Preview - Second semi final - Sydney v North Melbourne

[Swansongster]

The AFL are a bunch of frigging idiots. This game would have been a pumping full house if played at the SCG. It would have created a great atmosphere at the ground and marvellous TV images. It would have been the hottest ticket in town this week and compelling g viewing for those who couldn't make it.

Now they can't give tickets away and we loyal fans have to endure a dud atmosphere while TV viewers will hear crickets and see vast empty spaces just about every time the ball goes to the air. I can understand people who would rather stay away but, in reality, I think we owe it to the team to make every effort to get there and support them. I'm there.

[AnnieH]

[QUOTE=Mug Punter;683077]

Not a real fan.

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You are so bloody self righteous aren't you on your bloody high horse. Christ you must be a pain in the arse in the flesh

The crowd will speak for itself....

Now, now.
No need for such nastiness. Isn't there a rule that says play the ball somewhere?

I mention I probably won't attend, and the whole place thinks I have no loyalty.

Someone else mentions it.....

[dimelb]

David Sygall's take on the slow ticket sales:

However, there are several possible reasons to explain why sales have been slow. The Swans are coming off a loss and will be without major drawcard Lance Franklin due to illness. Franklin is joined by other absentees Luke Parker, Sam Reid and possibly co-captain Kieren Jack - an ANZ Stadium ambassador - who is battling to return from a medial ligament strain and faces a fitness test on Thursday.

(From his report on the Swans site)

Looks as if he could have added Ticketwreck. (What a fine invention!)

[Puppy Eyes]

As a Victorian, the main thing I find annoying about ANZ is its surrounds. There's nothing there! One pub which sells mid-strength turps at footy prices on gameday.

Agreed. Love my Bloods but I stopped flying up for finals when they started playing them at that venue. I'd go if I lived in Sydney, but at the SCG you can really make a weekend of it, at ANZ you just can't.

[Ludwig]

The only TICKETERECK office in the city is a tiny outlet buried in the bowels of Westfield . It's an a total challenge to find it .
There's a sub outlet I know near the entrance on George st, but they often tell you to go to the hidden cave.
it just shouldn't be this hard .

Thanks. I think I found it.

[RogueSwan]

Not a real fan.

You are so ...The crowd will speak for itself....

Can I just point everyone back to Liz' post:

Can we please all take a chill pill. This is meant to be finals week, the best week of the season....

How about we all respect the fact that others support the team in their own way, and not suggest others are lesser fans if they choose not to attend a game. And if you do see something you read as suggesting otherwise, take a deep breath before responding. And then respond with some charity, kindness and wit, rather than defensive aggression. Or don't respond. And if you think someone has overstepped the mark, use the "report post" function and let the moderators deal with it.

It is not fun deliberating over and deleting posts that have broken the forum rules (which are pretty straight forward).

[jono2707]

Just won my freebies in Martin Place yay.

It's part of the AFL 9s promotion - everyone should sign up and play this summer if you can. It's a top game.

[Doctor]

Leaving all of the "who should and shouldn't be going" stuff aside, there is no doubt that Ticketek's system prevents people from attending. Casual supporters go online, see that an allocation is exhausted and then don't buy tickets. If it happens often enough, they never try again.

[Triple B]

The AFL are a bunch of frigging idiots. This game would have been a pumping full house if played at the SCG. It would have created a great atmosphere at the ground and marvellous TV images. It would have been the hottest ticket in town this week and compelling g viewing for those who couldn't make it.

Now they can't give tickets away and we loyal fans have to endure a dud atmosphere while TV viewers will hear crickets and see vast empty spaces just about every time the ball goes to the air. I can understand people who would rather stay away but, in reality, I think we owe it to the team to make every effort to get there and support them. I'm there.

Agree with all that, particularly the last bit.

