Back to Ballymore will be good for Reds, says Horwill
By Laine Clark, 27 Jan 2010 Laine Clark is a Roar Pro
- Tagged:
- James Horwill, Queensland rugby, Reds, Rugby Union, Super Rugby
Queensland rugby captain James Horwill believes their upcoming matches at Ballymore may be a test case for not only the Reds but also A-League outfit the Brisbane Roar.
Horwill can not hide his excitement over the Reds returning to their spiritual home for two matches – Friday’s trial against the Crusaders ahead of a Super 14 clash with the Blues on February 27.
And he believed more Reds games should be held at Ballymore rather than their regular homeground Suncorp Stadium – if the two matches proved a hit.
“It’s a very special place for Queensland rugby, and I think it would be good if we got a number of games back here,” he said.
“You remember growing up and coming to Ballymore.
“I think it is something the crowds will look forward to, and I hope they get a taste for it.”
A-League club the Roar also uses the 52,000-capacity Suncorp Stadium as their homeground, but have attracted less than 6,000 fans to some games.
It is believed Football Federation Australia have taken over negotiations in a bid to secure the Roar a better tenancy deal with Suncorp Stadium.
But Horwill believed the Roar may also sit up and take notice if the Reds games at the 24,000-seat venue are successful.
“Definitely. It (more Ballymore games) is something we will have to look at (if it is successful),” he said.
“We will see if we make a profit from it, if the fans come out, and how logistically it works with the traffic – I know that could have been a problem previously.
“So that’s some things we have to work out.”
Horwill said of their current Suncorp Stadium homeground: “We don’t dislike it – it’s one of the best rugby grounds in the world.
“But it’s a 50,000-seat stadium, and if you have only got 20,000 in there it does look a bit empty.
“But if we had 20,000 here (Ballymore) they would be hanging from the rafters.”
However, a more permanent move to Ballymore by either the Reds or the Roar appears a long way off with the venue’s facilities needing a major overhaul.
The QRU have development applications before the Brisbane City Council regarding a $100 million upgrade.
But it obviously has a special place in the heart of rugby fans – even former NSW Waratahs prop Ewen McKenzie, who is now the Reds coach.
“Ballymore is one of my happiest hunting grounds – as a Wallaby I never lost a Test here,” he said.
“And no doubt, it’s very near and dear to a lot of Queensland supporters.
“The inter-state rivalry we slugged it out here – literally – on many occasions.
“They were great encounters and any opportunity to revisit those traditional derby matches is a great occasion – I am looking forward to it.”
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chief said | January 27th 2010 @ 8:49am | Report comment
Surely the government can’t ignore an International game anymore. Redevelop it please
Jay said | January 27th 2010 @ 8:59am | Report comment
Understand it is their spiritual home (the Broncos are also playing a trial there, against the Raider I believe), but shouldnt they foucs on trying to bring more people in the door to their games to the best rugby stadium in Australia?
Justin said | January 27th 2010 @ 9:10am | Report comment
Agree with your sentiment Jay but when there are low rating teams from SA in particular I think Ballymore would be perfect in terms of size.
I dont recall which Gov reversed the funding on BM but now with 7s in the Olympics perhaps it needs another look. They could make it the base for the team and training centre.
True Tah said | January 27th 2010 @ 3:55pm | Report comment
It was Kevin Rudd’s govt that slashed the Ballymore funding
Brian said | January 27th 2010 @ 4:18pm | Report comment
If the Wallabies start winning (the idea of the Reds consistently winning is a little harder to fathom):
you can guarantee Kevin Rudd will be there with the gold scarf.
Jay said | January 28th 2010 @ 10:51am | Report comment
not unless a lions games is on at the same time.
Bay35Pablo said | January 27th 2010 @ 9:27am | Report comment
Many Reds fans suggest the transport and general infrastructure for ballymore, and the distance within the city, is also a problem. So a $100m refit won’t fix that too.
What’s the input on that from Reds fans (including redsfan and The Other Reds Fan!)?
Sam el Perro said | January 27th 2010 @ 4:59pm | Report comment
I’ve never had too many probs getting to Ballymore, and it certainly isn’t too far from the city. Compare it with ANZ stadium, which was a good 10-15 minutes down the freeway from the CBD.
The Other Reds Fan. said | January 27th 2010 @ 6:55pm | Report comment
Bay,
It seems to me that the main argument to stay at Lang Park is that Ballymore has poor public transport access and that the main argument to leave Lang Park is that it is crippling us financially.
If moving to Ballymore means that the Reds will start winning again, the crowds will find a way to get there no matter how bad the public transport is. And I believe that returning to Ballymore will help us return to our winning ways. Apart from financial considerations, it seems that the players want to return ‘home’ and surely that can’t be ignored.
