Everyone loves a winner.
So it’s hardly surprising that the Canterbury Bulldogs ladder position isn’t the only thing that’s surged this season.
Well-known for having some of the most passionate fans in the NRL, home crowd figures have spiked significantly in 2025 with the Bulldogs ending the regular season as the best supported club in Sydney—and second overall behind only the Brisbane Broncos.
Already the year’s two biggest crowds have featured the Bulldogs, including the 65,305 that flooded into Accor Stadium for the Good Friday clash against the Rabbitohs—the largest regular season crowd in NRL history.
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Now, as the Bulldogs’ season goes on the line against the all-conquering Penrith Panthers on Sunday, Doggies fans are on the cusp of re-writing even more attendance records—including one that’s stood for six decades.
The all-time crowd record for a first-grade semi final was set way back in 1965 when 54,626 fans watched South Sydney defeat Parramatta at the SCG, 17-2.
Based on early ticket sales that long-standing record seems almost certain not just to fall, but to be smashed.
There’s also increasing optimism from both the NRL and Bulldogs officials for a crowd exceeding the 70,354 fans who attended the Bulldog’s 2012 preliminary final win against Rabbitohs—and perhaps even the 74,549 who saw the Bulldogs defeated by the Eels in the 2009 preliminary final.
In case you’re wondering, the biggest ever NRL crowd was recorded at the 1999 grand final between Melbourne Storm and St George Illawarra when 107,999 fans packed into Stadium Australia during its 2000 Olympic Games configuration.