Super Cronk
29-07-06, 06:18 PM
theage.com.au
Figures released by the NRL show that Storm has had the second-largest increase in average home crowd attendances from last year.
Newcastle (up 15.5 per cent), Melbourne (up 13 per cent) and St George Illawarra (up 3.8 per cent) and West Tigers (up 1.5 per cent) are the only clubs to have lifted their figures.
Sydney Roosters crowds on the other hand have plummeted by 25.2 per cent on 2005, from an average of 16,057 in 2005 to 12,016 after round 20 this year as the struggling side is set to miss a finals spot for the second straight year.
Storm chief executive Brian Waldron said the increase in the average Olympic Park crowd, from 8897 to 10,053, showed that the club had started to become an accepted part of the Melbourne sporting horizon and augured well for the short-term target of an average of up to 11,000 at the end of the season and 20,000 after the new stadium was completed in 2008.
"I think the result this year has been a terrific result thus far because let's remember we didn't have a season opener, it was an incredibly cluttered market, we haven't had particularly favourable conditions weatherwise and to start to grow it to the level we have . . . when you look at the real crowds (over) two years (it) is a tremendous turnaround," Waldron said.
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That is a really good effort! And it will only get bigger with the new ground, SOO + tests and also that funding.
Figures released by the NRL show that Storm has had the second-largest increase in average home crowd attendances from last year.
Newcastle (up 15.5 per cent), Melbourne (up 13 per cent) and St George Illawarra (up 3.8 per cent) and West Tigers (up 1.5 per cent) are the only clubs to have lifted their figures.
Sydney Roosters crowds on the other hand have plummeted by 25.2 per cent on 2005, from an average of 16,057 in 2005 to 12,016 after round 20 this year as the struggling side is set to miss a finals spot for the second straight year.
Storm chief executive Brian Waldron said the increase in the average Olympic Park crowd, from 8897 to 10,053, showed that the club had started to become an accepted part of the Melbourne sporting horizon and augured well for the short-term target of an average of up to 11,000 at the end of the season and 20,000 after the new stadium was completed in 2008.
"I think the result this year has been a terrific result thus far because let's remember we didn't have a season opener, it was an incredibly cluttered market, we haven't had particularly favourable conditions weatherwise and to start to grow it to the level we have . . . when you look at the real crowds (over) two years (it) is a tremendous turnaround," Waldron said.
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That is a really good effort! And it will only get bigger with the new ground, SOO + tests and also that funding.