Editorial: The brutal truth about our city’s field of dreams

Once we took off our rose-coloured glasses we were forced to admit that our beloved Gabba was not a world-class venue, writes the editor.

The Gabba is more than just a sporting venue.

Queensland sports fans love the Gabba – and for good reason.

It’s more than just a venue. It’s a keeper of memories.

From sitting on the dog track watching A.B. take on the mighty Windies, to screaming from the nosebleeds as Ash McGrath completed the “Miracle on Grass” for the Lions, almost every Queenslander has their favourite Gabba memory.

And almost everyone has their favourite watering hole for post-mortems after the match, as well as the secret parking spot within walking distance of the stadium.

But the stadium debate, sparked in 2021 when Brisbane was awarded the honour of hosting the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, revealed one incontrovertible fact.

Once we took off our rose-coloured glasses we were forced to admit that our beloved Gabba was not a world-class venue.

Compared to new stadiums around the world – or indeed Australia’s own Optus Stadium, Adelaide Oval or MCG – it is old, tired and boring.

The first day of the Test against India was a case in point. As the rain bucketed down, thousands of fans took refuge in the claustrophobic bowels of the stadium.

After a while they bolted across Vulture St to the German Club to escape the stuffy corridors, or hit the bars on Stanley St.

The industry standard for the “backstage” parts of stadiums now includes fancy bars, restaurants, shops, open areas and entertainment options.

The Adelaide Oval is famous for socialising behind the members’ stand and also boasts a covered terrace overlooking the city.

AT&T Stadium – the home of the Dallas Cowboys – has designated party zones, art galleries and a stadium club resembling a Vegas sports bar.

Such added extras are essential if a venue wants to attract the big-name acts – like Taylor Swift – or the travelling fan looking to spend up big in a foreign city.

Today we report how huge ticket sales for Melbourne’s Boxing Day Test are being driven by incredible interest from travelling Indian fans.

Cricket Australia figures reveal that 10 per cent of all Boxing Day tickets sold so far have been to overseas buyers, with Melbourne by far the most popular Test for people from India.

Two out of three people flying from the subcontinent for the Australian Tests are coming for Boxing Day at the MCG.

There was no chance they would have chosen Brisbane and the Gabba as the destination for a once-in-a-lifetime Australian trip.

But a trip to a state-of-the-art Olympic stadium – with all the amenities that fans now expect – well, that’s a different story.

As we report, Brisbane’s Hayes Anderson Lynch Architects has released images of an Olympic precinct at Woolloongabba, including a rebuilt 55,000-seat Gabba linked with a raised platform over Main St to Brisbane Arena on the Cross River Rail station site.

It’s an impressive vision and should receive due consideration, as is the role of David Crisafulli’s 100-day Olympic review.

But such a radical overhaul of the tired Gabba would see it out of action for years, robbing cricket fans of local Tests and AFL fans of the Lions – who would be forced to spend their dynasty years in exile.

Both sports have now come to the conclusion that the Gabba – which would need $1 billion in funding just to stop it falling down – has come to the end of its life.

They both now support the proposal for a new stadium at Victoria Park.

The review team has a tough job ahead of it, but we are sure that it is up for the challenge.

RELEASE NO REASON FOR JOY

The repatriation of the last of the drug mules from the so-called Bali nine is no cause for celebration.

Yesterday, Scott Rush, Matthew Norman, Michael Czugaj, Martin Stephens and Si Yi Chen touched down in Darwin, where they will have a short period of rehabilitation, after which they will go free.

The two ringleaders of the 2005 heroin smuggling scheme – Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran – paid the ultimate price for their crime when they were executed by firing squad in 2015.

They all paid a price – but not as high as what they would have been paid had they managed to get their
$4m worth of heroin through customs and onto the streets.

How many lives would have been destroyed by that terrible drug? How many families would have been ripped apart?

Let’s hope the five men who arrived in Australia yesterday have asked themselves that very question.

The plot they were a part of was evil. The only mitigating factor is that they were young. They should consider themselves very lucky to be home.

Responsibility for election comment is taken by Chris Jones, corner of Mayne Rd & Campbell St, Bowen Hills, Qld 4006. Printed and published by NEWSQUEENSLAND (ACN 009 661 778). Contact details here