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AFL overtaking NRL in QLD

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Tackle Bag said:
Soccer records participation very differently to AFL (and NRL I think).
Soccer basically includes anyone who attended a promotional event or anything soccer related as a participant.

AFL and NRL only count those who are registered with a club or training program as participants.

In terms of actual registered players with a club or junior program the soccer numbers are far less than you think.
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Soccer also has a lot of double accounting that significantly boosts numbers.
The number of participants in the teenage years is much more important than the total number of participants.
Auskick is important to the AFL as it leads into the teenage years with a pathway.
Junior numbers are not important to some sports like cricket that seem to start only in the teenage years.
Large junior numbers for baseball and soccer don't provide the throughput for professionalism.
 

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I've been keeping an eye on Brisbane's Instagram followers again and they added about 15k in one day yesterday, that's before we even get started on during the whole finals series the thousands being added each week. They've nearly doubled their followers in the past few years, off a low base initially. It just shows what success does, particularly in these developing markets.
 
Queenslanders like successful teams. But the same applies for the NRL here as well. Whenever the bronco's have a bad season, there is a noticeable drop off in attention towards them as well. The reality of the QLD market is that it is both the easiest market for the AFL to crack and the hardest at the same time. If you're successful like the lions are right now, you become a massive club here. Just like the lions were in the early 2000's. But if you're terrible. And i'm not talking about finishing between 6-12th, rather bottom of the ladder for 5 years in a row - they will drop off. Bronco's have been lucky in a way that they have never had a huge drop off like the lions have, but if they ever went through a period of finishing down the bottom, the lions would replace them easily for that moment.

There was actually an article that was published yesterday where the Lions CEO recognised this, so a few years ago they had a huge meeting with the club's staff, board members, etc, and decided to go all in on being a sustainable team. They recognised they will not win the flag every year as there will be drop off years, but they developed a recruiting strategy that would make sure they would never drop off like they did back in 2005. If the lions are able to sustain themselves until the next stadium comes along, they will become one of the top 4 teams in the AFL in terms of popularity. You only have to look at the TV Ratings, membership growth, crowd numbers, etc, to see that. The broncos are arguably the biggest team in the NRL because Brisbane really does get behind their teams, and the lions can come close to that.
 
GenericUsername202 said:
... There was actually an article that was published yesterday where the Lions CEO recognised this, so a few years ago they had a huge meeting with the club's staff, board members, etc, and decided to go all in on being a sustainable team. They recognised they will not win the flag every year as there will be drop off years, but they developed a recruiting strategy that would make sure they would never drop off like they did back in 2005. If the lions are able to sustain themselves until the next stadium comes along, they will become one of the top 4 teams in the AFL in terms of popularity. You only have to look at the TV Ratings, membership growth, crowd numbers, etc, to see that. The broncos are arguably the biggest team in the NRL because Brisbane really does get behind their teams, and the lions can come close to that.
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There seems little doubt that Brisbane will stay at or near the top of the ladder for some years to come - you have the likes of the Ashcroft brothers, Fletcher, Ty Gallop, Logan Morris and Darcy Wilmot all aged 22 or younger. There are injured players who missed the GF like Jarrod Berry and Eric Hipwood set to return. And then there's Oscar Allen and Sam Draper soon joining them.

There's also a conveyor belt of high draft prospects via the Academy this year - Anabele is projected to go at Pick 4-5. Next year they have two academy players already projected to go at pick 5 (Owens) and pick 9 (Murray) and there is another Ashcroft brother via F/S. Unless something unforeseen happens, they are surely set to be one of the top teams for at least the next 5-6 years.

Then there's the Gold Coast Suns on the rise, with a young and talented list - including an increasing number of Gold Coast locals amongst their better players.

All this and participation numbers have already exploded over the last few years and is now set to overtake W.A. next year, making Qld the #2 state for participation.
 
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Well being a Lions fan and supporting the Cowboys in the NRL, can’t believe it but I’m genuinely rooting for the panthers this afternoon. Not only does it mean I don’t have to listen to another week of the Broncos hype train up in QLD, gives the Lions clear air as Brisbane’s premier team
 
Bjo187 said:
I've been keeping an eye on Brisbane's Instagram followers again and they added about 15k in one day yesterday, that's before we even get started on during the whole finals series the thousands being added each week. They've nearly doubled their followers in the past few years, off a low base initially. It just shows what success does, particularly in these developing markets.
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I think the real test will be when Brisbane drop down the ladder and have a lean patch. Will the northern AFL fans stick around? All clubs have varying degrees of drop offs in crowds/memberships when they are lacking success. Brisbane is a fickle market since it’s still a developing AFL market.

