Beating the Bulldogs was one thing, but to get over 15,000 punters to a trial match was nothing short of sensational. I very much doubt that the Warriors would have had 15,000 turn up to a competition game over the last two years.
So why is it, that on a Sunday arvo, 15,000 people wanted to watch the Warriors play the Doggies in a trial?
There are a few probable factors involved:
- Cheap tickets: Tickets to competition games at Mt Smart are quite high, maybe they were lower for the trial. If so, then this would be a definite factor in getting people to watch.
- Folks on the
- Fans know that unlike the Super 14, with its missing All Blacks, that this was going to be a decent game of footy.
- Ticket giveaways: Free tickets courtesy of radio stations and corporates virtually guarantee a good crowd. This may have happened in this case.
- People just want to see the Warriors play - it’s the beginning of a season, we are happily starting on zero points so optimism is high, as it is for most teams in early March.
Whatever the case it will be interesting to see the crowd figures for the first two NRL matches at Mt Smart this year. The victory over the Bulldogs will give the fans confidence that the boys will do well this year. I predict over 15,000 for the first game against