There are fans... and then there are fans.

[Druzik]

www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/sport/nrl/story/0,26799,25509366-5012659,00.html

Sharks send SOS to fickle fans
By Dean Ritchie and Josh Massoud | May 20, 2009 12:00am


IT'S the local derby that could very well be a game of survival for Cronulla.
Anything less than a sell-out for Saturday night's biggest-drawing home game of 2009 against the Dragons will seriously undermine the embattled club's chances of recovering from a $9 million debt and staying alive.

According to the Sharks' most loyal supporters, there will be no excuses if Toyota Stadium is not full for the clash with their bitter rivals.

"If you don't turn up, you aren't true Sharks fans," Cronulla supporters club secretary Ben McGregor said bluntly.

But desperate officials are relying on more than fan power to survive, with controversial Manly owner Max Delmege approached to invest in a $110 million residential development alongside leagues club Sharkies that is being touted as Cronulla's saviour.

As NRL bean-counters spent a second straight day poring over Cronulla's books, The Daily Telegraph learned that Delmege fronted the Sharks board last August to view plans and discuss investment opportunities.

"I did meet with the board about the development and we threw a few ideas around," said Delmege, who made his fortune from property development.

"That was about nine months ago and there's been nothing further since."

The Sharks' home crowd average this season is 9750, the lowest in the NRL, angering both McGregor and fellow fan Belinda McFarlane.

The Daily Telegraph was inundated with emails yesterday in an orchestrated campaign by desperate Cronulla supporters to fill Toyota Stadium on Saturday - and help save the embattled club.

"Over the past six years I have missed six games. I have been to all games around Australia and New Zealand," McGregor said.

"That puts me in a position to say that, yes, Sharks fans are fickle.

"It's no secret that the Sharks are in dire straits, yet apart from the football club and supporters club, no one seems to be doing anything. Are the fans that fickle that they would willingly lose their club forever?

"The Shire should be outraged at the possibility it could lose their local side. It's now or never.

"We haven't had good match timeslots this year but that shouldn't matter. We are going to lose our team if fans don't start turning up.

"Fans have to make a choice and hopefully that will be to attend matches and not watch them at Northies or Cronulla Leagues Club. I can't believe the house-full sign isn't already up for the Dragons game this week."

Cronulla are buckling under financial pressures that could see the club implode within 18 months.

Low attendance figures coupled with the recent bad press in relation to the recent NRL sex scandal has seen the club's financial position deteriorate even further.

The Sharks called NRL chief executive David Gallop to an emergency meeting on Monday with the club's concerned major sponsor LG.

LG, which pays Cronulla $700,000 a year, claims to be deeply worried about damage to its brand name after last week's drama involving Cronulla players in 2002.

[Druzik]

.... aaaaaand there are fans.

www.keighleycougars.info/sues-1000-game-cougar-journey-i710.html

Keighley Cougars’ Co-operative Championship One game at Blackpool Panthers on Sunday will see Sue Dodds post a significant milepost – it will be her 1,000th successive game both home and away.

The 49-year-old mother of one and a local government officer clocks up this latest landmark in a continuous run of games that stretches back to February 1979.

“My biggest fear is that Cougars will play a game and I won’t be there,” said Sue. “I might have achieved my 1,000th game earlier but back in February 1979 there was a re-arranged Cup game against Huyton and it was played in the afternoon. I just couldn’t get time off work to go”.

Since then she’s covered thousands of miles watching the Cougars journeying to Pia in the South of France, various points in the south of England and quite a number of stadiums in Wales.

“There have been some great moments like when the Cougars won the old Third Division title in the 1992 -93 season – their first trophy of any kind for 90 years – and beating Huddersfield in the 1994 Divisional Premiership Final at Old Trafford.

“But there’s also been some tough times too especially in the 1980s when we finished bottom of the whole league.”

And, throughout the whole journey Sue has kept a detailed record of all the games she has seen.

And here’s some key statistics from her log book: She’s seen the Cougars win 462 matches, lose 505 and draw 32: During that time they’ve scored 20,874 points and concede 20,846 points: She’s watched them play on 79 different grounds: The most numerous visitors to Cougar Park have been Hunslet Hawks and Rochdale Hornets (28 games) and she’s followed the Cougars to Dewsbury Rams on 27 occasions!

“It’s a pity we don’t play Blackpool the week after because it would have coincided with the second game in the 1,000-game journey. It would have been good to have started and ended with the same club,” she said. “But I’ve enjoyed every game and I’m looking forward to building on my record”.

Neil Spencer, the Cougars’ Chairman, said: “Sue’s an amazing Cougars fan and I see her everywhere we go in the game. To have watched the club for so many successive games is an incredible achievement and she deserves real congratulations for staying so loyal to the club.

“We look forward to seeing her at many, many more matches