AFL overtaking NRL in QLD

[Prince Imperial]

2015-19 was probably the worst period in the Suns' history where it just kept losing high profile players, the club was seemingly glued towards the bottom of the ladder and they hadn't yet entered the AFLW. Meanwhile, the Titans had some success during that period including several finals appearances and some marquee signings along the way. So I'm not really surprised to see during that specific five-year period that we saw male participation drop. 2019 also happened to be the year that the AFL provided the Suns with an assistance package that included somewhere between $500k-$1m in funding for its academy and I'm sure at least a portion of that extra funding went towards promotion at the school/grassroots level. So it would be really interesting to see the junior participation numbers on the Gold Coast from 2019 to now as a lot has changed since then.

The Suns probably did more harm than good for junior football on the GC for those years as most kids usually don't want to identify with losers (the Lions were awful until 2019 too which also wouldn't have helped the sport).

The Titans were also ordinary during that period. They only made the finals once and that was sneaking into eighth and being eliminated after losing more games than they had won during the regular season. Don't think they had much if any impact.

Rugby League Tables / Season Summary / Gold Coast Titans

Rugby League Tables - NRL Stats & Tables

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[010203]

I'd love it if AFL took over NRL in QLD one day. The NRL news corp media and V'landys are the definition of smug.

 

[PenrithGWS]

It will happen

but 30/40 years

 

[GC2015]

Tonight's fixture against the Crows should be a good gauge as to whether a new portion of Gold Coast locals have jumped on the Suns bandwagon. Usually this fixture will pull between 11-13k so I'd say anything over 15k would suggest local bandwagon growth. Anything close to 20k would be an outstanding result.

 

[Cmarsh]

Tonight's fixture against the Crows should be a good gauge as to whether a new portion of Gold Coast locals have jumped on the Suns bandwagon. Usually this fixture will pull between 11-13k so I'd say anything over 15k would suggest local bandwagon growth. Anything close to 20k would be an outstanding result.

Would there be much of a bandwagon though?

Only won one game so far. You would usually associate a bandwagon with multiple wins in a row.

 

[GC2015]

Would there be much of a bandwagon though?

Only won one game so far. You would usually associate a bandwagon with multiple wins in a row.

Typically one win wouldn't result in bandwagon growth, but this may be an exception to the rule because of the enormity of the Damien Hardwick acquisition as well as all the positive press the club has received over the off season. If 12k show up tonight like they would have in previous Crows games on the GC then it's obviously too early in the build and no one has really jumped on the bandwagon, but I reckon if we see 16k (approx 25% increase) or more show up then that's enough for me to think there's been a significant increase in Gold Coast locals jumping on the bandwagon. The Crows aren't very popular in South East Queensland so the vast majority of that hypothetical 25% increase would surely be attritbuted to the Suns.

 

[The_Wookie]

 

[Go GWS!]

Tonight's fixture against the Crows should be a good gauge as to whether a new portion of Gold Coast locals have jumped on the Suns bandwagon. Usually this fixture will pull between 11-13k so I'd say anything over 15k would suggest local bandwagon growth. Anything close to 20k would be an outstanding result.

The crowd ended up being 11,466, although it is fair to say that the weather kept about 3-5k away. Things are looking up on the Coast.

 

[Coconut_twirl]

The crowd ended up being 11,466, although it is fair to say that the weather kept about 3-5k away. Things are looking up on the Coast.

The bandwagon needs a few more wins to kick into gear my opinion. Definitely great signs.

 

[GC2015]

The crowd ended up being 11,466, although it is fair to say that the weather kept about 3-5k away. Things are looking up on the Coast.

We'll never know how many didn't turn up because of the rain but it's definitely possible that the weather would have turned off the amount you mentioned and therefore it could have pulled around 15k in better conditions.

The bandwagon needs a few more wins to kick into gear my opinion. Definitely great signs.

I think so too. A bandwagon in full flight would have pulled the 15k+ despite the conditions. The Suns just have to keep winning and they will eventually show up regardless. Beat the Hawks next week + have a good showing against the Giants in Gather Round and I reckon we'll see a pretty good crowd showing up for the Hawthorn game. For reference, the Hawks game pulled 14k to Carrara last year.

 

[Tandy]

Looking forward to seeing the next GC home game in good weather.

