Broncos fans shouldn't give up on their team

let me say this the man is not wayne bennett and never will be.i have been following broncos since 1992,and have to say the team of the present will NEVER be like the one from the golden days.

Unfortunately the fickle nature that is Brisbane supporters for all codes. Is pathetic, but what do you do?

Very sorry about the late reply NF. I have been busy and didn't realise you replied. I'm not going to try to put a spin in anything in regards to the numbers you've replied with. Clearly Broncos are lacking in this department, no excuses afforded by a Broncos member or Brisbane citizen. The only excuse afforded to such a poor effort and lack to commit more supporters has been a Nieve mindset that they'll continue to turn up. Only within the past four years have the NRL and clubs placed an emphasis on memberships. That's why numbers have increased over the years. The NRL is a good 20-30 years behind the AFL in management and are realising this now. Of course nothing will be admitted but that's honestly the clear case. The trends are positive and uplifting but time will tell as to how highly rugby league supporters regard memberships not just for Broncos but all clubs.

Fans, supporters & members are all different beasts and clubs need all three! Broncos fans, from what i've witness, are fickle! One reason for this, as others have mentioned, could be because they're used to seeing their club win regularly. It's essentially a one club city and it be good to see how they perform if you match 'membership per population'? If they can't or don't increase their membership numbers yearly with the premiership/players they had then management needs replacing. Wayne Bennett didn't want another club any where near Brisbane because he knew the danger it put on the Bronco brand. Channel 9 will also oppose another club in Brisbane because of thier investment in the club. If there were to be another club in Ipswich then the Broncos will find winning another premiership soon ni on impossible!

this whole post makes no sense. you do realise that the broncos have increased their supporter base since 2006, dont you? the years that we havent been standouts of the nrl? its the casual fan that is not coming as much aswell as the families due to the amount of friday night games up here (amongst other things). to me there is nothing better than a sunny sunday at suncorp to watch the football but this doesnt compute to t.v ratings though. hence, the biggest drawcard (ratings wise) from qld having so many friday night games. regarding the reds, where were all their members before 2010? or crowds? when afl is the only sport to have concentrated on base memberships for so long, the idea that rugby/league is behind on that front is almost a moot point. of course both sports have a way to go due to club memberships being a fairly new concept for rugby and league (in regards to actively trying to get members as the business model). i agree we have lost our lustre, but this is the nature of sports and professionalism im afraid (everyone gets a turn) and we must do something to retain our juniors in this current, go out and get your dough, culture. this wont happen unless we can return to our flashy attack and brutal defence mantra. i used to ove how we could post 30 points on teams but then have the pride to not let the other team in for a cheeky try at the end, now melbourne is the this team. however, apart from the big3, the storm have role players who do their jobs well and that is the standard at this time.

The Broncos did defend well & they were finally able scored points in the second half! But remember they were playing the Dragons who are lacking a decent half who can provide them with better attacking otions. Hodges limped off with a strained hamstring which might give younger players with a chances to impress. Nineth or eigth looks the best possibility?

You really dont understand the Brisbane market. The Broncos need innner city rivals,. The NRL has let the Brisbane market down badly. Even the Brisbane city council want more NRL teams so they can have club games played out of Suncorp every weekend. Plus they would love to have 3 Brisbane teams, well 2 in Brisbane and one at Ipswich. This would increase crowds and also help improve the Brisbane economy 2 fold. They are begging the NRL to put more teams in Brisbane, and create derbies, rivalries. Thje Brisbane public are screaming out for rivalries, we have been let down by the NRL. Sydney based mentallity that only gets 34 to 21 thousand for their so-called blockbuster derbies. Brisbane would create 50 thousand inter city derbies, we need it to revive our passion that has been drained by this code. We propped up the Origin series, we even created a huge out of town rivalry with the Cowboys, but we have not quite got our own city rivalry. This is the problem with league in Brisbane. People have become disalluisioned, that is all, give them more teams and they will all flock back. The people who need to wake up is not the fans, it is the NRL. ARLC, the peoople in charge. If they cant see a goldmine right in front of them, it is not my problem.