I believe we originally moved to Lang Park as part of turning professional optimistically hoping to expand our supporter base at a bigger ground with better public transport access. The problem was that we then had little success on the field, so no-one turned up (including me). The Reds were left with high lease fees which meant less money to attract and retain quality players and coaches. In short, the problem was our on-field failures and there are numerous reasons for that (such as the Force) but suffice to say that they resulted in a lack of player talent to compete in an international competition.
If we move back to Ballymore, the money saved can be spent on retaining and attracting those better players and coaching staff. But I don’t see that even a successful Queensland team is going to regularly attract more than 24,000 to their home games in the forseeable future. Why do we need to play in a 50,000 seat stadium? The Brumbies don’t. Most of the rugby league teams are based at Ballymore size grounds. I suspect that there is some political pressure.
Like Horwill, I would rather be at a full house at Ballymore than a half empty Lang Park. It was quite intimidating to visiting teams.
The Reds need to come home to Ballymore (and bring back their old jersey design). See you there on Friday.
reds fan said | January 28th 2010 @ 8:13am | Report comment
TORF, if I thought playing at Ballymore would mean more wins then I’d be on the bandwagon. But that simply isn’t the case. Most of the guys in the squad have never known it as their home ground. I reckon only Hardman would have ever played a super season there.
On the saving money issue, its not as simple as saying we own Ballymore therefore we save money. To get it up to standard they need to invest tens of millions to reverse years of doing nothing to the ground. A strategic decision was made not to maintain it. To reverse that would take big loans and would soak up any savings from not playing at Suncorp. That is why they are trying to government grants, because teh loans required could cripple them more than teh cost of playing at Suncorp.
Are you saying that given the same results of the past three years you would have gone to games if they were played at Ballymore?
Matt said | January 28th 2010 @ 10:09am | Report comment
Surely you don’t have to have played at the ground to call it ‘home’? As Horwell has said “You remember growing up and coming to Ballymore”. It’s the fans and long time Reds supporters who call it home. That sort of attitude rubs on the team and inspires better performance.
If the Reds could then get the Roar as tenants at the ground then a grant for redevelopment might not be impossible.
reds fan said | January 28th 2010 @ 10:33am | Report comment
Agreed Matt. However, Horwill is in the minority. Our playing list is quite light on QLD’ers. Lots of interstate and NZ imports. If the same big deal was made about Suncorp being home the same psychological impact can be made. But i’m not sure any talk of ‘home’ is enough to build a business case on, especially when that business case could make or break QLD rugby.
It could be an expensive mistake if supporters stay away because of location and access reasons.
To be honest I have been very surprised at the resilience of the QLD crowd numbers. They still manage 19,000 for the last round of 2009 when all was lost, and after three years in the bottom three. That is a pretty hard core bunch of supporters.
The Other Reds Fan. said | January 28th 2010 @ 1:07pm | Report comment
RF, there are arguments both ways and I wish I had a crystal ball. Your question to me is hypothetical because I don’t think we would have had the bad results over the past three years had we been at Ballymore because the saved money would have been spent on better players and coaches which means more success on the field. Easy to say I know, and I am not for a minute suggesting we would have won the comp, but the results couldn’t have been any worse than what we had.
Don’t the juniors grow up playing their finals at Ballymore as well as school interstate games and alike? So from an early age it develops as the spiritual home of rugby for Queenslanders (players and spectators) as well as an intimidating venue with (hopefully) bad memories for outsiders. It doesn’t just become your home ground once you make the Reds team.
I am not convinced that to go back there necessarily means an immediate multi-million dollar upgrade. I was there recently to watch a womens soccer match and although the crowd was tiny, the place seemed OK to me. The field is in beautiful condition. Apart from a seat with a view, a beer and a pie and a winning team, what else do you need? I will see you there tomorrow night because if it was at Lang Park I wouldn’t bother going just for a trial.
reds fan said | January 28th 2010 @ 4:47pm | Report comment
You sure will. Looking forward to seeing how Hynes goes at 15, seeing how Chambers adapts, whether Higs is the answer at 8. Looking forward to watching how Walsh and Lucas shape up. There are so many questions about this team… hopefully we start getting some answers tomorrow.
reds fan said | January 28th 2010 @ 4:52pm | Report comment
We also need to be the look out for the Houston gut. Its not playing due to a knee niggle, but we all need to keep an eye out for its current size.
If anyone manages to sight the mighty beast please post your report here.
