Roast CROWD v DOGS (WHERE ARE WE HAWKS?)

[NiceJacketJeff]

Will be at the G next Sunday, but as someone who has to travel an hour and a half, with a six yr old, I can't do twilight Sunday.

End up getting home after 9, my son is pumped up so doesn't sleep on the way home and is a basket case for the rest of the week.

Twilight is just not a good slot for families travelling from out of town.

 

[ilmc]

By the way, I am a conspiracy theorist, and still think Collo fudges figures at times! No way was there 24000 at the Nth v Syd game. If there was 24000 there we had 50000.

I remember reading some time ago that the attendance numbers at Etihad Stadium include all of the Medallion club guys, regardless of the actual number that turns up.

Yesterday that was a bit of a moot point as from where I was sitting, that area was pretty full with gold.

 

[vaughnie]

Vaughnie

Three decades is a long time. The generations in their 20s and 30s appreciate that they support the most successful club in the past 50 years. These supporters are having families now, and grew up in a glorious era. We have supporters and we CAN draw huge crowds, as evidenced in recent years, it is just that our supporters are lazy or have too many excuses when up against underperforming sides. Why can't we pull 40K v Freo? We need to reverse this culture and communicate to our Melbourne members that it is these games that matter.

7-2 is a great record leading into an MCG match. We have so much talent on our list. If we were playing a home game against the Bombers at the G, there would be 80000, 45000 of which would be Hawthorn. We have the ability, we just need to get the message out there. It shouldn't be a sub 30K turn out v Freo. I would love for the club to reverse the trend.

KOLOKOTRONIS

I love your passion! I guess my point is that I think people overestimate the size of supporter base. We have have grown more than any other club in the last 20 years in spite of (or maybe because of) a near death experience and some pretty lean years since the glorious 80's. But I would think that there are at least 2 Pies supporters for every Hawthorn fan out there and maybe 1 1/2 Scum and Blues fans for every Hawk - if not more.

Attendances at the G depend a lot on how many non aligned AFL & MCC members turn up and they are very selective. A 1.10pm Sunday start vs Freo is not the most appealing game and with 2 other games at the G on the weekend ours might be the least appealing or least appealing timeslot for them to choose from.

If we were playing another Vic side then 30000 Hawk supporters would equate to maybe a 50000 crowd and we would think that was good. But Freo will only have 1000 fans there and it's the reason I think 30000 will be a reasonable turnout. Remember our Friday night game against the Eagles in 2008? Only 29000.

I hope you are right and your rallying cry gets 40000 there. But personally I wouldn't be disappointed with 30000 as I reckon that is fair and reasonable for a club of our size.

 

[vaughnie]

I remember reading some time ago that the attendance numbers at Etihad Stadium include all of the Medallion club guys, regardless of the actual number that turns up.

Yesterday that was a bit of a moot point as from where I was sitting, that area was pretty full with gold.

Maybe you are right. And that might be the only way to explain the 24000 at the Nth game. But if that is the way they do it then I would have tipped 40000 at our game as you wouldn't have squeezed another 15000 into the top level I wouldn't have thought.

 

[Hawkk]

But I would think that there are at least 2 Pies supporters for every Hawthorn fan out there and maybe 1 1/2 Scum and Blues fans for every Hawk - if not more.

No question

If you did a random survey asking people who they supported I’m sure that Essendon would outnumber Hawthorn by a 2-1 margin.

When it comes to actual support that turns up to games, the difference between Collingwood and Nth Melbourne is not the pronounced 4-1 or 5-1 that they probably outnumber them by if you did a general survey on the population.

Personally I think a crowd of 32,000 (similar to what we drew against Port in 2009) would be a very strong and expected roll up given that we are 7-2, (probably) have a base of 38-40,000 Victorian members against a low drawing non Victorian club.

Whether the club gives out thousands of free tickets or not (the game has still got to be attractive for users to utilise the tickets), we will never draw a crowd of 40,000 against Fremantle, Port Adelaide, West Coast or Gold Coast...which is no shame given that Essendon and Collingwood are probably the only clubs with the capacity to consistently draw 40,000+ supporters to games.

 

[Goody1971]

Everyone was busy attending weekend class at Melbourne Grammar / Scotch / Xavier / Carey / Haileybury

Too busy to make the game. Will be there next week.

BOOZEDRAGON

LOL...nice one

 

[Hawks1523]

Twilight game. Telstra Dome. Went to catch the train and find no trains running, so I would have had to drive in and miss a quarter and a bit. Turned around and went home.

 

[Linzman]

I had a ticket for yesterday, but staying up to watch the Champions League Final killed me. My couch and Foxtel conspired together and made me drink full strength beer. I'll be there Sunday though.

 

[Gold Member]

Got a note from me mum.

 

[Linda Crescent]

I've printed off my 'free' ticket for the Fremantle game. I'm going to leave the MCG at quarter time next week and re-enter using it. Up goes the attendance figure - at least by one.

