So much for no atmosphere at Homebush...

[ernie koala]

For a small crowd the atmosphere was good, especially in the second half...but it would of been twice the crowd and three times louder, with an electric atmosphere, at the Swannies true home ground..the SCG...leave the baron white elephant of Homebush to rugby league.

[Glenn]

Fair weather supporters.

In the context of the actual weather, and in the context of the climate of our recent play.

Sad to think that the AFL want another team into Sydney.
Haven't really had much of an opinion on the issue, just thought that a second Sydney team would be a good thing for the big picture of AFL.

Tonight changed my mind.

Sydney is not ready for a second team, and it will fail.

It seems the AFL has been caught up in the hype of past crowds at Homebush, and didn't bother to look more closely at it.

[Xie Shan]

Apparently we still had a bigger crowd than tonight's 3 NRL games put together?

source

All Sydney crowds have been down this year, the weather combined with the ticket prices/poor promotion/ANZ factor made it worse. I think high petrol prices are biting too. Even the BF posters think tonight's low crowd was an anomaly and I tend to agree.

[Big Al]

Apparently we still had a bigger crowd than tonight's 3 NRL games put together?

source

All Sydney crowds have been down this year, the weather combined with the ticket prices/poor promotion/ANZ factor made it worse. I think high petrol prices are biting too. Even the BF posters think tonight's low crowd was an anomaly and I tend to agree.

Together with the poor crowd in Adelaide the AFL really need to look at their marketing and pricing strategies for finals.

[Bob Neil]

Together with the poor crowd in Adelaide the AFL really need to look at their marketing and pricing strategies for finals.

Just quietly....

Bought a "Prime" family ticket for $128 that shows $32 face value for each ticket.
No other differrence.
So four adults can use them....
Don't pass it on.

[CureTheSane]

Used to be the big scam at the Docklands stadium when it was first built.
Kids tickets were like $1 or $2.
You'd purchase them, and the system is to scan yourself to enter. All the bloke watching looked for was a red or green light - no indication of adult or child ticket.
They soon cottoned on though.....

[BSA5]

I've got to say, I was blown away by the atmosphere. Maybe the secret to Homebush games is to either have 20000 dedicated fans, or 70000+ bandwagoners and genuine supporters, but anywhere in between is @@@@house. I dunno, but it was a bloody fantastic night out. The best time I've had at the footy this year. Followed it up with a trip to the Hoey to catch the end of Rocket Science and a couple of Coopers, capping off a perfect night!

[Bear]

Totally blows the lazy eastern/NS morons out of the water who think Homebush has no atmosphere.

I'm a lower north shore resident and getting to the SCG is much easier, but I don't mind where we play as long as my team is having a real go.

Tonight the Swans supporters proved Homebush has atmosphere, even with a small crowd. More atmosphere than ANY SCG game in 2008. BY A LONG, LONG WAY.

Myth extinguished.

[Bear]

Tonight was another stark reason why we desperately need another team in Sydney.

As most insular Melbournians would be unware of, Sydney is a city with several DISTINCT regions. Westies do not relate to eastern suburbs people. Hell, there is even the inner west, then the greater west... notto mention the fact that even people over the north side don't relate to the eastern suburbs. Then there's the 'lower' and 'upper' north shore.

To grow our game we need a team that can truly represent the biggest population in Australia = Western Syeny. Not a perceived upper middle class team like the Swans.

Bring on a team for the West to strengthen AFL and therefore the Swans in Sydney. ASAP - after tonight we need it more than ever.

[hammo]

Bear, if Western Sydney 'needs' an AFL team where was the critical mass in support of the code tonight?

[Bear]

Bear, if Western Sydney 'needs' an AFL team where was the critical mass in support of the code tonight?

LOL. People don't come to suupport "the code". They come to support a team they relate to.

This is where you and most miss the point of EXPANDING our game beyond the converted, and i takes hard work, and a generation to develop. If we want to compete with soccer in 20 years we NEED more than the Swans in Sydney.

The swans should not be seen as the sole barometer for AFL, as they only represent a small portion of Sydney.

have another read of my post. Westies don't relate to the Swans, just like most of melbourne don't relate to Collingwood, Carlton, WB, etc

NEWSFLASH: Sorry for the one-eyed suporters, but we are simply not the be-all and end-all to everyone in this city. In fact we are a small niche, just like every other sporting franchise in this very competitive environment. If you don't provide a tailored option for people in this city, they will not engage with you in a meaningful way.

[Cheer Squad mbr]

Big thumbs up to the cheer squad who really got the chants going.

[connolly]

LOL. People don't come to suupport "the code". They come to support a team they relate to.

This is where you and most miss the point of EXPANDING our game beyond the converted, and i takes hard work, and a generation to develop. If we want to compete with soccer in 20 years we NEED more than the Swans in Sydney.

The swans should not be seen as the sole barometer for AFL, as they only represent a small portion of Sydney.

have another read of my post. Westies don't relate to the Swans, just like most of melbourne don't relate to Collingwood, Carlton, WB, etc

NEWSFLASH: Sorry for the one-eyed suporters, but we are simply not the be-all and end-all to everyone in this city. In fact we are a small niche, just like every other sporting franchise in this very competitive environment. If you don't provide a tailored option for people in this city, they will not engage with you in a meaningful way.

Soccer is insolvent and doesn't represent a threat to anyone except the receivers. With Lowy either in financial trouble or just expiring they will be further exposed. And they still owe the taxpayer 30 million. Tonight proved if any more proof was needed that a second Sydney team would be a disaster. It won't happen within 15 years.

[Lucky Knickers]

Just quietly....

Bought a "Prime" family ticket for $128 that shows $32 face value for each ticket.
No other differrence.
So four adults can use them....
Don't pass it on.

Gees that annoys me. When I bought my tickets I was told their were no family tickets left in the section we wanted. We didn't care but if you have 2 adults and 2 kids should be able to buy a family ticket no matter where you sit. This is why the AFL get it SO WRONG.

[Swansinger]

Only nineteen (thousand) ... I reckon Redgum could write a song about it

It was a wonderful atmosphere at ANZ last night and , whilst there would be legitimate reasons for some people not turning up , good on Roosy for having a dig at the stay-home "chicken-soupers".