The result wasn’t the Holy Grail for the Rabbitohs nor the end of the world for the Roosters, but one definite thing is that the crowd figure was a worry.
To get only 27,282 at ANZ Stadium on a beautiful Sydney night for the blockbuster opening to the NRL season was very disappointing.
The same game last season attracted 35,952 to Allianz Stadium on opening night, and since then the Roosters have won the premiership and the Rabbitohs made the preliminary finals.
The NRL put the drop in crowds last season down to several popular clubs – Parramatta, St George Illawarra and Wests Tigers – being among the also-rans.
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Obviously, that wasn’t the reason for last night’s poor attendance.
Was it because a lot of fans of either club didn’t want to make the trip out to Homebush? I don’t know, you would have to ask those who didn’t go, but whatever the reason it’s not a good look.
Catch up on highlights from the opening round clash:
It’s now going to be very interesting to see what sort of crowds we get for the remaining seven games, particularly when you consider six of those will be played in Sydney.
One of the reasons crowds have been down is because of the severe restrictions put on media access to players and coaches.
The clubs will argue they are following NRL guidelines on access, but the fact is some clubs – not all, but some – make it as difficult as they can within those guidelines for the media to get meaningful access.
The league allowed access to become too restricted in the first place and appears to have done little or nothing to try to make the clubs more obliging.
The problem with severe restrictions is the game’s personalities can’t be presented to the public as well as they might be through the media, inevitably limiting the connection between the fans and the players.
But let’s get to what happened on the field last night, which was a dominant 28-8 win by the Rabbitohs.
The Rabbitohs won the same game comfortably last season, but in very different circumstances. The Roosters were a new team and Trent Robinson their new coach back then, and they were always going to need time to find their feet. Last night, the Roosters were the defending premiers.
The Roosters were their own worst enemies, dropping far too much ball and not defending nearly strongly enough on their own line. They also conceded too many penalties, which was a problem for them last year, except they cancelled it out by being strong in the other two areas.
But I don’t mean any of that to downgrade the performance of the Rabbitohs.
Their win last night means more than their win in the same game last year, because it was a good early sign that whatever demons they had from losing a preliminary final for the second year straight may be under control.
Of course, we won’t know for sure unless the Rabbitohs reach the same stage this season, but, hey, all you can do is win and they did that in good style, putting their power game into gear and launching Greg Inglis off the back of it.
The result will be a wake-up call for the Roosters, and there’s no harm in that as long as you don’t sleep through the alarm. It’s going to be interesting to see if they can bounce back immediately.
Apart from that, The Footy Show returned on Channel Nine after the live coverage of last night’s game, and if you didn’t see it I can report very little has changed.
If it was your cup of tea last year it will be again. If it wasn’t, it still won’t be.
Gyfox
Guest
NRL round 2. Sydney attendances still averaging under 14,000. Where would RL be without Brisbane? Worse, still, GWS Giants had biggest crowd in Sydney. And Suns had 7,000 more than Titans. So things will improve in round 3, right?
Gyfox
Guest
http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/nrl/nrl-on-target-to-register-worst-first-round-crowd-figures-in-more-than-a-decade/story-fniabjcr-1226849622323 Says it all.
Sir Jamie Lyon
Guest
The reason nobody goes to the game is because going to the game is actually not fun at all its a hassle to get there, the traffic is terrible, its expensive, the food and drinks are expensive. And you can't see everything thing. Nore do u get an explanation on ref calls that decide games. No commentators. Id rather watch any game on my tv full hd glory. What's the point of spending over $100? Going to an Nrl game might be the highlight for some people's wknd. But not most
turbodewd
Guest
Greg, Leichardt is a 1950s relic with facilities to boot. ANZ attracted some huge crowds last year. The problem is the timeslot. Its a big ask for Sydneysiders to get to a game on a weeknight. IMHO the silly Wigan v Easts Challenge cup took some interest away from round1 for Easts fans. We have an oversupply of games and too many neck tatts.
Greg
Guest
Brooky on a rainy saturday full to capacity. Every game at ANZ this weekend poorly attended.......Hmmmm Todd Greenberg in the media saying crowds are a worry....Hmmmm Doesn't take a genius to know why. Nothing to do with teams from the East playing in the West , Thur night, or an 8pm start....News Flash, the stadium is AWFUL in every possible way! Until the NRL man up and fix the problem of having most of the games in a venue people don't want to go to, this is going to be a recurring theme. Why are the Dragons and Tigers playing there to 50 people when Leichardt and a guaranteed 18k, along with some atmosphere, is just down the road?!?
Mr Sportsbet
Roar Rookie
27000 is ok crowd for a Thursday Night in Sydney.
