Wallabies v France 1st test - Suncorp 7 June

[GaffaCHinO]

Cummins stats also great

 

[Melbourne Terrace]

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?

Well i guess Australia better start playing in smaller cheaper stadiums then if it can't afford to charge less than that because 20000 empty seats is not an image the game can afford right now. If 55 was a reasonable price by then more people should have turned up, but that's not what happened.

 

[Pfitzy]

Well i guess Australia better start playing in smaller cheaper stadiums then if it can't afford to charge less than that because 20000 empty seats is not an image the game can afford right now. If 55 was a reasonable price by then more people should have turned up, but that's not what happened.

$55 is a great price - particularly for THAT stadium. I paid $107 for the SFS test.

I paid $96 back in 2000 for the Bledisloe at the height of Wallaby Golden Years, and never regretted it.

The problem is not just the ARU's profits - its about paying for the venue.

 

[TahDan]

Well i guess Australia better start playing in smaller cheaper stadiums then if it can't afford to charge less than that because 20000 empty seats is not an image the game can afford right now. If 55 was a reasonable price by then more people should have turned up, but that's not what happened.

I reckon that this will just reflect on Brisbane more than anything, as it's looking like they'll close to fill the SFS in Sydney for their test. Perhaps it'll just mean that in future they just won't take these games to Brisbane, but rather somewhere else.


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[notapatrioticboneinme]

I havent read the preceding 38 pages so i imagine it has been discussed.
Was Michelak onside? he appeared to be ~ 1m in front of the "most rearward feet"

 

[Melbourne Terrace]

I reckon that this will just reflect on Brisbane more than anything, as it's looking like they'll close to fill the SFS in Sydney for their test. Perhaps it'll just mean that in future they just won't take these games to Brisbane, but rather somewhere else.


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It'll be a poor turnout in Melbourne as well with similar prices and a worse and much hated Etihad Stadium and quite likely would have been poor anywhere in the country bar the SFS which would sell out no matter who you played. When the alternative Sydney game is the annual flogging by NZ at Homebush it's not surprising that SFS games are popular.

ARU should be looking at why the reasons behind the poor turnout rather than just lazily blaming Brisbane

 

[barbarian]

I thought Joubert made the right call there. Michelak wasn't behind the last feet when the ball came out but he was just about there when he made contact with AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper). It was an inch either way, so play on for mine.
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[barbarian]

It'll be a poor turnout in Melbourne as well with similar prices and a worse and much hated Etihad Stadium and quite likely would have been poor anywhere in the country bar the SFS which would sell out no matter who you played. When the alternative Sydney game is the annual flogging by NZ at Homebush it's not surprising that SFS games are popular.

ARU should be looking at why the reasons behind the poor turnout rather than just lazily blaming Brisbane

But the alternative Brisbane game is the 'annual flogging' as well, so surely by that logic last night should have been a sell-out.

And I haven't seen the ARU 'blaming Brisbane' anywhere, I am sure they will be investigating the cause of the low crowds.
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[Train Without a Station]

Looking at events in Melbourne recently I've had the following prices:

Rocky Horror Picture Show from $79 for a show which has been done for years and a 2 month run.

Tim Rogers, Josh Pyke, Chris Cheney and Phil Jameson perform the "White Album" at Hamer Hall $70.

Any regular season AFL game from $25

Wallabies tests from $55. Not bad for a rep test, of which there are 7 instances Australia wide for the calendar year. Seems reasonable value if you like rugby and going to live events.

If you're a negative fuck like Melbourne Terrace you can pick the fuck out of it but really it's a limited supply premium event, on par with round 1 of the AFL finals and the price is on par.

 

[Penguin]

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

Nope, those seats high on either side are deemed platinum or gold. Both ends and corners are the cheap seats, all looked full.

 

[KOB1987]

Yep 92 tests a great reason for him to be in the side, accompanied by his career best form but not an argument for him to be skipper. Hooper has been captain of Junior sides whilst AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) has not, tough for a winger to be captain also. Hooper is the inspirational lead from the front skipper that we need, in the mould of a sir richie.

I actually don't have any issues with Hooper being made captain and I suspect he will be, I am just making a case for the other candidate. The fact that he is on the wing is largely irrelevant in this day and age with the leadership group.

If Hooper is captain then another forward needs to be selected as VC. Fardy is the obvious one but he probably wouldn't pick another back rower, so from the tight 5 the options are Slipper or Simmons, neither are great choices.

So, being a bit of a visionary here, I'd make AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) captain, I think he has the respect of the whole team, and Hooper and To'omua VCs. Add Moore in once he is fit again and that leadership group can carry us through to the RWC in 2015. My opinion only.

 

[TahDan]

It'll be a poor turnout in Melbourne as well with similar prices and a worse and much hated Etihad Stadium and quite likely would have been poor anywhere in the country bar the SFS which would sell out no matter who you played. When the alternative Sydney game is the annual flogging by NZ at Homebush it's not surprising that SFS games are popular.

ARU should be looking at why the reasons behind the poor turnout rather than just lazily blaming Brisbane

What's your theory then? Perhaps Qlders are just saving their pennies for Origin 3? As everyone else has pointed out here, these prices aren't really unreasonable - particularly for a sport like Rugby where the core audience is generally middle class.

 

[Ruggo]

I'm not sold on the idea of Hooper as captain. Just let him play his rugby and focus on his own game. I would prefer an older head TBH but captaining a side from the wing just sounds ridiculous. Slipper would be a fair choice at captain and honestly I think both Fardy or Palu would be well up for it also.