I am at loss to where you get this data from? (There are 19K Broncos members have you surveyed all of them to get this data?) I have been a Broncos fan for a very long time, I even remember when we started our season with 9 straight losses (and still made the Finals, yes the Sharks might have knocked us out 44-10 in week 1 of the finals). However I still stuck with them during this and has shown me that even if we start poorly we are always a chance! To read a post like this (from a Cowboys fan), simply tells me you are jealous of the Broncos success and don't actually get the Broncos fans at all!

Yeah, great game but frustrating with ref calls. Good to see us showing some grit in defence.

Yeah Broncos won, like I tipped them too.

You guys catch the game tonight?

Boncos [no typo] only have fair weather fans! Go to Brisane when they're winning and every person you meet wlll gloat about 'how good they are'! Go there now and you can hear a pin drop such is there level of supporter base. These 'fans' will all be hanging around the Reds like a bluea$$ fly! At least these 'fans' have the Cowboys & Titans to follow when their team miss the final 8 this year. Given their performance last week, these numbers will only reduce in size. The Club/brand has lost its lustre with overrated players relying on past reputation. They don't get the best juniors any more because these guys are willing to go to any where. This includes union, cricket, afl, soccer, and twitter (you name it) to play top fight sports.

The broncos have always actively stopped other teams starting up in Brisbane not the nrl

Brisbane has 1 club, so 2 million can support this team. I have happily supported Brisbane for 30 odd years. I have also moved away and now i dont go to every game. The point i am making is the way this club has allowed good young players go, and not replaced them with anyone of decent value. I am only talking in the last 2 years. Lockyer retired, we all knew that was coming, and Petro returned for his final year and should never have left anyhow. This club has failed in their duty to replace superstars. Now, Faiday is not a superstar, nor is Hodges, and these are our 2 best players. So if Hodges gets his ussual injury, and Faiday is burnt out like Hannett being used as a battering ram again,, yes again this year as it happened last year as well, then Griffith most go. This is a powerhouse club acting like a good citizen. All great clubs ahve to make hard decisions, like Bennett did with sacking Lewis, and like other clubs have had to do, sacking coaches and whatever. This club has turned soft, softer than mister whippy at satans thanksgiving. I dont see no Barba, no Inglis, no Thurston Burgess or Sonny Bill. They dont come to this club because we have lost the awe, that hardcore values. I wont hold your breath either for them to get out of this mess. Bennett left for a reason, to win premierships, and it is not going to happen in Brisbane with wallace running the show.

Yeah, I'll agree that I worded that wrong. The ticket prices are reasonable if you are willing to sit in a dodgy spot by yourself without your family. Im not sure that a comparison to Cinema tickets are a great example as we all know that cinemas have been struggling for awhile to draw crowds for more than the first few screenings of a film. The only movies I go to are on cheap Tuesdays at southbank where you spend $10. Stillmatic is right in that RL is more consumable on TV as there is less off the ball action. I'm not sure there is even an argument to have here when considering a crowd of 35k is far and above all other stadium turnouts. We also have huge membership numbers. I think I'm misdirecting the expenses of ticket prices to the several other costs of attending a game such as the food and drink, transport/parking (buses don't work for everyone), but most of all the inconvenience of Friday night games as Stillmatic points out. We have a few problems in our club at the moment, nothing like the ASADA rubbish fortunately, but there is no reason to turn our backs. It is struggles such as these that create character and hunger. Lets not turn our backs on our team and continue to support them, whilst asking questions and offering advice on how to make us stronger in the long run.

Stop as you please cause I couldn't be bothered to continue this discussion further. I guess time will tell, won't it?

Right, so just another doomsayer that offers criticism without constructive comment... I think I'll stop crossing this bridge before the troll jumps out again.