Some mates and I just got back from a weekend at 7s and I won't re-hash what everyone has been saying about transport, location etc but I have to say I think Skilled Park and the Gold Coast in general could work if the GC could get their transport sorted.
Lets give them a little benefit of the doubt, with the construction of the new light rail there were plenty of road works which really slowed up all the traffic etc around the main areas, in 12 months time that won't be an issue. Im not saying it will solve all the problems but at least it will alleviate some of the hassle that happened this weekend. In saying that there really needs to be either a) more dedicated transport options available directly to the stadium or b) if there are already structures in place then they need to be advertising them better because my mates and I got stuck paying $40 for cabs to and from surfers each day simply because we had no idea what other options were around.
This might just be how I feel but I think the Gold Coast venue is part of what made the weekend special. Despite all the transport hassles I would definitely go again because spending some time down the coast really got us into what the whole 'festival' atmosphere that 7s is about and a boys weekend is always a good idea if you get the missus permission haha. For me it just wouldn't be as special rocking up to Ballymore or Suncorp to watch rugby all day, I would go probably for one of the days but not both and im sure the ARU would have looked into that type of issue before settling on the GC venue.
As long as their willing to roll up their sleeves and really market the event then I say let them keep it for another couple of years and see what happens.
