We know last season some of the attendences didn't match but ladt night, that was about right. I texted 9k to my nephew about 5 mins before the official tally came up. Was good to see considering the conditions. I really hope they all come back for Sydney City.
How do you know that?
We know the Lions got caught reporting inflated attendances a couple of years ago, but I haven't heard anything about the Phoenix.
Towards the end of last season we were lucky to be drawing 6k crowds but the "official," attendence was way much higher. I was there to see the emptiness.
In general humans are not really good at seeing things and eyes can be easy fooled, never trust an eye witnesses. Counting and numbers pretty much the same. I trust the official numbers more than your observations, don't take it personal, it's evolution, or lack of.
Except some people in the course of their employment are specifically trained to be observant and take in details... Policemen for example...Pilots are another.