The Kangaroos had expected around 15,000 to turn out and were pleasantly surprised by the added number of fans in the stands.
“Given the fact it had been heavily publicised the Suns would be without their captain and best player Gary Ablett, but also Michael Rischitelli and Jarrod Harbrow, we felt this crowd was a fantastic result,” North chief executive Eugene Arocca told kangaroos.com.au.
“It’s further proof our home crowds are building as our team continues to play an exciting brand of football.”
Sitting seventh on the ladder, Arocca says North has enjoyed strong support so far this year.
“We’re averaging more than 30,000 from our first three games against Essendon, Geelong and Gold Coast. Two of those matches were twilight fixtures so we couldn’t be happier with the results to date and we expect the trend to continue as we push for a finals spot.”
Despite the positive response from North supporters, some media outlets chose to take a negative slant. On Saturday night the AFL website reported the club and AFL would have been unhappy with the crowd at the Gold Coast game.
afl.com.au’s Ben Collins took aim asking, “Where were the North fans?”
He went on to say, “The crowd of 17,680 would have disappointed the Kangaroos and the AFL. Some observers suggested the third deck could have been closed. Those that decided not to come missed out on an entertaining game.”
Accompanying the article was a misleading photo of an empty area on level three which has riled the club hierarchy.
“It’s not a true representation of what occurred and is very disappointing to see,” Arocca explained.
“Our North End cheer squad area was full and The Huddle community bays were near capacity which is great. We’d prefer to focus on the positives rather than an area high up on the third level like that website chose to do.
“When you look at our crowd numbers over the past few years against interstate clubs, you’ll see the Gold Coast match was very decent, again minus some of its star players.”
Crowds vs interstate teams (Etihad)
2012
Round 5 v Gold Coast - 17,680
2011
Round 22 v Fremantle - 17,581
Round 18 v Brisbane - 20,809
Round 11 v Adelaide - 18,185
Round 10 v Sydney - 24,267
Round 6 v Port Adelaide - 16,014
2010
Round 19 v Fremantle - 14,891
Round 13 v Port Adelaide - 15,109
Round 11 v Brisbane - 19,100
Round 8 v Adelaide - 16,479
Round 4 v Sydney - 23,646
Round 3 v West Coast - 18,394
2009
Round 10 v Brisbane - 21,583
Round 9 v Fremantle - 15,436
Round 7 v Port Adelaide - 14,342
