How loyal will supporters be?

On the other side of the continent, do not expect the Western Force to bloom too quickly. Their loss to the Brumbies showed the Force lack the back line to finish anywhere near the leaders.

The Force's first season will be barren and will surely test the patience of a strong supporter base. It is a credit to Force officials that their first Perth match lured a crowd of 37,037. It shows that rugby is on solid ground in WA.

But what cannot be overlooked is that the Australian Rugby Union also deserves credit for making Perth a rugby city, through the staging of Test matches at Subiaco since 1998.

The big test for the Force officials will be keeping hold of that supporter base. Wins will come, but they won't be plentiful early on. And there is only so much pain a fan can endure. Ask anyone who follows the Wallabies.

The above is an exert from Greg Growdens' Monday Maul ex Rugby Heaven.
My support is unconditional as I know that success will come in the fullness of time however, he does raise a valid point as to "only so much pain a fan can endure"
How long will the honeymoon period be for the Western Force before there is unrest amongst the fans in the crowd?
How many in the crowd do you think are fans rather than realistic rugby supporters?
Would it be a good thing to have a bad run to toughen the squad and make the eventual success all the sweeter for those that stuck it out with their team?
Let us know your thoughts on the prospects ahead and the endurance levels of those who are currently following our team.

If you are a Scottish rugby supporter then you will have a PhD in frustration but to imply the Wallabies are anywhere near a major loss of supporters is not realistic. Every sport and team has its "good time Charlie" fan base that only turn up when the team is on the top and I don't believe that this would account for a large percentage drop. However, the longer a team is in the doldrums (I’m talking years here) the greater number of supporters may start to find excuses not to go to games. It's just human nature but from my experience in Scotland this takes a long time.

Funny thing is I believe that the West Australian supporter is very loyal, more so than normal. I base this on what I have seen and heard happen with the Dockers as well as a few other WA teams. I could try and analyze why but can't be arsed at present. What I will say, I know success will come inevitably and with the combination of the West Australian loyalty and rugby supporters being smarter than your average supporter (contentious but true) we don't have to worry about our supporter base.

Go the Force

I think that this is going to be the great unknown for the force over the first few years. I hope that the supporter base stays as strong as it is today but I doubt that. I think that even if we have a winning season that there will still be members who drop their memberships. That said, I don't think that it will be a massive change after year 1. As has been discussed in other threads, the amount of members that we have will affect the choice of our home ground for 2008. I still don't think that Subi is the best place for the force to be based.

Speaking from the members that I know (21), I believe that at least 2 will drop after this season as they are members for the wrong reasons.

wallabies supporters cant say their team is pish, they just havin a bad spell :D