Gyfox
Guest
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/clash-of-the-week-nrl-vs-aleague-in-sydneys-heartland-20140304-343fm.html Phil Gould wrote in SMH last Tuesday that NRL's rival was A-league (not AFL). He predicted Sydney crowds this weekend would total 151,000. So far all his projections are way down. The total thus far = - 28,000.
Tha Funkopotamus
Guest
Y be scared of AFL u troll?
Misto
Guest
I think Richmond v Carlton - hardly a GF preview got 60K lat year on a Thursday night and they dont all live around the MCG
ivan
Guest
Cost to much to watch a game. My brother and his son went to watch souths game & it cost him $70 for general admission. What a rip off. Must make it affordable or it will get worse.
Luke M
Guest
If Cooper Cronk wasn't sinbinned against the Knights last year, nobody will ever be sinbinned again. On the other hand, i bet if it was a Parra player playing in a low profile game he would have been marched with no hesitation.
rossco
Guest
Like GWS get?
Cathar Treize
Roar Guru
Finally an AFL fan with an opinion worth reading and says it as is without the NRL is dying melodrama or putting the boot in.
chris
Guest
I think a lot of fans have been put off by both Rugby codes be it- Expensive tickets, drinks and food. Game becoming a wrestle fest and too predictable, while Union it has been a constant changes with the scrum and penalty kick a thorn. The referees. The dumping down and ever changing ugly jersey's. Over top security and stewarding in the stadium creating a negative vibe (this ain't Soccer). TV and match scheduling wall to wall PAYTV coverage and having Rugby League on 5 days a week is over kill. The over top soap opera and cringe like hype of SOO. The NRL not doing anything about expansion, relocation and culling the Sydney scene. ETC, ETC, ETC.
Roger Carter
Guest
The Olympic Stadium is a shocker for many fans to get to esp from the where the two clubs support base is. As a Sydney Swans fan I hate going out there; takes a long time to drive or get there on the train; there is one place for a beer before; long queues to get to the station; no time for a beer after; often not returning to the city way past 11pm or later! SFS would have got 40,000... But as long as football codes don't mind smaller crowds, banks of empty seats, a far poorer atmosphere, inconvenience for the fans; crowds will always disappoint
marco
Guest
The headline was certainly attention grabbing. Friday night is a much better night for football. The next biggest showcase of the round between the bulldogs and Broncos should of been huge as it was a Friday night game. I thought it was a reasonable contest but for only 18000 to turn up!, That's a worry.
Cathar Treize
Roar Guru
yet your still on a league thread revealing nothing. How boring your sport must be for you or you have a superiority complex which makes you a sad human being. Just like all those trolls on twitter etc attacking league, but all they do is ensure social media talks about the sport good or bad and that means $$$$.
barry lunn
Guest
Another bad crowd for bulldogs broncos. The AFL crowds are huge in comparison
Glenn Innes
Guest
It seems to me Rugby League in Sydney needs to get over it's penis envy of Melbourne footballl crowds and concentate on what it does best..pulling huge TV numbers. The Melbourne model of having all the old suburhan clubs playing out of a couple of huge venues is not a good model for Sydney for a couple of reasons. Firstly among the State Capitals Sydney has a unique geography,,.In Melbourne and Brisbane the CBD is more or less at the centre of the urban sprawl anb most pf the population have some connection with the city itself. Sydney has it's geographic centre slightly west of Parramatta,,,I am sure there are many people in greater Sydney who would visit the CBD maybe once every few years. For this reason Sydney can't have a Lang Park or an MCG with all the advantages that come with a staduium within spitting distance of the CBD yet more or less at the geographic centre of the urban sprawl. The other problem with the Melbourne model is that most of the Sydney clubs do represent distinct geographic areas whist the Melbourne clubs with a couple of partial exceptions do not. The Melbourne clubs are geographical anachronisms they represent tiny inner city suburbs ,,the vast majority of their supporters do not live anywhere near the suburbs their clubs once represented which is why having them play out of a couple of large stadiums on the fringe of the CBD makes sense for Melbourne. We all are aware that these days the money comes from media rights not crowds but crowds are still important because any sport is more exciting to watch on TV when the stadium is full - but it doesn't really matter how big the stadium is (within reason) a full house at a 25k capacity stadium provides much the same atmosphere on TV as a stadium holding 80k. Lets be honest regular season games in Sydney that pull more than 30k are pretty rare... the best option for Rugby League in Sydney is to have well appointed boutique Stadiums located in the geographic areas the clubs represent holding 25 - 30k and being regularly close enough to full to provide a good atmosphere for TV. Lets get over trying to chase Melbourne crowds figures and moving all the clubs to Homebush and getting a TV product constantly diminshed by empty seats and lack of atmosphere.Lets concentrate on our strength Telivision - and by extension playing in grounds close to where the supporters live and small enough to be regularly full.
Titus
Guest
Bahaha, why do you need a good surface for a scrum, so you have something to mess up?