The first issue is crowd size – 7895 fans packed into C.Ex Coffs Harbour International Stadium and many hung around for more than an hour to get an autograph or two.

When the Jets last played in Port Macquarie – in 2010 – they could only draw a crowd of 3114.

The difference between those two figures alone is quite stark, and closer to 5000 than 4000.

It means one of two things – the interest is there in one place and not quite in the other, or the size of the prospective venue isn’t large enough.

Sure, a bloke by the name of Tim Cahill might have helped in Coffs’ case.

So what can Port Macquarie do to compete and be a bit more than just a name on a piece of paper when it comes down to a final decision on how these things pan out?

Football Mid North Coast general manager Mike Parsons believed we should be more proactive and he’s probably right, but perhaps the cold, hard fact of the matter is there isn’t enough interest from local people here.

Maybe there is, maybe there isn’t.

But ask yourself, if a National Rugby League, AFL, or A-League club even thought about putting feelers out to see how well a game here would be received, would you go?

If not, why not?