 

[Billy ray]

Looking forward to seeing the next GC home game in good weather.

v hawks on a Saturday night in a month and should be 15-17

 

[dave10]

We'll never know how many didn't turn up because of the rain but it's definitely possible that the weather would have turned off the amount you mentioned and therefore it could have pulled around 15k in better conditions.


I think so too. A bandwagon in full flight would have pulled the 15k+ despite the conditions. The Suns just have to keep winning and they will eventually show up regardless. Beat the Hawks next week + have a good showing against the Giants in Gather Round and I reckon we'll see a pretty good crowd showing up for the Hawthorn game. For reference, the Hawks game pulled 14k to Carrara last year.

I live on the coast, the rain wouldn’t have impacted the crowd figure. It was mainly fine all day and just the odd brief shower until well after match time. Forecast was for chance of shower. I’m a big optimist on the Suns future but that crowd was average and not really impacted by rain.

 

[The_Wookie]

 

[Billy ray]

I live on the coast, the rain wouldn’t have impacted the crowd figure. It was mainly fine all day and just the odd brief shower until well after match time. Forecast was for chance of shower. I’m a big optimist on the Suns future but that crowd was average and not really impacted by rain.

The biggest inhibitors to crowds on the GC are transportation and seat prices.
Stadium horribly located and serviced.
Ticket prices based on the WA/SA model

 

[GC2015]

I live on the coast, the rain wouldn’t have impacted the crowd figure. It was mainly fine all day and just the odd brief shower until well after match time. Forecast was for chance of shower. I’m a big optimist on the Suns future but that crowd was average and not really impacted by rain.

I also live on the GC and I know it was very overcast around 4-5pm because I went for a walk at that time and that's potentially when some were deciding if they wanted to go to the footy. I think it could have turned some away but probably not as many as the 5k someone suggested before. I actually think the bigger factor was that the game was played at 7:10pm local time when the market tends to prefer the twilight time slot for the young families.

Should be interesting to see how many show up to the Hawthorn game in R5 when they play at 7:30pm.

 

[dave10]

The biggest inhibitors to crowds on the GC are transportation and seat prices.
Stadium horribly located and serviced.
Ticket prices based on the WA/SA model

Correct. If only they had public transport they’d get many more there. For me, it’s the thought of how you get back into Surfers (in my case) that is a turnoff. I drive out there but you have to get there early to secure a carpark over the road from the stadium.

 

[weewilly]

Correct. If only they had public transport they’d get many more there. For me, it’s the thought of how you get back into Surfers (in my case) that is a turnoff. I drive out there but you have to get there early to secure a carpark over the road from the stadium.

How did the transport problem work out when the Comm games were held there?

 

[Billy ray]

How did the transport problem work out when the Comm games were held there?

people got home close to midnight for night sessions

 

[Cmarsh]

The biggest inhibitors to crowds on the GC are transportation and seat prices.
Stadium horribly located and serviced.
Ticket prices based on the WA/SA model

The worst part is with the stadium location there is really not alot you can do about it. Really poor foresight.

 

[Rob]

The worst part is with the stadium location there is really not alot you can do about it. Really poor foresight.

Lol wut? You can open some carparks. There's plenty of room out there.

There are only 2 ways to move a lot of people very quickly. One is heavy rail, the other is cars. Ideally a stadium should facilitate both, but you can get away with 1.

If you have neither, it's a shitshow.

 

[GC2015]

The Titans just handed the Suns another gift - they just got smashed by one of the worst teams in the NRL 32-0. A Suns win tomorrow could start to turn the tide in the AFL's favour.

 

[Bjo187]

The Titans just handed the Suns another gift - they just got smashed by one of the worst teams in the NRL 32-0. A Suns win tomorrow could start to turn the tide in the AFL's favour.

That's a 'we hate the new coach' type of thrashing.

 

[Coconut_twirl]

The Titans just handed the Suns another gift - they just got smashed by one of the worst teams in the NRL 32-0. A Suns win tomorrow could start to turn the tide in the AFL's favour.

Even if the Suns or Lions win a flag, AFL will always be a distant second to rugby league in SE QLD. Yes, AFL is growing in popularity and participation numbers are growing, but the NRL is growing from strength to strength as well. NRL crowd and tv numbers have been very strong to start the new season. A more better description for this thread would rather be ‘AFL is growing in QLD’.

I actually think both can coexist very easily since they are both very different sports and many people would follow both.