Will 2024 be the best NRL season ever?

[AB90]

1 hour ago, JM2010 said:

That’s more than I thought it would be. Is that an increase or decrease on previous years?

It’s actually from 2021 so could be higher or lower (OZ was 185,000 at that time so they have increased since then).

France was noted at 7,100.

[Damien]

45 minutes ago, Sports Prophet said:

Yes it is. The 2024 8,274 avg for St George at Kogarah Oval however is not.

It's certainly an issue. Even last season St George's average attendance was only 11,867 and considerably behind the next lowest that was a touch over 14k. With so many new potential new entrants having the potential of attracting considerably more I'm surprised they are not under more scrutiny.

[jim_57]

2 hours ago, Damien said:

It's certainly an issue. Even last season St George's average attendance was only 11,867 and considerably behind the next lowest that was a touch over 14k. With so many new potential new entrants having the potential of attracting considerably more I'm surprised they are not under more scrutiny.

Dragons should be playing 9 games at Wollongong & 3 at Allianz. Kogarah obviously isn’t drawing them in despite them having an OK year. From what I’ve read the areas around Kogarah have changed demographics so there aren’t as many fans close by these days anyway. If fans are spread out play games at the new world class stadium that’s more accessible for most of Sydney.

9 games at Wollongong and push for upgrades there to get it to 25k. 3 big games Vs Roosters/Rabbitohs/Bulldogs/Tigers/Sharks at SFS. Sydney fans can go to plenty of away games plus the 3 home games at SFS.

Allianz is clearly the best stadium in NSW, should have Rabbitohs there as well.

[Damien]

11 minutes ago, jim_57 said:

Dragons should be playing 9 games at Wollongong & 3 at Allianz. Kogarah obviously isn’t drawing them in despite them having an OK year. From what I’ve read the areas around Kogarah have changed demographics so there aren’t as many fans close by these days anyway. If fans are spread out play games at the new world class stadium that’s more accessible for most of Sydney.

9 games at Wollongong and push for upgrades there to get it to 25k. 3 big games Vs Roosters/Rabbitohs/Bulldogs/Tigers/Sharks at SFS. Sydney fans can go to plenty of away games plus the 3 home games at SFS.

Allianz is clearly the best stadium in NSW, should have Rabbitohs there as well.

This is kind of what I thought but then you look at crowds last year at Wollongong and they aren't great either and are worse than Kogarah

[Sports Prophet]

34 minutes ago, Damien said:

This is kind of what I thought but then you look at crowds last year at Wollongong and they aren't great either and are worse than Kogarah

The Steelers were rarely playing in front of big audiences either, so it may just be the demand isn’t there.

On the other hand, I don’t think the irregular nature of the fixtures in Wollongong give the club much opportunity to build momentum in any attempt to increase audiences consistently. 

[EggFace]

7 hours ago, jim_57 said:

Dragons should be playing 9 games at Wollongong & 3 at Allianz. Kogarah obviously isn’t drawing them in despite them having an OK year. From what I’ve read the areas around Kogarah have changed demographics so there aren’t as many fans close by these days anyway. If fans are spread out play games at the new world class stadium that’s more accessible for most of Sydney.

9 games at Wollongong and push for upgrades there to get it to 25k. 3 big games Vs Roosters/Rabbitohs/Bulldogs/Tigers/Sharks at SFS. Sydney fans can go to plenty of away games plus the 3 home games at SFS.

Allianz is clearly the best stadium in NSW, should have Rabbitohs there as well.

Why can't the changed demographics get into Rugby Leagues ?

[EggFace]

6 hours ago, Sports Prophet said:

The Steelers were rarely playing in front of big audiences either, so it may just be the demand isn’t there.

On the other hand, I don’t think the irregular nature of the fixtures in Wollongong give the club much opportunity to build momentum in any attempt to increase audiences consistently. 

So is the Gong another Gold Coast ?

[Sports Prophet]

3 hours ago, EggFace said:

So is the Gong another Gold Coast ?

An interesting question. Soccer and basketball all have given the gong a crack. Basketball still has an NBL team there.

I suspect the ticket prices are too high for the traditional RL demographic. To take a family along to a random game is not a cheap affair and it wouldn’t be easy to sell members packages with such random fixture dates.

I can’t imagine how locals could really get enthusiastic about a club which refuses to put all its eggs into their local basket. I think the Steelers would be doing a better job in Wollongong than this merged entity are.

@The Rocket is likely best qualified to answer your query on the Gong Eggface. 

Edited July 7, 2024 by Sports Prophet

[Sports Prophet]

the Bulldogs saw an astonishing 27,233 turn up Saturday afternoon to watch them win with a golden point drop goal for the second consecutive week, this time against the Warriors. Being a standard weekend (no public holidays) and being a Sydney club, I think this is probably the biggest achievement of the year in the NRL for crowd numbers. It’s not the biggest by any means, but a great achievement. It did sound like there were many there and they were given a very exciting game as their reward.

