Bulldogs crowds plunge 9000 in three years

[LostDoggy]

Re: Bulldogs crowds plunge 9000 in three years

I know one thing, I can't bare going back to the struggling club just happy with surviving kind of mentality that we endured for so long. We lack a superstar to get people through the gates imo. We have some good solid players but they don't have profiles and I'm not sure that anyone on our list is a game changer. Closest would be Griff, Lakey and Bobby if you ask me, but I think the average AFL fan loves to watch an exciting forward or explosive midfielder these days.

I think as financial members we have the right to ask what OUR club stands for and demand more. We seem to walk on egg shells around the AFL, kind of a don't bite the hand that feeds you mentality, and quite frankly I'm sick of it. We're like the ACCC, a toothless tiger (or toothless bulldog in this case!) How about we write the club a collective letter stating our concerns and asking for clarification on where we are trying to get to and how we plan on getting there?

On a side note, We simply must address our list issues in this draft and I'm confident that Jason McCartney knows what he's doing. If 20'000 fans can see our deficiencies, surely the well paid people at the club should also see them. Drafting well is so important and when you waste early picks it can set you back for years. I can't remember the exact number that these players were taken, but names like Sam Power, Tim Walsh, Farren Ray, Andrjes Everitt, Jordan McMahon were all high picks and haven't worked out for us. I'm sure there are other names to and I'd be interested if someone could come up with some more for me.

Apologies for my rant!

[Mantis]

Re: Bulldogs crowds plunge 9000 in three years

On a side note, We simply must address our list issues in this draft and I'm confident that Jason McCartney knows what he's doing. If 20'000 fans can see our deficiencies, surely the well paid people at the club should also see them. Drafting well is so important and when you waste early picks it can set you back for years. I can't remember the exact number that these players were taken, but names like Sam Power, Tim Walsh, Farren Ray, Andrjes Everitt, Jordan McMahon were all high picks and haven't worked out for us. I'm sure there are other names to and I'd be interested if someone could come up with some more for me.

What are you basing your sense of confidence on?

[LostDoggy]

Re: Bulldogs crowds plunge 9000 in three years

What are you basing your sense of confidence on?

Have a good mate on the Dockers fitness staff who knows Jason well and speaks very highly of him.

[Nuggety Back Pocket]

Re: Bulldogs crowds plunge 9000 in three years

I would have thought that poor crowds for GWS and Gold Coast games would be impacting the averages also.

North Melbourne, for instance, have played Gold Coast twice, GWS once - and have also played Port Adelaide who pull bad crowds.

Our draw hasn't helped with matches so far against West Coast, Melbourne, GWS, North Melbourne, Gold Coast, Port Adelaide and Brisbane. The next 5 games will include Essendon, Hawthorn, Carlton and St. Kilda and providing our form improves should see bigger attendances against the stronger Melbourne based clubs.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Re: Bulldogs crowds plunge 9000 in three years

Our draw hasn't helped with matches so far against West Coast, Melbourne, GWS, North Melbourne, Gold Coast, Port Adelaide and Brisbane. The next 5 games will include Essendon, Hawthorn, Carlton and St. Kilda and providing our form improves should see bigger attendances against the stronger Melbourne based clubs.

Really? I would've thought in a season where we are struggling to get wins, that it is against the perceived weaker clubs we should expect to see a bigger pro Dogs turnout. At times on the TV it sounded like we were playing the Lions at the GABBA.
The week prior against Port was a disaster. I don't care what time the match was on, or who the opposition were, if it was a Collingwood legend who was being sent off like Charlie Sutton was for us, 50,000 pies nuffies would've been out in force.

Which gets back to some of the larger issues at play, that others here have mentioned, concerning a disconnect between the club and its fanbase, and how we have a weak 'tribal' culture that we somehow have to find a way to address.

I would suggest, as a starting point, the club not patronise its members, like it did, by announcing at the end of last season when appointing a new coach that we need a 'refresh', not a rebuild. I think it was clear to most Dogs members we were in for a rough season, probably a rough few seasons. Pronouncing otherwise to the footy public in my opinion says my club doesn't think its supporters are very smart. It also sets the club up for a backlash by those supporters who did believe them, when we dish up performances like we did on the weekend several times.

When we come up against the bigger clubs over the remaining rounds I think we will be even more drowned out by opposition supporters than usual.

[LostDoggy]

Re: Bulldogs crowds plunge 9000 in three years

Our draw hasn't helped with matches so far against West Coast, Melbourne, GWS, North Melbourne, Gold Coast, Port Adelaide and Brisbane. The next 5 games will include Essendon, Hawthorn, Carlton and St. Kilda and providing our form improves should see bigger attendances against the stronger Melbourne based clubs.

Sorry but that's a load of bollocks.
We play those games every year.

