THE poorest roll-up for a Wallabies Test in 16 years means the Gold Coast and its apathetic footy fans will be dropped by big-time rugby for four years.

“Bye bye Gold Coast” is the sharp rejection that dedicated followers will have to cop because so few marginal fans bothered to pump up the crowd beyond 14,281 at Cbus Super Stadium.

Another Sunday afternoon Test at Sydney’s Allianz Stadium after the winning vibe of June’s Test against France, on and off the field, or returning to Brisbane, Canberra or Melbourne for Argentina’s next visit in 2016 is on the cards.

The rows of empty seats at last Saturday night’s Wallabies-Argentina Test confirmed that fickle Gold Coasters are only attracted to shiny new sporting toys.

That was the Gold Coast Titans in their NRL finals form of 2009-10 at their new stadium at Robina or when the first Wallabies Test there in 2012 attracted 8000 more fans.

A 10-year stadiums deal has guaranteed the Gold Coast another rugby Test before 2021. A further Test against Argentina might have been in the offing but expect some subtle shuffling to host a lesser team like Samoa or Fiji.

The roll-up was the lowest since just 9239 fans attended a low-key World Cup qualifier against Samoa at Ballymore in 1998.

It is too easy to blame the Gold Coast’s poor track record of support for teams when the Wallabies’ collapse against the All Blacks in Auckland last month was a mood-killer.

Ticket prices weren’t a turn-off because $88 for a family-of-four was great value.

“It’s a great venue and it would be nice to have a full stadium which is obviously an important part of the equation,” Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie said.

“There are people (in administration) looking at it who are smarter than me. It’s an issue we have to keep thinking about beyond the team doing its bit to get people watching.

“It could be (the loss to) New Zealand but rugby has plenty of rusted-on fans and the Wallabies are always out there touching hearts and minds.

“I think you’ll find in sport around the world that crowds are shrinking. Is it the quality of pay TV coverage, I don’t know.”

Test crowds in Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth have also been down this season.