10,331 at Leichhardt is not good enough, further supporting Richo’s plans to move away from the place permanently. There is recent approval for $50m upgrade. I wonder what $50m buys you by way of upgrades at Leichhardt.

[Anita Bath]

A large ‘warriors effect’ there probably, but a good attendance all the same.

[Sports Prophet]

Don’t know what the figure is yet, but the Roosters crowd at home against the Dargons now sounds and looks pretty healthy. Lends itself to the idea the Dargons could do away with Kogarah altogether.

I think it also demonstrates what can be achieved when a club like the Roosters who traditionally pull lower size crowds, begin to play out of an arena designed to meet the comforts demanded by consumers of hospitality venues in this day and age.

A few clubs (Tigers, Sea-Eagles, Sharks and Dragons) will need to give their stadium strategy a good review. Looks like Tigers are finally throwing their eggs into the Campbelltown basket.

[Sports Prophet]

3 hours ago, Sports Prophet said:

Don’t know what the figure is yet, but the Roosters crowd at home against the Dargons now sounds and looks pretty healthy. Lends itself to the idea the Dargons could do away with Kogarah altogether.

I think it also demonstrates what can be achieved when a club like the Roosters who traditionally pull lower size crowds, begin to play out of an arena designed to meet the comforts demanded by consumers of hospitality venues in this day and age.

A few clubs (Tigers, Sea-Eagles, Sharks and Dragons) will need to give their stadium strategy a good review. Looks like Tigers are finally throwing their eggs into the Campbelltown basket.

I forgot this was JWH record breaking 307th match for the club, so there may have been a bigger crowd for this occasions.

[Anita Bath]

Also start of school holidays so some teams have special deals to attract families. 
 

AFL have three rounds of kids go free.

[Sports Prophet]

On 06/07/2024 at 16:02, Damien said:

200,000 player registrations reached for the first time:

The National Rugby League (NRL) is today celebrating a significant milestone in the game’s history with national community club rugby league player registrations reaching 200,000 in a season for the first time. 

https://www.nrl.com/news/2024/07/06/history-made-as-club-rugby-league-registrations-reach-200000-nationally/amp/

This prompted me to have a look at RL activity around Sydney. Just take a look at how much footy is going on in the Cronulla and Penrith districts:

https://www.playrugbyleague.com/Competitions/Association/cronullasutherland-jrl-72?_ga=2.230809631.1241016921.1720353991-1220357278.1720353989
 

https://www.playrugbyleague.com/Competitions/Association/penrith-and-district-junior-rugby-league-68?_ga=2.55191979.1241016921.1720353991-1430257572.1720354703

[Sports Prophet]

and to the discussion around St George and Wollongong earlier, have a look at how little there is in Sydney half of the merger and how much more there is down the south coast half…

https://www.playrugbyleague.com/Competitions/Association/illawarra-drl-106?_ga=2.260228749.1241016921.1720353991-1430257572.1720354703
 

https://www.playrugbyleague.com/Competitions/Association/st-george-jrl-74?_ga=2.61991212.1241016921.1720353991-1430257572.1720354703

[Damien]

And we could see another rise in participation numbers in the future:

 

[Pulga]

22 hours ago, Sports Prophet said:

An interesting question. Soccer and basketball all have given the gong a crack. Basketball still has an NBL team there.

I suspect the ticket prices are too high for the traditional RL demographic. To take a family along to a random game is not a cheap affair and it wouldn’t be easy to sell members packages with such random fixture dates.

I can’t imagine how locals could really get enthusiastic about a club which refuses to put all its eggs into their local basket. I think the Steelers would be doing a better job in Wollongong than this merged entity are.

@The Rocket is likely best qualified to answer your query on the Gong Eggface. 

My dad is from the 'Gong. Traditionally a strong RL city but I can't really tell you what's gone on. Obviously the merger was a bit of a blow but they seem to be chronically mismanaged. Their string of poor form obviously isn't helping but they really should be the same as the Knights.

Ticket prices are not the problem. Working class Australia is not working class England. 

 

[Anita Bath]

7 hours ago, Pulga said:

My dad is from the 'Gong. Traditionally a strong RL city but I can't really tell you what's gone on. Obviously the merger was a bit of a blow but they seem to be chronically mismanaged. Their string of poor form obviously isn't helping but they really should be the same as the Knights.

Ticket prices are not the problem. Working class Australia is not working class England. 

 

Having a restricted number of games in the Gong must be part of the problem. Fans want to see ‘their team’ on a regular basis, and 4 or 5 times a year is not regular. 

[Sports Prophet]

34 minutes ago, Anita Bath said:

Having a restricted number of games in the Gong must be part of the problem. Fans want to see ‘their team’ on a regular basis, and 4 or 5 times a year is not regular. 