This is where the Broncos seem to have more die hards that will follow them no matter what. The Lions could be slowly bridging the gap with this sustained success.

Brisbane looks like they will be up there for could snag another premiership or two.
 
Coconut_twirl said:
I think the real test will be when Brisbane drop down the ladder and have a lean patch. Will the northern AFL fans stick around? All clubs have varying degrees of drop offs in crowds/memberships when they are lacking success. Brisbane is a fickle market since it’s still a developing AFL market.

This is where the Broncos seem to have more die hards that will follow them no matter what. The Lions could be slowly bridging the gap with this sustained success.

Brisbane looks like they will be up there for could snag another premiership or two.
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I think you pick up more rusted on fans through each successful period, so yes there might be a drop off in support, but the core base will be higher than post their early 2000s success.

On another note, I can't see them dropping off in the next 10 years anyway with the Ashcroft brothers, Fletcher, Marshall and Annabelle coming through.
 
Bjo187 said:
I think you pick up more rusted on fans through each successful period, so yes there might be a drop off in support, but the core base will be higher than post their early 2000s success.

On another note, I can't see them dropping off in the next 10 years anyway with the Ashcroft brothers, Fletcher, Marshall and Annabelle coming through.
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I wouldnt go that far and say the Lions will be up there for another ten years..but you would think they will be hard to shift for the next 3-5 years. I wonder if there could be a potential Fagan retiring and doing a handover in there somewhere.
 
Coconut_twirl said:
I think the real test will be when Brisbane drop down the ladder and have a lean patch. Will the northern AFL fans stick around? All clubs have varying degrees of drop offs in crowds/memberships when they are lacking success. Brisbane is a fickle market since it’s still a developing AFL market.

This is where the Broncos seem to have more die hards that will follow them no matter what. The Lions could be slowly bridging the gap with this sustained success.

Brisbane looks like they will be up there for could snag another premiership or two.
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I am sure that the Broncos have a deeper rusted on base than the Lions but important to ackowledge that the Broncos have not had anything like the wilderness period the lions had. The Broncos have missed the finals more than 1 year only once.....and that was only three years of which two of them were in the guts of covid.

The Lions went 9 years where they didn't finish higher than 12th and finished bottom 4 for the last 5 of those.
 

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Professor Knowall said:
All this and participation numbers have already exploded over the last few years and is now set to overtake W.A. next year, making Qld the #2 state for participation.
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So you're telling me SA needs academies?
 
RedV3x said:
Yes, all clubs.

have been outdrawn by the Lions even though the broncos haven't gone through a really long drought.
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Can you show when the Lions outdrew the Broncos during the Lions drought, or since the drought where they've consistently finished in the top 4?

Also Lions have won 5 premierships in the time Broncos have won just 2 in the last 25 years.
 
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The_Wookie said:
Its sweet that you care so much.

View attachment 2441058
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Not to pick nits but he said 'since the Lions drought years' which I corrected him on, like your data shows the Lions did not have any higher averages during those years or after. Lions for sure had an amazing run of crowds in their trifecta years following the early 2000s when nrl was still rebuilding from the super league wars, and I'm sure the Lions will have another good bump when they move into their new stadium.
 
pOleK said:
Well being a Lions fan and supporting the Cowboys in the NRL, can’t believe it but I’m genuinely rooting for the panthers this afternoon. Not only does it mean I don’t have to listen to another week of the Broncos hype train up in QLD, gives the Lions clear air as Brisbane’s premier team
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Well this coming week will be all about the Broncos, and the Lions will be hardly mentioned.
 
hampton said:
Not to pick nits but he said 'since the Lions drought years' which I corrected him on, like your data shows the Lions did not have any higher averages during those years or after. Lions for sure had an amazing run of crowds in their trifecta years following the early 2000s when nrl was still rebuilding from the super league wars, and I'm sure the Lions will have another good bump when they move into their new stadium.
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like i said, its sweet that you care
 
hampton said:
Not to pick nits but he said 'since the Lions drought years'
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WTF are you quoting ?

I said (the Broncos) have been outdrawn by the Lions even though the Broncos haven't gone through a really long drought.And then you said something completely senseless in mentioning " during the Lions drought".
 

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AFL overtaking NRL in QLD

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