[Xie Shan]

The buzz around the Swans just hasn't been there this year, unfortunately. We had a great turnout against the Crows and had big crowds at the SCG for the Richmond and Collingwood games but our form in the second half of the year hasn't screamed flag contender. I think our epic effort against Freo will win back a few, if we show that form we are still a chance this year. Hopefully we can get at least 35,000. Goodes hasn't made a call on his future yet - he may go on, but I would have thought the mere possibility that it could be his last game should spur on people to attend!

[Industrial Fan]

We got burnt by anz in 2006 when we lined up for tickets day 1 only to find out the area we wanted was sold out / unavailable. Come the Thursday of the week you could take your pick of the bay we wanted to sit in.

Now we're happy to wait and get tix at the last minute.

Half price tickets through Telstra shuffle tthrough different bays through the week too so it's worth waiting.

When that happens and there is wet weather, star players out etc people end up not bothering to buy tickets.

[Ludwig]

The buzz around the Swans just hasn't been there this year, unfortunately. We had a great turnout against the Crows and had big crowds at the SCG for the Richmond and Collingwood games but our form in the second half of the year hasn't screamed flag contender. I think our epic effort against Freo will win back a few, if we show that form we are still a chance this year. Hopefully we can get at least 35,000. Goodes hasn't made a call on his future yet - he may go on, but I would have thought the mere possibility that it could be his last game should spur on people to attend!

I can't remember feeling more negative about footy (primarily) and the Swans than I have this year.

I've found the quality of the footy, with a few exceptions, to be mediocre this year. Of the top teams, only WC have been enjoyable to watch. The Bulldogs and Adelaide at times have been good, and they played an exciting final. And that's about it.

The Swans have played frustrating football most of the year. Despite a good record, the performances have been generally disappointing. The massive losses to Hawthorn and WCE were embarrassing. They have played better of late and I thought the performance against Freo was perhaps our best of the year.

The relentless punishment dished out by the AFL against the Swans has really angered me at times. We all know the details.

Then there's the disgraceful booing of Adam Goodes and how slow the AFL were to react. Even if Adam has decided to retire, he has been effectively prevented from going out with a proper celebration from the Sydney fans, which would have been this week, because we know the kind of sendoff he would get from the West Coast fans next week knowing it would be their last opportunity.

Then there's the late season injuries which have hurt our finals chances just when it looked as if we were finally getting out act together. All capped off by the Buddy's illness, followed by Sam Reid's hamstring injury.

Football is supposed to be fun. But I've found the season has been dominated by bad news and it's become mentally exhausting.

I hope we can turn things around against the odds. After all that's happened, a strong finish would be nice.

[AnnieH]

The buzz around the Swans just hasn't been there this year, unfortunately. We had a great turnout against the Crows and had big crowds at the SCG for the Richmond and Collingwood games but our form in the second half of the year hasn't screamed flag contender. I think our epic effort against Freo will win back a few, if we show that form we are still a chance this year. Hopefully we can get at least 35,000. Goodes hasn't made a call on his future yet - he may go on, but I would have thought the mere possibility that it could be his last game should spur on people to attend!

Are we playing this weekend?
When you look (generally) at the media (AFL, the papers online), there's not a lot of mention that we are playing.
They ARE mentioning norfs, Adelaide and the poos and wees a lot, so I guess they ARE playing.
This doesn't help attendance.

[Xie Shan]

Are we playing this weekend?
When you look (generally) at the media (AFL, the papers online), there's not a lot of mention that we are playing.
They ARE mentioning norfs, Adelaide and the poos and wees a lot, so I guess they ARE playing.
This doesn't help attendance.

Funnily enough Troy Luff and Lynette Bolton were on Channel 7's morning show this morning talking about Buddy as well as the game on Saturday, so we are getting mentioned. Maybe interest is a little down this year, but overall attendances have been healthy apart from ANZ games. It's tough to compete for attention in this city!!

[jono2707]

Dear AFL,

We've been friends with benefits for a while now, and it's gotten steamy there at times, but you'll never win our hearts.

It can be fun at times but please don't think it's more than that.

We're just not that into you.

Love Sydney.