THE WESTERN Bulldogs' disappointing crowd in Ballarat on Saturday is being seen as a "once-off", according to chief executive Ameet Bains.
Only 6833 fans turned up to watch the Bulldogs edge out Gold Coast by nine points, after a sell-out attendance of 10,087 for the first AFL match at Mars Stadium last year.
It was a fully-ticketed game because of the stadium's capacity limitations and Bains said the Saturday timeslot, and subsequent clash with local sport, was one reason for the poor turnout.
Club officials struck a five-year, multi-million-dollar deal with the Victorian Government in late 2015 to forge a community relationship with Ballarat and to play up to three games a season there.
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The Dogs will host two matches at the venue in 2018, the second of which is against Port Adelaide in round 19, after also playing an AFLW practice game and JLT Community Series contest in Ballarat.
"It was a little bit disappointing," Bains told RSN927 of the crowd number.
"Certainly last year's game (against the Power) had a lot more opposition fans attend, but we would have hoped even with our membership base that a few more might have turned up.
"It's something to look at ahead of our round 19 game against Port."
But Bains said the Dogs' partnership with Ballarat was broader than just playing home matches in the city, and included several community programs.
Their Ballarat-specific membership base has also doubled – "albeit coming off a modest base," Bains conceded – and former player Brett Goodes is in charge of a club office there.
"A lot of the value of the partnership, to be honest, is really in those partnerships and relationships struck on an annual basis," Bains said.
"The match returns are still important, I suppose, but the aim will always be at a stadium with that level of capacity to fill it.
"We're really comfortable with the relationship … one little hiccup was not getting a full house on Saturday, but we'll remedy that ahead of round 19."
Bains was also confident of securing superstar premiership player Marcus Bontempelli beyond his existing deal, which expires in 2019.
"Sam Power, our head of list and recruiting, has been in contact with (Bontempelli's manager) Tom Petroro and discussions continue to bubble along," Bains said.
"The most pleasing part of that, regardless of how long it takes from here, is that there's an intent to get it done, which is a great reflection on where the club's at and where the club's going."
Bontempelli (hip) was a late withdrawal at the weekend and Bains said he would miss again if he failed to train fully on Thursday.
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