When it comes to crowd numbers, it hasn't taken long for Souths to go south.

The darlings of the NRL when they won a breakthrough premiership just three years ago, the "Pride of the League" have suffered an alarming decline in attendances that now has them ranked last in the NRL.

Average NRL crowds have fallen to below the 15,000 mark for the first time since 2004, but the most dramatic drop has been at South Sydney. The Rabbitohs are ranked 16th in the league with an average home attendance of just 10,903. That figure represents a 23.9 per cent decline on the previous season and is almost half the number of fans that went through the turnstiles during their premiership season of 2014.

The NRL and its clubs are attempting to reverse a decrease in attendances. The introduction of unfriendly timeslots, such as the Thursday night and 6pm Friday fixtures, has had an effect, although a range of other factors have also contributed. Chief among them are poor stadium infrastructure, a raft of transportation issues in getting to them and the prohibitive costs of taking families to the footy, particularly when food and drinks are added to the bill.