Wallabies... worth the money?

It was great that Canberra had a test match but the game was as boring as bat shit.

rugbyskier said :

The big banner meant that at least one bay of the East Bowl and probably a good number of people in the Gregan/Larkham stand were looking at a blank bit of fabric for five minutes. Sure they would have been looking at the back of the players but they couldn’t see anything at all during the singing of the national anthems, which is an important part of a rugby test and what sets it apart from a Super 14 match.

If anyone was hell bent on seeing what was going on during this riveting moment of the evening, they could have turned their head approximately 90 degrees to the right and watched the big screen.

Honestly…..

Which I guess points to a need for the management to do a better sell job…?

Holden Caulfield said :

Gungahlin Al said :

ABC sports reporter had a column in the paper Saturday proclaiming “if e want such 1st class events in Canberra, we have to vote with our feet”.

Codswallop I say – we have to vote with our wallets. And I for one can’t afford it. Everything’s $70-80 each, then there’s either children’s tickets to add to that, or another $80 for a sitter. Essentially you could buy a new Bluray player for what 2 hour’s entertainment costs. Or how much of a monthly mortgage repayment?

Al, family tickets (2 adults, 2 kids) were available in the Silver sections for $90 all up. Okay, that still isn’t “cheap” I guess, but it’s also not the $300+ you were alluding to.

Given the way buyers can print their own tickets these days, and the fact they’re not checked as you go through the turnstiles, I’d be surprised if the number of “families” attending such events is not quite high.

International events are never going to be cheap. How much are concert tickets to Pink or whoever these days? Sure, one might think they get better value for money, but that’s all up to the individual.

The ticket pricing for this Wallabies match compared quite well with prices for a Sydney Swans game at the SCG I was unfortunate enough to witness a few weeks ago.

The prices charged were better than fair and reasonable given other entertainment options out there.

Didn’t realise that HC. Saw newspaper articles mentioning ticket prices between 70-80 each and went ‘stuff that’.

To whinge we’ll stop at nothing!

rugbyskier said :

I understand the point of JB’s comments, being that the ARU is totally focused on the television audience and not those who actually make the effort to go and watch the game live. The big banner meant that at least one bay of the East Bowl and probably a good number of people in the Gregan/Larkham stand were looking at a blank bit of fabric for five minutes. Sure they would have been looking at the back of the players but they couldn’t see anything at all during the singing of the national anthems, which is an important part of a rugby test and what sets it apart from a Super 14 match.

The point was that the ARU couldn’t care less that people couldn’t see anything, even if they wanted to or not. The ARU just wanted to get their sponsor’s name on TV. As far as I’m concerned it was a big “F you” to the crowd.

Or maybe just to a handful of seating bays out of the 70 or so at the ground.

I was in the queue buying some of that “expensive” food, so I missed the anthems anyway. Although, I didn’t think the $8.60 being asked for the fish’n’chips was too bad either.

Gungahlin Al said :

ABC sports reporter had a column in the paper Saturday proclaiming “if e want such 1st class events in Canberra, we have to vote with our feet”.

Codswallop I say – we have to vote with our wallets. And I for one can’t afford it. Everything’s $70-80 each, then there’s either children’s tickets to add to that, or another $80 for a sitter. Essentially you could buy a new Bluray player for what 2 hour’s entertainment costs. Or how much of a monthly mortgage repayment?

Al, family tickets (2 adults, 2 kids) were available in the Silver sections for $90 all up. Okay, that still isn’t “cheap” I guess, but it’s also not the $300+ you were alluding to.

Given the way buyers can print their own tickets these days, and the fact they’re not checked as you go through the turnstiles, I’d be surprised if the number of “families” attending such events is not quite high.

International events are never going to be cheap. How much are concert tickets to Pink or whoever these days? Sure, one might think they get better value for money, but that’s all up to the individual.

The ticket pricing for this Wallabies match compared quite well with prices for a Sydney Swans game at the SCG I was unfortunate enough to witness a few weeks ago.

