I don't think the crowds are bad at all, they are definitely favourable compared to the Lions and not far off the Hurricanes (who play in the top competition in the world, in the national sport and play less than half the games that the Phoenix play at home) and also compared to other leagues like the SPL and Serie A.
That's the problem though isnt it?
To any reasonable person we have a great dedicated fan base, that other teams in other sports in the same situation would beg for with reasonable numbers turning up consistently.
The problem is trying to marry the word reasonable and the FFA together.