Seriously, I'm going to give it to a deserving Hawk supporter queing for general admittance tickets.

Spread some Hawthorn love ....

 

[Hawksgirl4eva]

I was there

There did seem to be a lot more Hawthorn supporters compared to bulldogs

 

[BigAl3001]

Drawing large numbers to games (home or away) gives the players support, puts pressure on the opposition and umpires, and also pleases the club sponsors.
.

This actually wasn't an issue at the Dome yesterday. Hawks supporters out-numbered dogs. Surely the issue here is the bulldogs members not turning up.....they could see the writing was on the wall.

I had the pleasure of watching the dogs "free fall" sitting next to Kasia Z and Zoe Badwi.

 

[Hawkk]

With regards to the Fremantle game this week

http://www.mcc.org.au/Events at the...aspx?eid=D24048DD-4512-46D0-9EB1-D974BC391CCF

AFL Round 11 - Hawthorn v Fremantle
Jun 05, 2011

Event: AFL Round 11
Teams: Hawthorn v Fremantle
Date: Sunday June 5, 2011
Start time: 1.10pm

Gate opening time:
Public/AFL members: 11.30am
MCC members: 11.30am

Car park openings:
Gate 3 – 7.00am
Gate 5 – 9.00am
Gate 6 – 10.00am
Gate 7 – 9.00am (Passes only)

Crowd estimate: 34,000

General admission seating:

Southern Stand
Q1 – Q15

Ponsford Stand
M28 – M35
Q29 – Q36

Olympic Stand
Q50 – Q57

TAB outlets: Open from 11.30am.

National Sports Museum: Half-price entry for patrons with a valid event ticket from 11.30am until half time.

Public tickets:
Tickets for matches in rounds 1-23 of the 2011 AFL home and away season at the MCG go on sale on Tuesday March 8 from 9am. Tickets will be available to purchase via Ticketek.

MCC members:
Visitor tickets and reserved seats for matches in rounds 1-23 go on sale on Thursday March 3 from 9am through Ticketek.

AFL members:
Tickets for matches in June will go on sale on Friday May 6 at 9am through Ticketek.

Club members:
Club members will be able to purchase tickets for all matches in rounds 1-23 from 9am on Tuesday March 1.

 

[hawker11]

This actually wasn't an issue at the Dome yesterday. Hawks supporters out-numbered dogs. Surely the issue here is the bulldogs members not turning up.....they could see the writing was on the wall.

I had the pleasure of watching the dogs "free fall" sitting next to Kasia Z and Zoe Badwi.

I was there too and it was clear that it was the bulldog supporters that didn't show (and made that comment on the main board).

I was referring to the attitude of choosing not to support your team in an away match so that the opposition doesn't receive revenue being a poor attitude that only hurts the club.

Though it is more important that we see a big turn out at our home ground this Sunday.

 

[whiteTiga2k]

Wowwee, why the hell do we even give a rats about crowd numbers in an away, non-replacement game at Etihad on a Sunday night. We only had 36,000 at a final at a final at that hole in 2007 (and before you say it was due to an interstate team, there were plenty of Crows).

I'm personally more disappointed when we have low crowd no's against interstate sides at the MCG than our crowds at Etihad.

Lets wait until the crowd we get next week against Freo. Richmond got 34,000 at the G vs the Dockers, I'd hope with the free ticket deals etc. we've got going that we can at least match this.

pretty sure it was pretty jam packed at that final! the eruption and roar from the crowd when buddy kicked his 7th to win it was immense. Pretty sure it was a full crowd man.

I went to the game yesterday... think the crowd support wasn't too bad! don't think our players would of minded seeing that 2/3 of the crowd were hawks.

 

[Taskmaster]

Etihad is poo! It just does not have the same atmosphere as the G.

I think we will get 40,000+ on sunday, I think we want to see the Freo side get an absolute bashing as they embarrassed us last year and we want revenge and prove to them that if you cant win in Melb, then you are going no where as a club!

We have 55,000 members, surely at least 80% of members can turn up to see the Hawkers have another good win + the general admin, plus the 5 Freo supporters.

Lets make these Dockers feel very uncomfortable about playing us at the G and send them home knowing that last year was a bit of a hickup and hoping they do not get us in a final again!

Get there, stop being Lazy!

 

[vaughnie]

Rotten weather forecast for Sunday. Patchy rain and windy. Will be tough to get a big crowd if the weather is inclement.

 

[MPHawker]

My family and I will be at the Freo game. I go to every home game except for the Tassie ones and I drive 14 hours round trip to get there. Thats commitment!

 

[Mitchemx]

God i can understand some Essendon flog making the thread on the main board, but what's with this rubbish? It was an away game at the dome, in a made for tv time slot.