The Other Reds Fan. said | January 28th 2010 @ 5:41pm | Report comment
I will be taking my 11 year old son and my brother in law who will be bringing his two boys as well. This is how the spirit of Ballymore starts. I hope they remember today’s stars like I remember Paddy Batch, Paul McLean, Roger Gould, David Hillhouse, Tim Horan, etc,etc,etc.
Mind you we are also all going to the NSW game at Lang Park.
Towser said | January 27th 2010 @ 10:06am | Report comment
As a Roar fan & living close by, Ballymore is ideal. Both for my own convenience & its size is the right fit for the Roar.
Where I see its drawback is lack of modern facilities having sat at Suncorp for 5 years. This would equally apply to both the Reds & Roar. Going through the gate at Suncorp is a breeze,but having been to a Roar trial match at Ballymore it seemed very primitive in comparison. It definitely needs to be modernised all round . Toilet facilities,catering are vastly inferior to Suncorp. A combined push by The Roar & Reds would have more clout in getting an upgrade with the promise of both to play there.
The problem I see is that the QLD government is cutting off its nose to spite its face if it approves an upgrade.
It would then have one tenant at Suncorp . Hardly enough to keep the stadium viable,much like QE2.
If that could be overcome & upgraded the place to be for the Roar. Cant speak for Reds fans,but personally I find Suncorp at times too sanitised,particularly given the poor crowds we’ve had this season.
deepinthought said | January 27th 2010 @ 10:09am | Report comment
I wonder how the Red’s major sponsor (Qld Railways) would react to them playing more games at a venue that has no train station?
BoundaryRider said | January 27th 2010 @ 1:08pm | Report comment
Only 1 game this year v Auckland, it will be good to be back there. Hopefully we see a few games there in 2011 with the longer season, especially for games v the south african teams which draw smaller crowds. Perhaps 1 game at the Gold Coast would be well recevied as well. With transport the Wilston train station is aprrox 800m from the ground (north over the creek) and there is a newwide footbridge which should make access much better.
Comrade Bear said | January 27th 2010 @ 1:34pm | Report comment
Not a good sign for me.
Don’t get me wrong – I am definitely looking forward to the games at Ballymore and am definitely looking forward to some beers on the Hill this Friday – but the way I see it is that we should be getting at least 40k fans to every home game – in which case Ballymore should not be an option.
chris, syd Aust said | January 27th 2010 @ 3:49pm | Report comment
40k to a s14 match… phhoar having abit of a lend dont you think.
the cricket ODI at scg only just got over 30k last sunday – and thats for australia
JamesI said | January 27th 2010 @ 8:04pm | Report comment
Whilst I would love to see 40,000 at a Reds match, when you consider the Broncos averaged crowds for the six months ended 30 June 2009 of 35,993, I think we’ll be waiting a while.
Comrade Bear said | January 29th 2010 @ 12:09pm | Report comment
Don’t get me wrong – I know the Reds are currently NOWHERE near that mark – all I am saying is that that is what they should be aiming at. If you get a sellout at Suncorp for a Wallabies Match it means that there are more than 40k rugby fans in Brisbane – which means there are already more than 40k potential Reds fans already there.
…and like you said 35k on average for the Broncos – and that is over a much longer season. Why shouldn’t the Reds be looking to achieve something like 40k? They are not aiming high enough – or trying hard enough for me.
Altona Rebel said | January 27th 2010 @ 3:49pm | Report comment
I understand that Ballymore is the spiritual home for Queensland Rugby and a lot of people would love to see games return there, But isn’t Skilled Park a better option with a train station just down the road and up to date facilities ? If you want to play at Ballymore then maybe QRU should ask Soccer Australia to include the upgrade in the World cup process then it can be used by Reds and the Roar.
My personal opinion is that in 2011 the Reds should play all SA teams at Ballymore as only the die hard fans will probably go, Play all the New Zealand teams at Skilled Park for the amount of Kiwis living there also they could arrange Holiday packages from New Zealand and all play the Interstate teams at Suncorp stadium this spreading the games to where they will be best suited.
P.S. Being from Melbourne I would like to add that Melbourne Rebels should please leave the Reds alone, the Brumbies and Tahs have been stock piling players for the last couple of years so take from there, the Reds are just getting back on their feet
chief said | January 27th 2010 @ 5:36pm | Report comment
If the Reds were say to win the Super 14 one year (not likely within 3 years) it could definitely get 30k to each game, as well as a major funding boost to Ballymore. Even just upgrading Ballymore to 35k it can be done, that will provide a 2nd rectangular stadium for QLD which we really do need at the moment, especially with a possible new NRL team for Brisbane on the cards, as well as a possible FIFA World Cup bid.