Hypocrisy of Manly fans revealed in damning report into crowd numbers
They claim to be among the most passionate fans in the NRL, but here’s the damning proof Manly supporters are deserting their high-flying Sea Eagles in droves.
Manly fans, where the bloody hell are you?
The Daily Telegraph has uncovered an alarming drop off in apathetic Sea Eagles fans attending matches at their beloved yet dilapidated Brookvale Oval.
Despite expressing anger at any suggestion the Sea Eagles should move more matches from Sydney’s northern beaches, Manly fans aren’t backing it up by attending home games.
The Fortress has become a tent.
Through the past five years — over a 26 game period — nearly 115,000 fewer fans have walked through the gates at Lottoland.
That number balloons to a whopping 150,000 fewer fans compared to the 26-match stretch
between 2007 and 2009.
The shock development comes as Manly chairman and co-owner Scott Penn claimed there was “no excuse” for Sea Eagles fans not to cram Brookvale to watch their side take on bitter rivals Parramatta in a blockbuster fifth versus sixth clash on Sunday afternoon.
Brookvale Oval is attracting the fewest fans of any Sydney NRL venue despite Manly’s resurgence under coach Des Hasler.
Since 2017, 26 games have been played at Brookvale for a total attendance of 256,589. That amounts to a paltry average of just 9869 fans each game. No other venue is below the 10,000-mark.
During a 26-game period between 2011 and the start of 2014, 113,890 fewer fans have attended Brookvale matches.
And it only gets worse the further back you dig.
There were 143,291 more people watching matches at Brookvale during a 26-game span between 2007 and 2009 then there are now.
“Being the most successful club of the modern era, Manly fans are used to success so they’re hard to win over when the team isn’t near the top of the table”
Maroon and white fans simply aren’t going to the Pittwater Road venue like they once did.
Since 2017, Campbelltown Stadium, Belmore Sports Ground, Pointsbet Stadium — aka Shark Park — and Wollongong’s WIN Stadium had averaged crowds of between 10,300 and 12,900.
Brookvale is way behind.
“We have perfect conditions for a full house at Lottoland this Sunday,” Penn told The Daily Telegraph.
“The weather is forecast to be warm, there isn’t much going on due to school holidays so there really is no excuse not to come down and support the team.
“It will be a fantastic day out for the whole family. It will be a tough match as Parramatta has won three in a row so we need a packed fortress to inspire the boys.”
Former long-serving Manly official, Peter Peters, offered up reasons for the crowd decline at his favourite rugby league ground.
“Being the most successful club of the modern era, Manly fans are used to success so they’re hard to win over when the team isn’t near the top of the table,” Peters said.
“Getting Dessie back has been masterstroke and the Trbojevic brothers and Daly Cherry-Evans are winning them over.
“It’s vital on Sunday to support the players and get our team on the road to hopefully a top four spot and then all our fans will no doubt be back in droves.
“It hasn’t helped that a combination of councils and governments have left Brookvale to perish and fans deserve better facilities than they have had for the last couple of decades.”
There were discussions four years ago about moving Manly matches to Warringah Rugby Park at Narrabeen but the venue’s grandstand only holds 1000 fans and ground’s capacity is a modest 6000.
Despite the decrease in fans attending home games, Manly players Dylan Walker and Addin Fonua-Blake spoke highly of the club’s supporters.
“There is nothing better than playing at Brookie on a Sunday afternoon. Hopefully this weekend we can get a packed hill and put in a good performance for those fans,” Fonua-Blake said.
Walker added: “All the games I have played there this year, there have been some decent crowds there. They have been cheering loud, it’s been good. It probably comes back to the fact we’re winning more games than last year.
“I haven’t read too much about the crowds but lately we played up against Gold Coast and even last week against Souths at ANZ Stadium, I thought there were a lot of Manly fans there. They were cheering us on.”
SYDNEY ATTENDANCES
LOTTOLAND
Games: 26
Total: 256,589
Average: 9869
CAMPBELLTOWN SPORTS STADIUM
Games: 9
Total: 93,377
Average: 10,375
BELMORE SPORTS GROUND
Games: 5
Total: 51,965
Average: 10,393
POINTSBET STADIUM
Games: 31
Total: 390,997
Average: 12,613
WIN STADIUM
Games: 14
Total: 180,165
Average: 12,869
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