New stadium buzz can get fans back to footy, writes Phil Rothfield
It wasn’t just about the scoreboard. As much as Parramatta were dynamite, this was about the birth of a wonderful new sporting venue in rugby league heartland, writes Phil Rothfield.
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It wasn’t just about the scoreboard.
It wasn’t about Brad Arthur’s contract nor 16 unsigned Parramatta Eels players.
As much as Parramatta were dynamite, this was about the birth of a wonderful new sporting venue in rugby league heartland.
Everyone loved it. Even Ray Hadley and the ABC’s Andrew Moore stopped for a brief chat and shook hands in the media centre. And Peter Beattie and Todd Greenberg sat within 10 metres from each other.
Such was the joyful Easter Monday mood.
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This $340 million, 30,000 seater is an absolute game changer.
NRL crowds have been slow and steady for the last decade. One year they are up a couple of per cent, the next year they drop off.
There are too many other ways to consume your football these days.
Back in the 1980s only one game was shown on TV. On Sunday night you’d get a Rex Mossop hour-long highlights package on Channel 7. That was it.
You had be at the game. Nowadays it’s so different. EVERY game live on Fox Sports or Kayo.
You can be on public transport, a restaurant or shopping and watch from an app on your phone.
So when Clint Gutherson led the Eels out on Monday it wasn’t just another game of NRL.
This was sporting history. The birth of a facility to get bums back onto seats.
You start to think about my Shark Park and how all the beautiful old suburban grounds face a fight to stay relevant in this era. It’s like comparing a camping ground to a Sheraton resort.
No doubt Brookie, Leichhardt and Kogarah will all survive and have a place in the game.
But the modern stadium is the way of the future. Parra Leagues was half full by 10am. At lunchtime it was bursting when the members’ only sign went up.
The corporate suites were all overflowing with sponsors new to NRL.
Inside the atmosphere was like that of a big NFL game.
A sea of blue and gold jerseys and flags.
It was fitting that so many old legends were there on the field as Gutherson led Parramatta out — Ray Price, Brett Kenny, Mick Cronin, Eric Grothe, Peter Wynn and Steve Edge.
Edge was here in the old Cumberland Oval days.
“We had to run out through the canteen,” Edge said, “All you could smell was burning fat from the hot chips they’d use for months. It’s sure changed. This is the best stadium I’ve seen.”
The punters were loving the public areas. There was a queue for a beer as you’d expect at any sellout event but nothing major. The biggest line was for the free kids face-painting.
The prices were far more reasonable that other sporting venues — a beer for $7.20, soft drinks $4.90 a pie $4.90 or a double cheeseburger for $8. Importantly, it will get them back next time.
On the field the Eels lived up to all the hype. It was a blowout from the moment Mitchell Moses ran 70 metres for the opening try. They were too powerful, too polished, too professional.
At the end of the day you could use a cliche older than Cumberland Oval — that rugby league was the winner. Because it really was.
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