Swans Doing it Tough

[Dooloo]

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Great Article. Top read

[R-1]

Average crowds are just over 30K not 20K like she said, but otherwise, yeah

[DamY]

Average crowds are just over 30K not 20K like she said, but otherwise, yeah

Are you sure? There was only 22k at the game v Freo, and 21k at the game v North Melbourne for the games this year.

[Big Al]

Took one look at the author of this piece and didn't need to read any further.

[Cpt. Kirk]

Took one look at the author of this piece and didn't need to read any further.

It's actually pretty good.

Two cities, one team best culture in the afl i feel honoured to be a victorian south melbourne/sydney supporter and that will never change. I do feel like GWS is a joke from what i have heard shoving a afl team in western Sydney is like placing a nrl team in the western suburbs in Melbourne.

[DLBIA14]

Wilson generally annoys the @@@@ out of me, but she is a firm supporter of the Swans, though clearly not the AFL admin. She put the boot into the AFL, GWS, Izzy and the people of Sydney while portraying us as the dignified, 'still keeping it classy' victims. She certainly didn't miss a shot, but most of what she's saying is true. The AFL shouldn't be sacrosanct from criticism for how they've treated us.

I still remember that article she wrote after we lost the AFL GF in 06. She said her son, in his youthful optimism, expected the Swans to win as they had the before. When we lost he was heartbroken and asked her in despair why they couldn't do it again. She told him that that was footy, but the Swans did what they could and while we had lost he should still be proud of them. I think she ended the article professing some sort of love for the club and insisting the city of Sydney should still be proud of them too.

I think she wrote another cracking article after that Geelong win too.

[Ruck'n'Roll]

Average crowds are just over 30K not 20K like she said, but otherwise, yeah

Thought I'd check

Average attendance this year is 25k so far. Last year it was 27k, which put us ahead of only Port, Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Last year our average home game attendance was above those three plus Footscray and North. Which doesn't sound too good, unfortunatly I couldn't find a good enough source of attendance figures for previous years.

So I took a look at our membership figures, last year there were 27k members, above only Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Which is a worry because while we have slightly less members now than we did pre-Edelstun, almost every other club has increased their membership over that time.

It's a bit depressing realy. After 30 years in this city, Sydney seems no more in love with the Swans than they were when we arrived. Although I have no doubt that we're less loathed than we were.

[Wardy]

She needs new material she's flogging a dead horse with this one.

[WeHaveTheGoodes]

Great article. She is not attacking the swans at all..she mirrors my hatred for the AFL admin and most of the victorian media while professing a love for the red and white. Watching swans fan go on about GWS at the start of the year was hurtful and pathetic.

Some of you should put down your rose coloured glasses and see the reality of what the AFL is really about.

[DamY]

AFL will always be a second rate sport in NSW, this is League heartland. As such, the club really should focus on what is sustainable rather than comparing with other clubs. There is less competition in Adelaide and WA for weekly winter professional sports teams, and they probably have more of an AFL culture. The game is still seen as the melbourne game and that perception will take a long time to change (if ever possible)

[jono2707]

What an excellent article - in my opinion Rebecca really well sums up the current farcical situation the AFL have put this city in and she sums up the Swans' approach very well. I like Rebecca as she's not afraid to challenge things and she obviously hasn't swallowed the rubbishy hype that has been foolishly sent our way from an AFL that obviously doesn't understand this city and what we, Swans supporters, have had to endure over the years.

[stellation]

Thought I'd check

Average attendance this year is 25k so far. Last year it was 27k, which put us ahead of only Port, Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Last year our average home game attendance was above those three plus Footscray and North. Which doesn't sound too good, unfortunatly I couldn't find a good enough source of attendance figures for previous years.

I'm not overly concerned about crowd figures for this year and last, last year was one of the worst runs I can recall of bad weather on games we'd hope for decent crowds- I can't recall the crowd at the Carlton game, for example, but I bet the club went into the season expecting a hell of a lot more on a Friday night against a team that traditionally helps draw a big crowd in Sydney.

Our home games so far this year have been against two teams that traditionally we get poor crowds for, in Freo and North, at a ground undergoing renovation that I assume has taken away a fair chunk of the cheaper GA tickets that help bolster crowd numbers.

I don't really get all the doom and gloom about the introduction of GWS, particuarly where they suggest that interest isn't booming on TV or at games- I thought that straight from the horse's mouth at AFL HQ this was acknowledged and a part of the whole point of GWS' existence in the first place? They have said that they are trying to address it over, what, 10 years? Yet people fill columns up saying it hasn't worked before it has started?

I don't read her league stuff, but the bits that I've read about AFL by Wilson (is she still putting herself forward as a keen Swans fan?) are, to me, vague and usually come across as gossip columns with little analysis of the game itself. I find it an enormous dissapointment for women in a male dominated media when the female talking heads that get column space roll out gossip and not analysis. I never read a lot of her work because she has always seemed to mainly work on league, but we need more Debbie Spillane's coming through the ranks and getting attention.

[Beerman]

I skimmed that article and while there is a core of truth there, I'm not convinced that all the GWS hype is bad for Sydney. More attention for AFL generally in Sydney I think will be good for the Swans.

I wonder how much our crowd numbers have been affected by the redevelopment of the SCG, given that half our games have been there this year? What's the maximum capacity now?

[stellation]

I skimmed that article and while there is a core of truth there, I'm not convinced that all the GWS hype is bad for Sydney. More attention for AFL generally in Sydney I think will be good for the Swans.

I wonder how much our crowd numbers have been affected by the redevelopment of the SCG, given that half our games have been there this year? What's the maximum capacity now?

Not too certain currently, but it was supposed to drop to 34k at peak of disruption. I'd say it's about that now.

[wolftone57]

Thought I'd check

Average attendance this year is 25k so far. Last year it was 27k, which put us ahead of only Port, Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Last year our average home game attendance was above those three plus Footscray and North. Which doesn't sound too good, unfortunatly I couldn't find a good enough source of attendance figures for previous years.

So I took a look at our membership figures, last year there were 27k members, above only Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Which is a worry because while we have slightly less members now than we did pre-Edelstun, almost every other club has increased their membership over that time.

It's a bit depressing realy. After 30 years in this city, Sydney seems no more in love with the Swans than they were when we arrived. Although I have no doubt that we're less loathed than we were.

Over the last few years we have been a bit hamstringed by the SCG renovations. Playing the Bullies at ANZ wasn't a good move either, worst crowd in a long time if I remember rightly. Renovations still go on and I know people who were told last week was sold out. That is still a problem and so are the ticket prices if you can't get GE. $41/Head is pretty expensive for the RED Zone. I think that is keeping people away. I know my friends said another time maybe!