Yeah, I don’t think the general public still referring to them simply as St George helps either. I don’t see how the club have worked to build an affinity with the locals.

[Damien]

So why are the St George part not more popular in Sydney? Have they just been crowded out by other clubs? They are obviously a very historic, successful club with a rich history. 

[Dunbar]

Another round with seven clubs getting a bye this week, teams weakened by Origin selection and then round 20 next with Origin stars backing up or unavailable. 

The Origin period has a massive impact on the NRL.  Surely it can be minimised. 

[Sports Prophet]

39 minutes ago, Damien said:

So why are the St George part not more popular in Sydney? Have they just been crowded out by other clubs? They are obviously a very historic, successful club with a rich history. 

Not being a supporter, I am making a couple of assumptions that the following has a lot to do with it.

I mentioned earlier that I think service and comfort expectations are moving beyond the capabilities of the old suburban grounds. Kogarah would definitely fit that description, being very susceptible to wet weather.

Many of the suburbs have also become migrant communities. Hurstville high street has significantly more shops with Oriental text on the shop fronts than English and the George’s River Council has an estimated 46% population born overseas and a 42.4% population from a non-English speaking background (predominantly oriental) and that number is rising.

The traditional white Australian supporter base have moved on.

Edited July 8, 2024 by Sports Prophet

[jim_57]

On 07/07/2024 at 00:24, Damien said:

This is kind of what I thought but then you look at crowds last year at Wollongong and they aren't great either and are worse than Kogarah

Averages in black and white don’t tell the full story. Taking the draw in to account:

Wollongong:
R5 Vs Dolphins, Sat 5:30pm (16,472)
R9 Vs Bulldogs, Sun 4pm (16,678)
R17 Vs Warriors, Fri 8pm (9,275)
R19 Vs Raiders, Fri 8pm (9,319) (No Origin players).
R21 Vs Tigers, Thu 8pm (7,241) 
R22 Vs Sea Eagles, Sat 5:30pm (14,872)
R25 Vs Storm, Sat 7:30pm (8,326)

Kogarah: 
R2 Vs Titans, Sun 4pm (8,538)
R4 Vs Sharks, Sun 4pm (15,126)
R12 Vs Roosters, Fri 6pm (9,007) 
R15 Vs Rabbitohs, Sat 3pm (17,357)
R27 Vs Knights, Sat 7:30pm (10,137)

Both very hit/miss but I’d say Kogarah gets the better draw there, 3 daylight games, 3 big derby games, a couple of games with the early season optimism etc. Wollongong only got one daylight game, a Thursday game and most of their game’s condensed in to a period of the season affected by Origin and where any optimism was long gone, 3/7 Vs 4/5 NSW team opponents as well.

Main point is Wollongong is where they are based and the best chance of getting upgrades for the stadium in the future due to it being regional, they should lean in to that and play at least 8 games there IMO. Their Sydney fans can get 3-4 home games (preferably at SFS) plus any number of away games they can get to in Sydney. Similar model in Geelong works for the AFL team which is a good example of how I think it could work, a lot of similarities.

[jim_57]

Dragons Gong/Kogarah crowds this year, back to a 6/6 Sydney/Gong split but Anzac Day @ SFS.

Wollongong:
R4 Vs Sea Eagles, Sat 5:30pm (16,215). 
R7 Vs Warriors, Fri 6pm (13,111). 
R14 Vs Tigers, Fri 8pm (9,969). 
R21 Vs Panthers, Sun 2pm. 
R24 Vs Titans, Sun 2pm. 
R25 Vs Sharks, Sun 4pm.

Kogarah:
R3 Vs Cowboys, Sat 5:30pm (9,252). 
R10 Vs Rabbitohs, Sat 5:30pm (7,517). 
R17 Vs Dolphins, Sun 2pm (8,052). 
R23 Vs Bulldogs, Sat 7:30pm. 
R27 Vs Raiders, Sat 3pm.

SFS:
R8 Vs Roosters, Thu 4pm (40,727) (Anzac Day).

Averaging 13,098 in Wollongong & 8,274 at Kogarah. Draw admittedly looks better for Wollongong this year.

[EggFace]

On 07/07/2024 at 02:05, Sports Prophet said:

An interesting question. Soccer and basketball all have given the gong a crack. Basketball still has an NBL team there.

I suspect the ticket prices are too high for the traditional RL demographic. To take a family along to a random game is not a cheap affair and it wouldn’t be easy to sell members packages with such random fixture dates.

I can’t imagine how locals could really get enthusiastic about a club which refuses to put all its eggs into their local basket. I think the Steelers would be doing a better job in Wollongong than this merged entity are.

@The Rocket is likely best qualified to answer your query on the Gong Eggface. 

That lovely setting stadium in Wollongong needs a full NRL team playing out of it...away derbies at the SFS.