Reds bias, blah, blah, blah but I would rather see Genia take the bench 9 spot from Phipps. We know what he is capable of and the Reds vs Clan game showed him starting to get his mojo back. He is capable of blowing a game wide open but I doubt Phipps could do that.

Simmons also showed why he was selected as our lineout was well on song.

In no way do I want to dampen what was a good Wallaby performance but crikey the French were terrible.

Bad luck to Moore and Carter, especially Moore.

 

[I like to watch]

Nope, those seats high on either side are deemed platinum or gold. Both ends and corners are the cheap seats, all looked full.

Huh?
The furthest seats are the most expensive?
I can see why no one bought them.

At Homebush the only Gold seats I have ever got are in the fucking cnrs!
Bronze seats must be in another postcode.

 

[Ruggo]

But the alternative Brisbane game is the 'annual flogging' as well, so surely by that logic last night should have been a sell-out.

And I haven't seen the ARU 'blaming Brisbane' anywhere, I am sure they will be investigating the cause of the low crowds.
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Use it or lose it I say. Perth I am sure would want it and that new re development at the Adelaide oval looks an absolute rippa.

Newcastle looks a good option also because they put on a good turnout for that Scotland game in those dreadful conditions.

That crowd last night was just terrible. I am not confident about Melbourne either next week. Fantastic rectangle stadium and they still take test rugby to a shitty oval.

 

[Scotty]

All 3 of them plus Hooper and Fardy were the standouts for mine....

But To'omua was my MOTM, as he was involved in so many key moments in the game....

Aside from having a hand in a few tries (including one himself), he made so many big important tackles that helped to shut down the French for the first hour of the game....

I agree on this. To'omua was clearly better than Foley both in the 10 and 12 channel. He is a born test player - strength, composure and gets all the 1% ers just right.

Here is hoping he stays injury free for a long time - potential to become worlds best 12 by RWC.

 

[TOCC]

France are hardly a premium product to the Australian public.. Ask a casual rugby supporter to name some French players and Sebastian Chabal is probably the only one they will be able to name..

Australia has no great rivalry with France, France finished 4th in the 6 Nations, and on top of that, the Wallabies have a long tradition now of disappointing fans with lacklustre performances. It's not surprising people were unwilling to pay.

 

[Ruggo]

Nope, those seats high on either side are deemed platinum or gold. Both ends and corners are the cheap seats, all looked full.

The top level seats at Lang Park above the Reds members side are not worth their platinum listing in my view. We sat there for the Reds Vs Brumbies earlier in the year and I didn't like them. The view was ok but it was just to far removed from the atmosphere. A couple of years back we sat in the top row of the bowl at the end of the ground in the gold catagory and it was much better.

We sat last year for the Lions tour match verse the Reds in the top level in the corner but that night you could of sat anywhere in that ground and caught the vibe.

 

[Ruggo]

France are hardly a premium product to the Australian public.. Ask a casual rugby supporter to name some French players and Sebastian Chabal is probably the only one they will be able to name..

Australia has no great rivalry with France, France finished 4th in the 6 Nations, and on top of that, the Wallabies have a long tradition now of disappointing fans with lacklustre performances. It's not surprising people were unwilling to pay.

But the Wallabies entered this game with four wins on the trot, a known new way of playing the game under a new coach that lead the local super rugby franchise to a title and a period that put them back on the map and competing very well with the other football codes. The crowd was very poor no matter which way you spin it.

 

[RedsHappy]

But the alternative Brisbane game is the 'annual flogging' as well, so surely by that logic last night should have been a sell-out.

And I haven't seen the ARU 'blaming Brisbane' anywhere, I am sure they will be investigating the cause of the low crowds.
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Barb, as I mentioned above, all the latest speculative arguments that last night's low crowd numbers at 34,000 were due to 'the economy'. 'high prices', 'later on Bled to come', 'two 2014 SOOs'. etc all fall away when it's realised that never before since Suncorp's redevelopment in 2003 has a Wallaby Test had a crowd less than c.41,000. This 11 year period spans the GFC, double SOOs, 'second tier Test nations (incl France in 2008)', awful Reds periods, etc. If these factors were highly influential we'd have seen large negative variances in Wallaby crowds at Suncorp since 2003, but we haven't.

To me, the only recent and new differentiator that makes sense in explaining this worrying crowd drop of an unprecedented type is the most obvious one, namely: the quality of the Wallabies' product/brand as on display in recent periods has fallen off as perceived by the more casual fans that drive probably 30+% of Wallaby ticket buyers in Brisbane. And casual fans of all codes are gradually becoming more discriminating.

The Suncorp Wales Test in 2012 was an awfully turgid, grinding, skill-less, low tries affair and I can vividly recall the flatness of the crowd as we all departed. A win yes, but it felt like an exercise in what was wrong with the code and how poorly the Wallabies were then expressing themselves within it. 2013's heavy Suncorp loss to the Boks was not encouraging, the team looked badly underdone and somewhat clueless even under Link. BIL 1 was just lost, but the Wallabies again appeared as though they'd only ever eke out marginal wins with an attack that never seemed confident. And for years now, Deans' name was boo-ed at Suncorp team announcements pre-game - there was a real message in that, the fans were on the edge of not coming back.

The wonderful just-in-time thing about last night's game was that The Long Dark Years have clearly ended. The whole team seemed vastly improved, 7 tries were scored, the attacking skill, pace, accuracy etc were exemplary and the team played as one positive unit. The crowd around us were excited and engaged, and I sensed really felt they got their $s worth, or more. And that's as it must be and that's just what will be required to get Suncorp Wallaby crowds back to healthy, history-beating levels.