 

[CAPTAINCRAWF]

Vaughnie

Three decades is a long time. The generations in their 20s and 30s appreciate that they support the most successful club in the past 50 years. These supporters are having families now, and grew up in a glorious era. We have supporters and we CAN draw huge crowds, as evidenced in recent years, it is just that our supporters are lazy or have too many excuses when up against underperforming sides. Why can't we pull 40K v Freo? We need to reverse this culture and communicate to our Melbourne members that it is these games that matter.

7-2 is a great record leading into an MCG match. We have so much talent on our list. If we were playing a home game against the Bombers at the G, there would be 80000, 45000 of which would be Hawthorn. We have the ability, we just need to get the message out there. It shouldn't be a sub 30K turn out v Freo. I would love for the club to reverse the trend.

KOLOKOTRONIS

Dont under estimate that these games against power clubs attract huge numbers travelling from interstate. I along with friends will generally plan footy trips around quality teams and to be honest most interstae members dont realy care if it's our home game were going to or not. If I spend the cash to travel I would rather go to an away game against the Pies than a home against say the Kangaroos.

 

[Rioli2Gunstall]

I went with 2 other people to etihad. Paid 38 dollars for lottery seating, train tickets and food equates to about 60 bucks to see my Hawks but was well worth it. Clearly more gold than blue there as well. The 2 people sitting next to me were going for the hawks and had no idea one was actaully a North supporter and one was a Bombers supporter until i asked them, they were just there to watch Buddy. Freo Hawks is not an unattractive game i would think about 40k hopefully. I went to see big Sandi and his knomes take on the tiges. Complaining about the crowd for an away game is ridiculous, ask the doggies where they were, Hawks supporters turned up.

 

[skipjack]

Quick question.

Why do people hate Etihad so much? I love watching footy there.

 

[Mervyn Beasley]

Some people are soft for not turning up.

Probably.some of the same ones that are against the Tassie games.

For crying out loud, atleast give the club some justification for bringing games back to Melbourne.

Agreed.

Unless you live a fair way away there is little excuse.

The shit stadium excuse is just ridiculous too.

Jesus, that's all Perth and Adelaide people have, and by all accounts their stadiums are actually really shit, unlike this one which is state of the art.

If by chance it was better than the G would you stop going there??

Sure the G is better, but geez its a game of footy, served in comfort.

Talk about spoilt

I'm also confused by the concept mentioned earlier of the food being shit at Docklands. Is this compared to the nice cafe you go to for lunch or to the G where the food is also shit??

 

[TimmehJC"]

Quick question.

Why do people hate Etihad so much? I love watching footy there.

Because it's not Waverley. Used to be so easy, $2 bus from Nuna station, walk in and sit pretty much where ever I wanted. Miss it something shocking. Yes it was cold, yes the you were miles away from the action and yes player disappeared over the hill on the opposite wing, but it was awesome.

I don't mind it but my issue has always been the cost behind getting a decent seat. I hate sitting up on the top level, the cost to sit anywhere else is usually excessive. I know for quiet games you can ask and get lower level seating.

My main reason for Sunday personally was just being plain buggered. After working Saturday morning, playing a game of ressies football and working a fundraiser bbq for the cricket club on Saturday arvo, out Saturday night, then work again until 2 on Sunday the last thing I could be stuffed doing was going to the footy. Was happy to sit on the couch and watch they boys destroy the dogs.

 

[skipjack]

Its the same soft people that don't go, are the ones that stick the boots into the players when we lose.

You can't have it both ways I'm afraid.

Interstate members are excused due to obvious reasons.

As Yabby used to say 'when its your turn to go, you go'. This crap about it being a crap stadium, costs money on top of my membership are easy excuses. Would love the club to publish a list of the members that did attend on Sunday. Would embarris alot of people I reckon.

Last time I checked, the playing surface is roughly the same size as the MCG and who cares who gets your money, you pay to watch your team play.

Love your enthusiasm and passion, but I'm sorry Henry, most of this is rubbish.

Your first comment is a huge unquantifiable sweeping statement.

Next, you give no allowance to Hawks fans having another part of their life. We have plenty of paid up members who did not get automatic access to this game. Some may choose the 11 game Gold membership rather than the 15 game GA for example. That's their choice. If that's as far as their dollar stretches then so be it.

To claim that members MUST attend every game in Melbourne home or away is narrow sighted. Sunday twilight is a shocking time for anyone with young kids for example.

Finally your proposition of naming non-attendees is ludicrous.

1. It was a Bulldogs home game with about 15000 seats up for non Bulldogs members. If the game was an absolute sellout, 35000 Hawks members would miss out. Do you propose naming and shaming 35000 people for not attending a sold out away game?

2. If the club did start to act that way the would certainly lose memberships. Some people have busy lives and can only attend 4-5 games a year, but like to support the club by purchasing memberships. by your rationale they should be named and shamed, when in reality they should be applauded for buying a membership despite their inability to attend every week.


All up, I agree that it is important to attend games etc, but to tar all non attendees with the "soft" brush is pretty harsh.