'.
von neumann
Guest
ok then. I think the coming years will see the gap close significantly, but I never say never.
Eagle Rock
Guest
No team can have more than 2 home Monday Night games. As it stands, Manly have 1 Thursday night, 2 Friday night, 1 Saturday night, 3 Sunday and 2 Monday night home games scheduled. Once the remaining 3 home game time slots are released it will probably be a better draw for us than the last few years. 10 game kids memberships only cost $30 each, and there is always the option of buying a non-ticketed membership to keep up your club support even if you cant make it out to all the games.
NF
Roar Guru
Nice to hear Nathan it would of been nice if the Reds were kept round post SL war but it was mishandled from the get go forcing the Reds to pay accommodation & flight costs for all teams coming to WA was just insane and just unneeded for a expansion team. Those costs handicapped in the first place along with the SL war being the knockout punch unfortunately. Plus, the WACA wasn't the ideal place for a rectangular code too. Ideally, a WA team should comer sooner than later in the NRL i'm sick of the inactivity & indecision which has plagued the code on there decision making & critical thinking in the moving the game forward. It be fantastic but dreamy for the Broncos should have 52k members & waiting list too considering all the success they had when comparing them to Eagles as mentioned in AR post but there far from it despite the 'unique & massive advantages'. When you consider league is suppose to be 'king' in Brisbane the Broncos have had a hard time representing that thought they should be selling out Suncorp & stop being outdrawn by the likes of the Reds & Lions which is embarrassing from a league's fan perspective. Since league is suppose to be the top dog so it should present itself as one in QLD. As for my team the Cowboys I would love from them to average 20k like they used to do a while back and aim for 20k members it's possible with there winning success as of late, all is needed is a premiership to drive it forward. As proven in QLD, one championship win creates a bandwagon it which you can get new fans to become members from eg Brisbane Lions/Queensland Reds.
NF
Roar Guru
I'm being realistic von when you consider the fact that league fans are known for there laziness & the infamous 'tv sport' excuse. Another example is Manly, who despite all there success the past couples of years fail to sell out Brookvale, and come finals time continually embarrass the NRL with there pathetic crowds (vs Cowboys (11,12) despite achieving premierships. I do expect memberships/attendance of the NRL to increase over time but it won't match the AFL at all due to it being embedded in there culture. The current 'culture' of NRL fans is sitting on the couch is 'support' for there team when it reality it contributes nothing to the team by not being at the game itself, so in the next couples of years the NRL need to get rid of the 'tv sport' culture and heavily promote attending a game in person not watching it on tv.
Nathan of Perth
Guest
Good post - Perth Wildcats NBL team aimed for the moon with a target of 10,000 members. Not quite going to reach that but the ambition and energy it engendered has helped carry them to what will probably be 8,000 members before the next home game and a crowd average above 11k, even with a thursday night game. For the NBL, that's mindblowing. Ambitions should always be high.
Nathan of Perth
Guest
Hahaha, a 2 year waiting list? AR, I've been on that list since 2008 and I'm still multiple thousands of spots away. No more than 600 people will get off that list before the new stadium in 2018. But more generally, although the Eagles have only modest penetration outside of WA, it is difficult to explain how heavily the Eagles sits on the social and media fabric of this state. It is absolutely dominant, wildly so. But as for NRL I'm a WA member of the Bunnies this year :D It will do me until the Pirates can arrive; will have to pick up some gear over chrissy. Counts as a ticketed member no less, since it has a reserved seat to the nib stadium game, so I get presale access to things like finals tickets if I ever get a chance to head to Sydney, not a bad little offering.
Bring Back the Bears
Guest
Most clubs offer 3-4 game memberships now as well as supporter memberships that are for people who can't make games.
von neumann
Guest
I do not like this "will never reach the level of the afl" business you speak of. must we talk so negatively or with an inferiority complex so much.