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Crowds, crowds, crowds. It seems to be the word of the month in NRL circles.
Ever since Dave Smith boldly outlined the NRL’s five-year plan, there has been a flurry of criticisms and queries about the progress toward these goals and the state of the league in general.
The latest gift of ammunition from the code-waring gods has been the A-League’s triumph in terms of attendance compared to a mediocre reception for the NRL, especially when comparing attendances between the two derbies that occurred over the weekend.
However the mediocrity of the Souths versus Roosters match is not the be-all-and-end-all for rugby league and those paying careful attention to the finer details should see that the weekend’s crowds aren’t the massive collapse many make them out to be.
The previous two Souths versus Roosters matches both had an extra sprinkling of hype surrounding them.
The season opener last year saw the debut of Sonny Bill Williams for the Roosters, as well as a host of other off season acquisitions, while the Round 26 match-up was to decide the minor premiership.
This year’s season opener didn’t really offer anything new. It was pretty much the same teams as last year, just playing a day earlier.
And as much as league fans bemoan the hardships they experience getting out to ANZ and the ridiculousness of holding NRL games on school/work nights, a much bigger factor lies in the motivation of hardcore fans to get to games.
Unlike most other sports in Sydney, the NRL has a very high concentration of teams.
Most locals are sold on supporting one team in particular and the job isn’t to try and entice people to come to games, but to try and entice the fans toward higher and higher levels of investment and involvement.
Other sports can put on derbies which generally can appeal to the entirety of Sydney. This generally (supposing the stars align and both teams are reasonably palatable) will result in a decent reception from the public, with decent attendances and ratings.
They have the advantage of having a large neutral audience that could sway toward their sport for an event if given enough motivation.
The NRL must work much harder to get a similar reception, due to the geographical limitations of teams.
The Roosters versus Rabbitohs match on paper is a match between two eastern Sydney teams, with very small geographic catchments in the scheme of things.
Both these teams have considerable followings considering their age and the legacy they have left on the Sydney sporting landscape, but compared to other sports, which have the entirety of Sydney to engage, the Roosters versus Rabbitohs rivalry is always going to be left at a distinct disadvantage.
NRL teams have to proportionately engage a higher proportion of fans and entice them to games in Sydney due to the high concentration of teams. To entice extra fans, these games usually have to have some added weight or unique property, which just wasn’t really there this time.
As for the poor crowds for the round as a whole, it fell down mainly to circumstance.
Sharks, Panthers and Eagles (all traditionally low-to-moderate crowd drawers) all had home games. Suncorp was busy with the Reds and the other big matches fell flat.
We should wait and see the season develop a bit first before ripping our teeth into our convenient scapegoats.
2013 may be seen as a dour season in respect to crowds, but those teams which did well managed to set some impressive benchmarks.
Souths, the Roosters and the Storm all had their highest-ever average crowds in 2013 but due to the falls of the bigger players these figures got lost in the swell of press that followed a ‘bad’ year crowd-wise.
The smaller teams managed to get a leg up last year, while the big crowd pullers stuttered.
Nothing serious to worry about, unless these stutters remain constant when these teams return to form.
It’s not healthy to micro-analyse every little dip and sway in attendances, and then scream and shout when any one of these movements isn’t in the direction we want it to be.
For now, I advise it’s probably best to sit back, relax and just watch some footy for a few weeks.
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