Wallabies v France 1st test - Suncorp 7 June

[TahDan]

Of course it's expensive ffs. 55 bucks for poor seats against a weak opponent in a game that doesn't mean anything is not value. You cannot compare origin because the demand for that is thrice that of rugby and it would sell out if tickets were $300. Anyone not on a comfortable income like Uni students is going to be uncomfortable forking up for a game like that at this time of the year.

And you can't say we didn't know it was a poor French side, they admitted they were leaving a form players at home because they were in need if a rest

$55 isn't much. You're watching a test match and that's only about 2.5 times the average club match ticket...

As I said, we didn't know how France would fair until kick off. They came out under similar circumstances a few years back and gave us a mighty big fright - like England did to the ABs last night.

The thing is, France is still a top tier Rugby nation and the Wallabies are only playing two games at Suncorp each year, so I reckon you ought to be able to expect a better crowd than that, particularly for the first match of a 3 test series.

If Suncorp was like ANZ Stadium (far a way from civilisation and crap viewing angles) then I'd kinda get it, but it's an awesome place to watch footy and its in a prime location...

 

[Penguin]

Is $55 really that expensive? Origin tickets were selling for about $350 and they sold that out. You can talk about the French not being up to standard, but we didn't know what they'd be like until kick-off really and if anything there were more doubts about the English side, and look what happened with them.


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The state of origin tickets weren't selling out at that price though, they had to swallow their pride & drop the prices to sell out, 1st time in a long time it wasn't sold out in a day!

I'd hazard a guess that the $55 test tickets sold out, as those are the cheap seats..... it's the more expensive ones that aare holding back the crowd figures.

 

[TahDan]

The state of origin tickets weren't selling out at that price though, they had to swallow their pride & drop the prices to sell out, 1st time in a long time it wasn't sold out in a day!

I'd hazard a guess that the $55 test tickets sold out, as those are the cheap seats... it's the more expensive ones that aare holding back the crowd figures.

May well be true. I noticed for the Sydney game the cheap seats sold out long ago, meaning I paid $100 for my cat B ones.

Not that I mind. I'm by no means wealthy, but it's so rare to get a test match against a top tier team at the SFS that I just had to get them.

 

[barbarian]

I know there was a deal on the cheap seats for junior and suburban clubs for the SFS test, which may explain their quick sale. A group of about 150 guys are going from my club alone.
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[Shiggins]

What a super start to the series. The wallabies played some great rugby. I thought that penalty try was a bit soft ad it seemed as though the French got blown into the game a little towards the end. Hopefully the French come out better next week.

 

[Richo]

I think people have a pretty unrealistic understanding of the economy of an event like a rugby test. We remember prices from 10 years ago and think they should be the same, but the reality is that costs have been rising consistently in Australia over the last ten years. Just in the last 3 years, average weekly earnings have risen by $200 to around $1,500. Consumer confidence might be down somewhat, but income have risen steadily and the costs of staging a rugby match with them.

To expect the ARU to run any of its limited set of earnings opportunities as loss leaders isn't realistic. They need to maximize earnings at each stage and hope that the Wallabies play exciting, energizing rugby that encourages fans to turn up. If they'd slashed ticket prices to fill Suncorp and the Wallabies had been poor, the ARU would be doubly screwed.

It costs $20 to go to a movie and $75 (and up and up) to go to see a Sydney Theatre Company production. $55 for an international rugby test does not seem wildly expensive to me -- and I say this as a casual academic who makes well under the average weekly income.

 

[Pfitzy]

Watched back the first 25 minutes or so - shit To'omua was good. While Foley did a lot of linking and running, To'omua was doing some seriously good work at second receiver.

Foley fell off a few tackles though, so it will be interesting to see what happens when Bastareux is back

 

[Richo]

To'omua seems to be very well suited to test rugby -- more so than Super. Reminds me of Berrick Barnes before the head knocks and injuries sapped his confidence.

 

[Pfitzy]

I think 12 is actually his best position, and his Super form reflects that. Giteau was similar - lit the place up at 12, with a good 10 feeding him. At 10, he didn't really fit as well.

 

[TahDan]

I think people have a pretty unrealistic understanding of the economy of an event like a rugby test. We remember prices from 10 years ago and think they should be the same, but the reality is that costs have been rising consistently in Australia over the last ten years. Just in the last 3 years, average weekly earnings have risen by $200 to around $1,500. Consumer confidence might be down somewhat, but income have risen steadily and the costs of staging a rugby match with them.

To expect the ARU to run any of its limited set of earnings opportunities as loss leaders isn't realistic. They need to maximize earnings at each stage and hope that the Wallabies play exciting, energizing rugby that encourages fans to turn up. If they'd slashed ticket prices to fill Suncorp and the Wallabies had been poor, the ARU would be doubly screwed.

It costs $20 to go to a movie and $75 (and up and up) to go to see a Sydney Theatre Company production. $55 for an international rugby test does not seem wildly expensive to me -- and I say this as a casual academic who makes well under the average weekly income.

Agree 100%. I'll happily fork out $100-150 for a test footy ticket against a big side. The analogy of movie tickets is a fair one too - you can spend $50 to go to the movies these days just for a bigger chair, so it's not all that nuts to ask for what they are for a wallabies test.

People are talking about Brisbanites as being wise to avoid the match because it was such a walk over, but I reckon it would have been great to see a try scoring clinic like that live.

