Thursday, 27 July 2017

Australasia Attendances : 2005-09

Average attendances had reached 14,000 over the last five years so was there room for improvement? Yes, the number got close to 16,000 during this five year period. Brisbane took its customary top spot and managed to increase by an average of 10,000! The new team  - Gold Coast - arrived in 2007 to make up sixteen teams for the competition. It had an instant following and averaged over 20k. The top four supported teams were outside of Sydney.

In 2005 Sydney clubs Parramatta and St George were top of the league. However, neither made the final which saw the first joint venture side win the grand final. They were the Wests Tigers (Sydney) defeat North Queensland. The two Queensland clubs had the highest attendances at matches.

For 2006, New Zealand had four points deducted for a salary cap breach that cost them a finals spot. Melbourne won the league by a country mile from the Sydney Bulldogs but later had the title stripped due to a retrospective punishment for a major salary cap issue. Brisbane prevailed over Melbourne in the grand final.

Newcastle passed North Queensland as the second strongest attended club, while the points deduction saw fans stay away in droves as the NZ side crashed to the bottom of the list.

2007 was the 100th season of RL competition in Australasia. The Gold Coast joined the party to make up the sixteenth side. Melbourne won the league from Sydney club Manly and did the double over them in the final. However the salary cap breach meant both titles were stripped from them, with no replacement winner. The three Queensland sides had the largest crowds.

For 2008, Melbourne won the league from Manly while Manly squared the ledger in the Grand final. However, this prolonged salary cap breach by Melbourne saw them have the league title taken away yet again retrospectively. The top four clubs for attendances were outside of Sydney.

With the 2009 season, a second on field referee was introduced. St George-Illawarra won the league from the Sydney Bulldogs but it was Melbourne defeating Parramatta in the final. Yes, you guessed it, another title was stripped from the winners.

I got the impression that NRL CEO David Gallop took it too personally and was far too heavy handed over the whole affair. Maybe it's time it was revisited and the titles restored or handed to another club. Yet more inertia from the NRL.

Brisbane averaged neary 35,000 fans each game with the Sydney Bulldogs enjoying a fine increase to  22,000. The 16,000 barrier was breached but was that as good as it was likely to get?

The first in the series of 1990-94 can be seen by clicking here.
The years 2010-14 in the series can be seen by clicking here.

NRL Attendances 2005-09
Rk Club / Year Tot 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005
1 Brisbane 32484 34587 33426 32868 31208 30331
2 Gold Coast 20762 19178 21618 21489
3 Nth Queensland 19157 17309 18102 20105 19681 20590
4 Newcastle 18166 15882 18750 15880 21848 18469
5 Sydney Bulldogs 18045 22068 15344 16488 18041 18286
6 Wests Tigers 17792 17943 16386 16961 18883 18789
7 Manly 14741 13782 13694 15085 15974 15171
8 Paramatta 14330 13127 13528 14142 14587 16264
9 South Sydney 14091 14715 14644 15702 10612 14780
10 Sydney Rooster 13840 13211 13970 11952 14010 16057
11 St George 13787 15299 12596 12159 14102 14780
12 Penrith 12762 13719 10899 12035 11579 15576
13 Cronulla 12757 11364 12965 10689 12488 16281
14 New Zealand 12417 15486 11444 13225 8829 13101
15 Canberra 11669 11027 11913 11512 11489 12404

Total Average 15895 16065 15591 15750 15600 16468
Total 2974867 3084481 2993469 3024040 2808055 2964288


3.0 -1.0 7.7 -5.3 12.3

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