In the last 10+ years, we have only two test matches in Canberra - one against Italy and one against Fiji. The Italy game was packed out and was an entertaining game. The Fiji game wasn't full, but as Slim said, you wouldn't have got a bigger crowd anywhere else either. The game itself wasn't very good, but that wasn't the crowd's fault - more like teams not used to playing in colder temperatures. I was at both games, and I also went to the Baby Blacks game we had a few years ago.
Canberra has cold winters, but no colder than NZ venues, and certainly warmer than the NH winter venues. In winter the temperature drops quickly once the sun has gone down, which means a heavy dew on the ground and a wet ball. If they want to increase the crowds for minnow games (and the quality of the rugby) the ARU should consider day games. That is what the NRL have done - all midwinter Raiders games in Canberra are Sunday afternoon.
Transport has been a problem for some time, but only if you drive your car, as it is a pain to get in and out of. Many people catch the FREE buses to and from the ground. The buses run from the town centres - Belconnen, City, Woden and Tuggeranong - about every 15 minutes to the games, and continuously for an hour or so afterwards. No-one would be walking to get out of the ground - as Slim has said, they are walking back to where they parked their cars for free instead of paying the $6 parking fee.
In the short time we had the ARC, it was played at Manuka Oval. It is an oval ground bigger in size than the MCG, with a seating capacity of 10,000, so the view was terrible. I went to several games but only to try and support the competition, as you were too far away from the game with no elevation to be able to see it properly.
Canberra has been a rugby heartland since I can remember. When I was in school in the 60's the ACT was a powerhouse in schoolboy rugby, but hopeless in league. We would regularly have OS teams visiting. I went to the ACT vs Springboks game where the protestors were a problem, and also the English schoolboys vs ACT schoolboys in the mid 70's.
Not ever having at least a minnows game in a Rugby heartland, while catering to "new markets" is fraught with danger. If you alienate your traditional player and supporter base, they will look to other sports instead. I don't mean you shouldn't ever base games at places like the Gold Coast, but to say we should never get any more international games here is being very short-sighted. Especially if it is based on one less than stellar game experience, that may or may not have been any better anywhere else.
We are constantly being told in every sport in Canberra that we need to go to whatever second tier games that we manage to get, or we will never get any of the better ones. Well, we never get any of the better ones anyway, as administration's eyes are always on the dollars and the new markets they are trying to crack. One of the main advantages we have over NRL and AFL is international matches. I know we will never get a Bledisloe or a SA, but at least give us something every few years as an acknowledgement that we are not completely unwanted or unimportant in Australian rugby.
