A-League's momentum put to the test as NRL kicks off

There is no more important week in the A-League season than this one. Not that any of the matches this weekend are particularly mouth-watering, Sydney FC versus Central Coast Mariners aside.

There are no results from this weekend that are going to finalise finishing positions or knock teams out of the play-off race. There are no big-name guest players or stars returning from injury.

But, the NRL is back. This means for the rest of the season, the A-League will not be the only ticket in town.

I’m not saying this because I’m an anti-NRL zealot and this article is certainly not some sort of rally cry to round ball football fans to turn up in numbers and try to deflect from the NRL’s season opener.

Hell, I’m going to two games this weekend. Both of these are at the same stadium, one for each of my beloved codes.

I just realised that that could mean two different sets of games. I should clarify – I’m a Sydney FC and Souths fan, not Wanderers and Parramatta.

But on that note, here’s my prediction for the weekend; the ‘battle’ of Allianz will be won by rugby league, but there will be more people at Parramatta for the Wanderers on Sunday than to watch Chris Sandow and Jarryd Hayne throw cut-out passes into row G the night before.

Of course, crowd numbers aren’t the be all and end all. There will absolutely be more television viewers for the NRL in each of these cases, and I’d be shocked if there was ever a weekend where this wasn’t the case. Football is not a big-time draw on television yet, we all know this.

This is why this week is so important. Fresh off a new TV deal, the A-League is enjoying its best ratings season to date. It would be heartbreaking to all the tragics out there, even the ones that support more than one code, to see them drop like a stone in these last few weeks.

I’m not naïve enough to expect parity, but if the Wanderers game out-rates either of the Foxtel NRL matches, that would be a huge coup (I’m unsure how live site numbers account into ratings, which may affect Sunday).

But the gap is getting smaller. Certainly we wouldn’t have imagined that five years ago Sydney would have a higher crowd average throughout the year than their fellow Allianz Stadium tenants, the Waratahs and Roosters. But they will this year.

The Roosters will benefit from 25,000 Souths fans being there on Thursday. But they have never had a crowd average of over 18,000 – which is quite stunning considering that they were the dominant team of the early 2000s.

Sydney is currently averaging just above that 18,000 mark and have two home games left – against the Mariners and Victory. That number is only going up, folks.

The Waratahs are a more peculiar case. Since the foundation of the A-League, the rugby tenants of the SFS have never seen a crowd average of below 20,000 for a season.

But to be fair, that number dropped massively between 2006 and 2007 (29,000 to 23,000), remained stagnant for a few years before another substantial drop (23,000 to 20,500) for the last two seasons.

And that opening game against the Rebels, albeit in awful conditions drew a pathetic 11,000.

Some serious work will be needed with just seven more home games on the calendar. A huge stretch in the middle of March will see them with three straight home games, each to teams that you wouldn’t consider huge draws, especially the Cheetahs.

So perhaps it’s finally Sydney’s year to be the top dog in Australia’s best stadium? Given my Souths allegiances and apathy towards rugby, nothing would make me prouder as a Sydney FC fan.

I’m just glad the Swans play next door as they’d certainly throw a spanner in the works!

So if indeed FC does claim attendance rights at Allianz Stadium this year, does it suddenly mean that football is Sydney’s favourite sport?

Of course not, but it’s a great deal closer than it used to be.

Follow Matt on Twitter @TheMattBungard