Melbourne's crowds

[Aucklander]

No, not the numbers which were great on friday night, but I noticed Sterling and Rod McQueen comment on the crowd on FS sportsnews and they mentioned the singing and chanting and the atmosphere in general. I've picked that up on the tele too. It seems (and yes I've never been) more like a soccer type crowd than a Union or League type crowd.

Now I'm sure you'll be getting a few Kiwis in the crowd, but NZers seldom if ever create that sort of atmosphere back in NZ so it just seems odd.

For those who have been, what sort of mix are you getting and what do you think is generating this sort of party like atmosphere?

 

[Ice-Wolf]

Could it be an AFL influence?

I haven't been able to go yet, but it does sound awesome on TV.

 

[Aucklander]

Could it be an AFL influence?

I'm not sure. Could be. You get the chants, but the singing, apart from the teams song is, unusual at an Aussie Rules game.

I haven't been able to go yet, but it does sound awesome on TV.

I know the stadium gives out a great sound having been a couple of times, but it may well be worth a trip down when the Highlanders come to play on the 15th of April.

 

[Swans120]

Best crowd noise per capita in the S15 easily. The Bulls crowd are raucous but they have 30-40k. The Rebels crowd do it with 15-16k. Would love to go down and watch a game at AAMI. Sounds like a European crowd.

 

[Ice-Wolf]

I'm not sure. Could be. You get the chants, but the singing, apart from the teams song is, unusual at an Aussie Rules game.



I know the stadium gives out a great sound having been a couple of times, but it may well be worth a trip down when the Highlanders come to play on the 15th of April.

I'd love to go but i have had to work every home game so far. I've had record them and watch when i got home. Luckly SEN rarely if ever mentions the score (actually that is quite pathetic)

 

[Wahooti Fandango]

I have been to two games and about 80% of the crowd are New Zealanders and South Africans. Not sure why the 'active support' is the way it is. I don't mind it, but don't particularly like it either.

 

[Equus]

I've been finding that there is a good mix of South Africans and British, Japanese (or of Asian background), a handful of people from the sub-continent, heaps and heaps of Pacific Islanders and Maoris and Australians.

The atmosphere is brilliant, the "Re-bels" chant is almost akin to the the Collingwood chant. You'll also find that the acoustic and design of Aami Park makes it more echo-ey; hence, you'll find that the average 16,000-17,000 crowd sounds like a 30,000 crowd.

 

[stuart27]

Hi there, Rebel Army, nice to meet you

I just don't think Melburnians can sit in a quiet stadium, which is why the active support has taken off to the extent that it has. I honestly don't think it's a particular cultural influence, though. The Army is a cross-section of the Rebels supporter base, made up of Australians, South Africans, Kiwis, Islanders and many more.

Naturally some cultural things come through as a result but it's not any section in particular. We're just a bunch of mates there to have some fun and make some noise, and the rest of the stadium catches on.

If the other teams can get their act together and encourage a change in this 'tennis crowd' attitude of the other SR franchises, then we can only be better for it. Every visiting team to AAMI has mentioned how much of an effect it's had on them.

Highly recommend anyone wanting to experience Super Rugby how it should be watched, make the trip down to Melbourne. Come down to the southern end and say hello, tell them Stu sent you.

 

[Wahooti Fandango]

I recall a Kiwi team, I think the Hurricanes, used to have a guy in a cheery picker with a chainsaw at their home games.

 

[Santana]

I think that was the Chiefs.

 

[meltiger]

Funnily enough, I went to the Storm game last week with a couple of the guys off BF and commented on how it seemed the Storm fans seemed to be trying to emulate the atmosphere at the Rebels games so it has clearly being noticed

I would agree that the crowd seems to be a good cross section of nationalities, rather than Auckland v.2 otherwise known as the Storm.

I think personally, the Rebs are trying to copy Collingwood lol


More likely, it's the Brits in the fan base, and it's caught on to the rest.

 

[Wahooti Fandango]

I think that was the Chiefs.

You are probably right. In either case it was annoying.

 

[balmainforever]

No, not the numbers which were great on friday night, but I noticed Sterling and Rod McQueen comment on the crowd on FS sportsnews and they mentioned the singing and chanting and the atmosphere in general. I've picked that up on the tele too. It seems (and yes I've never been) more like a soccer type crowd than a Union or League type crowd.

Now I'm sure you'll be getting a few Kiwis in the crowd, but NZers seldom if ever create that sort of atmosphere back in NZ so it just seems odd.

For those who have been, what sort of mix are you getting and what do you think is generating this sort of party like atmosphere?

Meltiger, is right IMO. The atmosphere is more European than what Super Rugby is used to. The fact that a non-rugby state can average over 15,000 that sings louder and longer than other states can only be a good thing for rugby in this country and for the future of this team in this competition.

 

[JF_Bay_22_SCG]

Funnily enough, I went to the Storm game last week with a couple of the guys off BF and commented on how it seemed the Storm fans seemed to be trying to emulate the atmosphere at the Rebels games so it has clearly being noticed

As somebody who leads most of the chants at Storm games these days, you couldn't be further from the truth. Most of our new gang who sit in Bay 34 also follow the A-League, so we sing football songs.

We are NOT trying to copy the Rebels at all, just do better than the turgid affair you get at most AFL games where people don't chant at all.

JF