A surprised league fan reckons the crowd that turned out for the Titans' match against the Warriors on the weekend had next to "no locals" in the stands.
“Guys, I’m currently walking into Gold Coast Titans stadium and I have not seen one jersey of the Gold Coast Titans. This is all New Zealand Warriors fans,” Josiah Hein said in a video on Instagram.
He then panned the camera to a sea of red, green and blue jerseys “just pouring in.”
Josiah said it felt like a home game for the New Zealand side, adding that the Gold Coast is home to a lot of Kiwis across the ditch.
According to the 2021 census, 44,485 New Zealand-born residents live on the Gold Coast, and over 200,000 Kiwis call Queensland home.
The turnout in the crowd was noticed and felt by the players, too.
“What a crowd away from home 💙💚❤️,” the Wahs Instagram page wrote alongside a clip of fans cheering Roger Tuivasa-Sheck down the tunnel to the 'We Are The Warriors 100%' chant.
One commenter on Josiah’s post admitted how devo they were about the turnout.
“As a Titans fan, was crushing to see 😂 but what can we expect when our season goes like this,” they said.
Another added: “Every year Cbus [Super Stadium] turns into a Wahs home game haha.”
“Gold Coast and Brisbane are unofficial NZ territories 😂,” joked a third.
Some claimed Titans fans just don’t turn up to games in person, but our inside informant, More FM’s Lana Searle, was there and reckons plenty of Titans members were swapping their kit for a bit of red, green and blue.
Seems like they made the right call too, because the Wahs took the match 32 - 18.