The prices charged were better than fair and reasonable given other entertainment options out there.

I enjoyed the game on free-to-air. I was so glad to be sitting by the fire with a glass of red rather than freezing my balls off at the ground.

Peekz said :

I’m not quite sure what the point of these comments are…The first point in regards to the mobile banner blocking a section of the crowd from ‘seeing what was going on’, are you serious? You’re comp laining about not seeing the back of player’s heads while the national anthems are being sung? That’s action you feel you’d rather see for your hard earned $$$?

I understand the point of JB’s comments, being that the ARU is totally focused on the television audience and not those who actually make the effort to go and watch the game live. The big banner meant that at least one bay of the East Bowl and probably a good number of people in the Gregan/Larkham stand were looking at a blank bit of fabric for five minutes. Sure they would have been looking at the back of the players but they couldn’t see anything at all during the singing of the national anthems, which is an important part of a rugby test and what sets it apart from a Super 14 match.

The point was that the ARU couldn’t care less that people couldn’t see anything, even if they wanted to or not. The ARU just wanted to get their sponsor’s name on TV. As far as I’m concerned it was a big “F you” to the crowd.

PS: I meant to say – easy for the sports reporter to say that, given he likely gets in free to all sports events…

ABC sports reporter had a column in the paper Saturday proclaiming “if e want such 1st class events in Canberra, we have to vote with our feet”.

Codswallop I say – we have to vote with our wallets. And I for one can’t afford it. Everything’s $70-80 each, then there’s either children’s tickets to add to that, or another $80 for a sitter. Essentially you could buy a new Bluray player for what 2 hour’s entertainment costs. Or how much of a monthly mortgage repayment?

I’m with JB – the ticket prices for anything decent in this town are far too high. Ladysmith Black Mbaso are playing next month – they were great when I saw them in Brisbane years ago, but hate to think what the show will cost now/here.

I didn’t apply for a media pass so hardly miffed about not getting one.

Even when I do apply for them I only get “miffed” when the organisation messes me around before saying no.

Maybe Johnboy’s just miffed that Riot Act didn’t get any ‘media passes’. I’m not really sure what sort of match JustBands was expecting – the opposition was Italy, who sometimes manage a shock win against the Scotch in the Six Nations. I note that people in the Canberra times keep mentioning that the crowd was bigger for this game than that for the Socceroos match. How does this impact on the ‘bid4Canberra’?

Did they rhow the NZ-France game on the big screen? That was a great game.

VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy said :

We were there firstly as set dressing for the TV cameras. And disposable set dressing as when, for the national anthems, a giant Wallabies banner blocked a large section of the crowd from seeing what was going on. To say nothing of playing at night in the middle of winter.

We were there secondly to absorb advertising. It was constant and a real step up from a normal super 14 game. The above video is from the half time entertainment, don’t have a drink every time a sponsor’s name is mentioned or you’ll pass out.

We were there thirdly to buy merchandise, food and drinks.

I’m not quite sure what the point of these comments are…The first point in regards to the mobile banner blocking a section of the crowd from ‘seeing what was going on’, are you serious? You’re complaining about not seeing the back of player’s heads while the national anthems are being sung? That’s action you feel you’d rather see for your hard earned $$$?

Half time entertainment is always sponsor-driven advertising. It was a step up from Super14 because it was an international test, part of a series which was heavily sponsored. Again I’m not quite sure what the point is here.

Thirdly, when at a high profile sports event aren’t you given ample opportunity to buy related merchandise? The food and drink part is a given.

God bless advertising.

VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy said :

You seem to be under the impression that any sporting organisation cares about paying fans at the ground apart from taking large sums of money.

Sport is business. Simple.

Exactly. But they like to give the impression that it is about the fans ie “we want everyone to come and cheer us” when really it is “we want everyone to pay top dollar for tickets, buy expensive food and drink and crap merchandise because I want a huge salary to kick/hit/catch a ball”

justbands said :

Could have been a better game…but the ref seemed intent on a stop/start affair…happens sometimes. Otherwise…sure, well worth the money to see the Wallabies run around right here at home. Robbie Deans seems to be a big fan of Canberra, I’m hopeful of more test matches here without having to wait another 9 years.

