Brisbane Broncos, Lions light up the city in finals double header

Brisbane will become the centre of Australia’s sporting universe for five straight hours on Saturday, as the Broncos and Lions prepare to carve out a slice of history. WHAT TO EXPECT

Brisbane will become the centre of Australia’s sporting universe for five straight hours on Saturday, as the Broncos and Lions prepare to carve out a slice of history.

Nearly 90,000 fans are set to pack into Suncorp Stadium and the Gabba, with the only downside that more couldn’t be squeezed in.

Brisbane’s hotel occupancy has reached an incredible 96 per cent capacity with bars, pubs and clubs braced for an early onslaught of thirsty punters.

In one corner of Brisbane we have the Lions taking on the Carlton Blues and in the other the Broncos against the New Zealand Warriors – four teams serving up mouth-watering entertainment.

Bedlam is also expected at Red Hill on Friday morning with hundreds of fierce Broncos fans to turn out for the captain’s run.

The Cauldron is tipped to churn through some 65,000 beers, 7000 soft drinks, 1600 burgers, 3300 hot dogs, 8100 chips and 2500 pies and sausage rolls.

For traders in the iconic Caxton St precinct, the action is expected to get lively from the afternoon.

Caxton Street Development Association president Sarosh Mehta said for the local traders were treating Saturday as their unofficial last hurrah for the rugby league season.

Mr Mehta predicted Caxton St restaurants, bars and clubs to be busy in the afternoon, with punters using use the Australian rules match as the perfect curtain raiser.

“We are looking forward to a humungous night, probably the last big one for the year,” Mr Mehta said.

“They will dribble in about 4pm and stay until the bitter end. Only the families with kids go home earlier. The rest of the hardcore followers stay late.

“The Caxton is open until 3am and some other venues might extend their hours.”

Mr Mehta promised Caxton St would be ready for the onslaught of fans and with a “magic vibe”.

“Definitely it will be like a State of Origin,” he said.

“To me and our traders, it’s the best way to end the footy season for us.”

Emporium Hotel staff Jimmy Barker and Elly Rowbotham ahead of the football finals this weekend. Picture: Nigel Hallett

Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said finals fever was set to take Brisbane by storm this weekend.

It comes on the back of the NRL’s Magic Round in May which contributed a cool $28m into the economy.

“Brisbane’s sporting accolades continue with the mammoth double finals feature coming this weekend for NRL and AFL fans,” Cr Schrinner said.

“Our city is a world-class major events destination, and big weekends like this inject millions of dollars into our local economy.

“We’re excited to host the cross-code clashes and see tens of thousands of residents and visitors pack our local restaurants, bars and hotels to cheer on their favourite team.”

The potential of both Brisbane teams winning a premiership in 2023 is a scenario few saw coming with bookmakers rating it a $150 chance at the start of the season.

TAB’s Rohan Welsh said those odds were now into $7.

“You can tell by the amount of Broncos jerseys and Lions guernseys that there’s a vibe around the city that this is the year of the double and punters feel it too,” Mr Welsh said.

Mr Welsh said the Brisbane-Brisbane double result was now one of the best backed options.

“It’s a great weekend for Queensland footy fans, not just those in Brisbane,” he said.

“We notice that in our venues, pubs and clubs which are as packed as the stadiums across the state when there is a big night like this.

“Queenslanders are obviously pretty parochial about their teams but there’s certainly a school of thought among punters, that the Lions are capable of toppling Collingwood should they progress and that the Broncos are probably the only team that could deny the Panthers a three-peat.”

Emporium Hotel South Bank general manager Julie Manega said it was running at 100 per cent capacity as a result of the cross code finals.

“Brisbane does sporting events well with a surge of bookings coming in across the last few weeks,” she said.