 

[barbarian]

To'omua seems to be very well suited to test rugby -- more so than Super. Reminds me of Berrick Barnes before the head knocks and injuries sapped his confidence.

Yeah as I said on the front page, To'omua is a genuine test player.

It reminds me a bit of Queensland in their origin prime. Blokes like Petero, Tate, Price, Thaiday would be so-so for their clubs, but they were picked every time because they grew 2ft when they put on the maroon jersey.

To'omua and Fardy are the same breed. Both have a hard edge that comes out only in the toughest moments. Oddly enough I think Sam Carter may be the same.

I wonder if the work Laurie and Bernie (and Jake) did with these blokes has given them something that makes them better test players? The record of the Brumby debutants in the last year has been very good indeed.
.

 

[MungoMan]

Agree 100%. I'll happily fork out $100-150 for a test footy ticket against a big side. The analogy of movie tickets is a fair one too - you can spend $50 to go to the movies these days just for a bigger chair, so it's not all that nuts to ask for what they are for a wallabies test.

People are talking about Brisbanites as being wise to avoid the match because it was such a walk over, but I reckon it would have been great to see a try scoring clinic like that live.

I certainly thought so. Particularly as the other games I've been to recently - bar the last - have featured the Reds getting hosed...

 

[I like to watch]

The state of origin tickets weren't selling out at that price though, they had to swallow their pride & drop the prices to sell out, 1st time in a long time it wasn't sold out in a day!

I'd hazard a guess that the $55 test tickets sold out, as those are the cheap seats... it's the more expensive ones that aare holding back the crowd figures.

Watching on the tv it looked to me that whole sections up high were empty.
I would have thought they were the cheap seats?

 

[Melbourne Terrace]

I think people have a pretty unrealistic understanding of the economy of an event like a rugby test. We remember prices from 10 years ago and think they should be the same, but the reality is that costs have been rising consistently in Australia over the last ten years. Just in the last 3 years, average weekly earnings have risen by $200 to around $1,500. Consumer confidence might be down somewhat, but income have risen steadily and the costs of staging a rugby match with them.

To expect the ARU to run any of its limited set of earnings opportunities as loss leaders isn't realistic. They need to maximize earnings at each stage and hope that the Wallabies play exciting, energizing rugby that encourages fans to turn up. If they'd slashed ticket prices to fill Suncorp and the Wallabies had been poor, the ARU would be doubly screwed.

It costs $20 to go to a movie and $75 (and up and up) to go to see a Sydney Theatre Company production. $55 for an international rugby test does not seem wildly expensive to me -- and I say this as a casual academic who makes well under the average weekly income.

Well I'll put it this way. I go every now and then with a group of 10-15 rugby nuts who go most weeks from UQ rugby to a reds (or broncos depending on who's playing who) game where it's about $25-30max.

Only 2 of them were interested in buying tickets last nights match because they didn't see how the product last night was worth 15-25 bucks more than what they get every week (yes it's a test match but that doesn't make it that much more appealing these days) Instead they watched it at a mates house on Foxtel. Like it or not, the wallabies are no longer a premium product and can't keep charging these premium prices because Australian rugby has gone downhill since 03.

 

[TahDan]

That's a very poor sign for the ARU and Australian rugby in general really... if people will happily go to watch the socceroos play a meaningless 1-1 draw in a friendly in greater numbers than they will to watch the Wallabies play the opening test of a 3 test series against a top tier country, then we're in trouble.

 

[Ash]

ESPN stats from last night:

http://www.espnscrum.com/scrum/rugby/match/193509.html

Some interesting stats there. Carter with an impressive 17 tackles, Hooper with 14, and Slipper with 9 despite playing only 62 minutes.

According to ESPN stats, a lot of our missed tackles need to have occurred midfield, around the 10/12 channel.

BTW, I thought that Joubert was generous to the French scrum before our first string props were subbed, as it looked like they got away with not taking the weight. However, the less said about Paddy Ryan's scrummaging the better.

 

[Richo]

Well I'll put it this way. I go every now and then with a group of 10-15 rugby nuts who go most weeks from UQ rugby to a reds (or broncos depending on who's playing who) game where it's about $25-30max.

Only 2 of them were interested in buying tickets last nights match because they didn't see how the product last night was worth 15-25 bucks more than what they get every week (yes it's a test match but that doesn't make it that much more appealing these days) Instead they watched it at a mates house on Foxtel. Like it or not, the wallabies are no longer a premium product and can't keep charging these premium prices because Australian rugby has gone downhill since 03.

I don't doubt that your anecdote occurred, but it's not an argument. There is absolutely no value for the ARU in catering to fans who want to pay the same amount for Wallabies games as the Super Rugby games. Not to mention the far more obvious point: $55 is NOT a premium price. It's actually a reasonable price. If the ARU charged $30 for cheap seats to a Wallabies test, they'd be fucking mad.

Of course, in the scenario that you described, it was your stingy mates who lost out by not seeing some scintillating rugby in person. At least they saved the price of 3 beers though, hey?

 

[Ash]

And oh yeah, Folau's stats back up his game: crazy good.

 

[Pfitzy]

According to ESPN stats, a lot of our missed tackles need to have occurred midfield, around the 10/12 channel.

Foley missed 5 of 13 on his own according to that. I thought it was 3 or 4. To'omua missed 3 of 9 which surprised me. He put a couple of good ones on though and shot out of the line to slow a couple of attacks.

But that is where they're going to send Bastareux next week...

 

[KOB1987]

who starts the new threads? We are probably due to go to a 2nd test one now..