THE AFL is keeping the faith in the future of the code in western Sydney, after a disappointing crowd of less than 20,000 fans turned up to Saturday night's elimination final at ANZ Stadium.

With a second Sydney team flagged for the near future, a crowd figure of just 19,127 saw the Swans beat North Melbourne by 35 points.

It was the smallest crowd for a VFL/AFL final since 1924.

"Obviously it's disappointing," the AFL's chief broadcasting and commercial officer Gillon McLachlan said on Sunday.

"But just as three 60,000 crowds last year (for Swans games) at ANZ Stadium didn't mean we had cornered the market, one poor crowd doesn't mean we pull out, either."

Last year's big Sydney crowds were for regular-season games against West Coast, Collingwood and St Kilda, while heavy rain on Saturday night would have discouraged many fans from making the trip to Homebush.

"We know have a lot of work to do to make the western Sydney concept work," said McLachlan.

"It is too big a market, too big an opportunity for us not to put everything we can into the project."

AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou told a pre-match function: "I know there will be some questioning of our strategy in light of (Saturday's) crowd.

"We know it is not going to be easy and we know we are in for a battle for the hearts and minds of the Sydney people."

After the match, Sydney Swans coach Paul Roos said the crowd was extremely disappointing and the wet weather may have been a factor.

"But hopefully we had a lot of people watching at home with the heaters on and hot chocolate and a little bit of chicken soup would have been nice back sitting in home," he said.

The three NRL games in Sydney at Cronulla, Parramatta and Penrith on the weekend drew a combined crowd of 18,245 in wet conditions.