McBain
Player Valuation: £80m
After 22 years supporting the mighty blue and gold, I decided to take the 10 minute drive from my house to Parramatta Stadium to watch my favourate NRL team take on the Green Machine of Canberra on Saturday night.
I bought my tickets online, and I decided to sit in the most expensive stand for my first experience. a $35 seat in the Ken Irvine stand.
Parramatta Stadium is around the 20,000 seater mark, and is not a bad little ground.
I parked a minutes walk away with my missus in one of the streets around and was soon finding the right gate. After a couple of failed entries, Id soon enough found and scanned my way through. The staff were great and there was plenty of colour and noise around. We had rushed home after work so we wanted to get a bite and a drink before finding our seats.
$26 later for two cold hot dogs some decent wedges and chips, and a couple of cokes and a couple of sauce sachets id persuaded the kids infront to give me (they'd nicked them anyway) we were sitting up in the stand, seat s22. It was in the far right of the stand, not quite nosebleed but not close enough to recognise the players quickly.
It wasnt the worst seat, but for my $35 I was expecting front and centre, when the rest of the punters were paying $17. The reserves or the Jersey Flegg were getting roundly thumped but they scored a couple of late tries while the other team were cramping up.
The game finished with still 45 to go before the main event. We chatted and watched the build up on the 'big' screen in the furthest part of the ground than we were. The guy with specs behind us couldnt really see it and kept asking outloud 'who was that?' and 'Is that the BIG SCREEN?' They showed glimpses of former glories (The Eels were a big team in the 80's too and I felt again the comparison with the blues, and how being a kid my two favourate teams were world beaters)
I noticed about 20 meters away from us there were some seats that looked like school desks, and some of them were being served hot dinners. There bevvies fit into little cup holders on their flip desks and I realised that must be a 'corperate box' A little bit of coke came out of my nose as I tried not to laugh. They were roped off. They must have felt like right tools.
It was with 5 minutes to go I noticed to my right below there were around 50 people milling around on the little park below. Kids kicking balls around and people across the park in a line, like standing on a sideline. The team were warming up down there! It was too late to go down as the crowd was building.
10,000 on the night for a below average Canberra side is to be expected i guess. My thoughts kept coming back to what it was like at Goodison with 40,000 and the crowd jumping, Z cars belting out and that buzzing inside your nervous system. I wasnt getting it from this lukewarm following I can tell you.
We won the game 30-12 anyway, some great plat from five eighth Matteo, halfback Finch and fullback Burt. Fui Fui Moi Moi was barstorming as ever and 196 cm 108kg winger Tony Williams had a great debut. Now theres a grok who can move.
Will post pics when the upload page works! Heres some Video of a try we scored.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EstcUHACt4E
COYME!!
I bought my tickets online, and I decided to sit in the most expensive stand for my first experience. a $35 seat in the Ken Irvine stand.
Parramatta Stadium is around the 20,000 seater mark, and is not a bad little ground.
I parked a minutes walk away with my missus in one of the streets around and was soon finding the right gate. After a couple of failed entries, Id soon enough found and scanned my way through. The staff were great and there was plenty of colour and noise around. We had rushed home after work so we wanted to get a bite and a drink before finding our seats.
$26 later for two cold hot dogs some decent wedges and chips, and a couple of cokes and a couple of sauce sachets id persuaded the kids infront to give me (they'd nicked them anyway) we were sitting up in the stand, seat s22. It was in the far right of the stand, not quite nosebleed but not close enough to recognise the players quickly.
It wasnt the worst seat, but for my $35 I was expecting front and centre, when the rest of the punters were paying $17. The reserves or the Jersey Flegg were getting roundly thumped but they scored a couple of late tries while the other team were cramping up.
The game finished with still 45 to go before the main event. We chatted and watched the build up on the 'big' screen in the furthest part of the ground than we were. The guy with specs behind us couldnt really see it and kept asking outloud 'who was that?' and 'Is that the BIG SCREEN?' They showed glimpses of former glories (The Eels were a big team in the 80's too and I felt again the comparison with the blues, and how being a kid my two favourate teams were world beaters)
I noticed about 20 meters away from us there were some seats that looked like school desks, and some of them were being served hot dinners. There bevvies fit into little cup holders on their flip desks and I realised that must be a 'corperate box' A little bit of coke came out of my nose as I tried not to laugh. They were roped off. They must have felt like right tools.
It was with 5 minutes to go I noticed to my right below there were around 50 people milling around on the little park below. Kids kicking balls around and people across the park in a line, like standing on a sideline. The team were warming up down there! It was too late to go down as the crowd was building.
10,000 on the night for a below average Canberra side is to be expected i guess. My thoughts kept coming back to what it was like at Goodison with 40,000 and the crowd jumping, Z cars belting out and that buzzing inside your nervous system. I wasnt getting it from this lukewarm following I can tell you.
We won the game 30-12 anyway, some great plat from five eighth Matteo, halfback Finch and fullback Burt. Fui Fui Moi Moi was barstorming as ever and 196 cm 108kg winger Tony Williams had a great debut. Now theres a grok who can move.
Will post pics when the upload page works! Heres some Video of a try we scored.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EstcUHACt4E
COYME!!