[westdog54]

Re: Bulldogs crowds plunge 9000 in three years

Sorry but that's a load of bollocks.
We play those games every year.

The stat provided is based on whole year attendances vs attendances to date though.

Its a valid point.

[GVGjr]

Re: Bulldogs crowds plunge 9000 in three years

To be honest when I talk to Bulldogs supporters now it would appear that unless it's Saturday afternoon, we have a great chance to win and we are playing against a stronger Melbourne side people are looking for reasons not to go. They have been doing this for at least two years.

Some use the cold or wet conditions as a reason despite that we play so many games under the cover of Etihad.

We can blame the AFL, the rules committee, the draw, the new sides and the strength of the playing list etc all we like but a high number of our supporters have just lost their passion for a scrap. So many supporters just aren't as passionate about the club as they once were.

[Hotdog60]

Re: Bulldogs crowds plunge 9000 in three years

To be honest when I talk to Bulldogs supporters now it would appear that unless it's Saturday afternoon, we have a great chance to win and we are playing against a stronger Melbourne side people are looking for reasons not to go. They have been doing this for at least two years.

Some use the cold or wet conditions as a reason despite that we play so many games under the cover of Etihad.

We can blame the AFL, the rules committee, the draw, the new sides and the strength of the playing list etc all we like but a high number of our supporters have just lost their passion for a scrap. So many supporters just aren't as passionate about the club as they once were.

That's because us older folk are made of sterner stuff. No roof over our heads as we sat freezing our nuts off at the WO for 3 games of football in the one day, then only to leave dejected with another loss.

[SonofScray]

Re: Bulldogs crowds plunge 9000 in three years

http://www.woof.net.au/forum/showpost.php?p=206024&postcount=18

Post I made last season. I think it is ringing true for many, there is some extra sting to this slip down the ladder. I had a more in depth version of it on BF but I can't find it. Basically, we've invested heavily in recent seasons as fans and the 'failure' to get the reward has us struggling to gear up for what, if we accept the 'success cycle' that is popular thought is going to be a long stretch. For potentially nothing to show for it again.

[SonofScray]

Re: Bulldogs crowds plunge 9000 in three years

To be honest when I talk to Bulldogs supporters now it would appear that unless it's Saturday afternoon, we have a great chance to win and we are playing against a stronger Melbourne side people are looking for reasons not to go. They have been doing this for at least two years.

Some use the cold or wet conditions as a reason despite that we play so many games under the cover of Etihad.

We can blame the AFL, the rules committee, the draw, the new sides and the strength of the playing list etc all we like but a high number of our supporters have just lost their passion for a scrap. So many supporters just aren't as passionate about the club as they once were.

Good point. The follow up I have is, why are we not as passionate?

The Club has contributed to a real narrowing of what we think it is about. The stuff that shies away from our identity, that can be abrasive to the AFL our admin's desire to be seen as a slick organisation has a bit to answer for. We've been sold a false dream in some respects, that you tick certain boxes, get things working in an AFL endorsed way and the success comes as a matter of course.

The stuff we used to value was spat on, derided as loser history, poor culture etc. The W on the weekend and a flag was all that mattered.

Now we have nothing. Not wise.

We need to look at what C Grant said on Open Mike about what footy really is and reset our thinking, it is about people ad relationships and identity and all sorts of stuff that can be easily written off when we look through an analytical, business lens only.

[FrediKanoute]

Re: Bulldogs crowds plunge 9000 in three years

Sorry but that's a load of bollocks.
We play those games every year.

Yeah, but if you have had all of those in H1, then it disproportionately affects the numbers. Have a look at the end of season figures and then jump up and down.

[LostDoggy]

Re: Bulldogs crowds plunge 9000 in three years

Good point. The follow up I have is, why are we not as passionate?

Personally It's the game that is loosing me. Soft rule changes, 3 man interchange with a sub, defenders are barely allowed to defend, the players with the most possessions are gods to the media, Brownlows only go to midfielders, players so unprofessional they can no longer handle sledging cause it puts them off their game etc etc. everyone has their breaking point and I'm getting to mine.

[Remi Moses]

Re: Bulldogs crowds plunge 9000 in three years

I'll be pissed if the club didn't budget for a fallout.

Nothing is more certain than crowds dropping off when you are going through a rough patch.

They'll be back up when we are playing finals again.

Spot on ! Have to face the fact we're a small market club and when we're struggling people drop off ( as they do with most clubs)

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Re: Bulldogs crowds plunge 9000 in three years

When we come up against the bigger clubs over the remaining rounds I think we will be even more drowned out by opposition supporters than usual.

I'm going this week with a few Dons, and I fully expect to be one of about 500 Dogs fans there.

Our crowds have been really disappointing this season, regardless of who we have played. We have the most fickle supporters in the competition -- yes, our club could do more, but let's not forget that our supporters only ever turn up when we are a good side.