I had the benefit of having the Rugby Ears on and thought the ref did a reasonable job, oh and I paid $59 to sit on the Gregan Larkham side bleachers, right on the quarter line – the benefit of not buying tickets too early.

It was eerily quiet at times where we were sitting – up high right next to the other grandstand (not Mal Meninga).

I guess atmosphere is one of those things you can’t buy. We perhaps needed to be playing someone we have more *feeling* towards – e.g. England or NZ.

But still enjoyable – happy to have now seen the Wallabies play ‘in the flesh’.

You seem to be under the impression that any sporting organisation cares about paying fans at the ground apart from taking large sums of money.

Sport is business. Simple.

Dry your eyes princess. I was there, I had a great time (and I was driving). All this talk of a premier sporting venue, and then people complain when we get a half decent event. You should be supporting local venues when we get games like this. Go to any othe major venue and you’d pay the same, so instead of rubbishing the prices, how about focussing on the good points, like “we got a test match this year”.

As mentioned, compare the pricing here to the prices at the other Test venues this season. The Canberra options are all less than every other venue, comfortably so in most cases, too. When you consider the likely demographic of your average Rugby fan I’d say Canberra comes out well in front.

In regards to the game itself, yeah, it was a bit flat, but that’s hardly anyone’s fault. Just the way these things happen. Those who went can all say we saw O’Connor score a hat-trick on debut.

How good was Gower’s pass to setup the Italian try. We were sitting right in front of that spot in the first half, but moved seats for the second half, haha. Oops!

You seem to be under the impression that any sporting organisation cares about paying fans at the ground apart from taking large sums of money. Schedules are changed to fit whatever TV want. Viewing the match is secondary to sponsors and officials (not the refs, the ones in a blazer who think that blocking your view is part of their remit). Security is designed to stop anyone actually showing signs of enjoyment, although I have never found this much of a problem at Bruce compared to the SCG.

However, listen to the complaints from them all when people stop going.

I picked the worst time to go to the toilet. Can anyone link to youtube footage of Stirling Mortlock’s try?

justbands said :

Could have been a better game…but the ref seemed intent on a stop/start affair…happens sometimes. Otherwise…sure, well worth the money to see the Wallabies run around right here at home. Robbie Deans seems to be a big fan of Canberra, I’m hopeful of more test matches here without having to wait another 9 years.

Totally agree justbands, it was worth it to see the national team at home. I was in Europe in 2000 and missed the Argentina test, so the last time I saw the Wallabies at home was the World Cup qualifier against Tonga in 1998.

One observation from last night was that we are far more boisterous for the Brumbies. A 22,500 crowd for a S14 match is deafening. On one occasion I started to yell out “C’mon Bru…” and the woman next to me laughed and said “if you hadn’t done it, I would have.”

Another tip, the silver tickets were good value at $45 adult and $22.50 child. I got tickets for a friend from my rugby club, his wife and their 7 year old son. As silver was the only ticket with a child price I got those. The gold seats were in the bowl behind the posts and the silver seats were on the arms of the Meninga Stand, which had a good elevated view of the ground despite being in the corners.

Could have been a better game…but the ref seemed intent on a stop/start affair…happens sometimes. Otherwise…sure, well worth the money to see the Wallabies run around right here at home. Robbie Deans seems to be a big fan of Canberra, I’m hopeful of more test matches here without having to wait another 9 years.

I thought $70 was ok considering I have been to Bledisloes and other Test matches around the country where the Platinum/’best seats’ have been well over $100 and then on top of that you have the travel and hotel costs involved.

I just hope the ARU were happy with the crowd, considering the weather during the week which may have kept some walk up ticket buyers away, because I don’t want to wait another 8 years for a Wallabies Test Match in Canberra.