The Test match loss by the Wallabies to the rampaging All Blacks last Saturday night was not just the fault of the players or the coach, but the Australian rugby union’s stupidity in having the game in Melbourne in the first place.
Melbourne gives no home ground advantage to the Wallabies. If anything it favours the All Blacks who are known to like the Melbourne experience due to the high number of ex pats living there, and the attractive short tours to bring thousands of supporters over in packages from the shaky isles.
The ARU needs to look back and ask itself why it allows the most premier rugby Test match of the year to be played on a ground that gives no advantage to the Australian team.
The Wallabies were not helped by the shape of the ground, its location, surface and the parochial New Zealand crowd support. In fact, the playing surface was like a cow paddock at one end after two scrums, and that would have added to the All Blacks pleasure of the experience.
Sure, take rugby to Melbourne for demonstration purposes and to promote the two elite rugby teams there (Storm and Rebels), but not a Test match – especially the premier Test of the year’s calendar – the first Bledisloe Cup game.
When does England play anywhere else but Twickenham; or Wales playing a Test anywhere but Cardiff Arms Park (Millennium Stadium); or France anywhere but Stade de France?
No, their unions know and understand the meaning of the “home” ground advantage.
The Wallabies got thrashed at Docklands Stadium in Melbourne, the heartland of Australian rules football, as if it is a foreign country.
The home-grown supporters do not know the difference between league and union. There was no psychological advantage for the Wallabies. They were out psyched by a fired up committed and brilliant All Blacks team that had the crowd behind it all the way.
The apparent Wallaby attitude seemed vastly different to the previous week in the cauldron of Lang Park with the close in support of an Aussie rugby friendly crowd who at least have an understanding of the passion and pride of the Wallaby jersey.
It is time for the ARU to forget its expansionist dreams and put the nation’s premier team in front of a premier crowd in Sydney or Brisbane for these important clashes.
This writer was fortunate to be at Stadium Australia (Sydney) for the first ever Bledisloe Cup clash there in 1999 amongst a crowd of 108,000. The atmosphere, hype and theatrics before the game were immense and the comment was made that just the sheer patriotism of the pre-match entertainment was worth at least 12 points to the Wallabies.
They won 28-7 thanks to the boot of Matt Burke who did not have to suffer the indignity that Matt Giteau did in being booed by his home crowd as he came in to kick for goal last Saturday night at Docklands Stadium in Melbourne.
This was an indicator of the All Blacks support that would never have surfaced at Stadium Australia or Lang Park.
Sydney and Brisbane are the only two venues Bledisloe Cup matches should be played at and someone needs to tell the ARU something about home ground advantage before the next scheduling of the Bledisloe Cup for next year, before we end up with one in Adelaide or Perth!
Ends
Davo
Guest
One point everyone seems to have missed - it's all about the Vic govt events team stealing prestige events from other states to promote Melbourne and get visitors flocking into melbourne to see these events. That's why they demand (and get) the first test in the series - they know there'll be less interest in a dead rubber - and they pay a premium to get it. O'Neill just sees the dollar signs. Vic has a history in this regard shamelessly taking the F1 grand prix off Adelaide (who did a much better job with it), and getting a live rubber State of Origin. Bloody hell, they even renamed Flinders Park (which had a bit of class about it) to Melbourne Park to give Melbourne more exposure at the tennis. I agree the ARU needs to wake up and actually tick all the boxes necessary to win that damn cup back. I would suggest number one (after assembling a competitive team) is to maximise your homeground advantage. Surely this means having Bledisloes in Bris or Syd.
Republican
Guest
I think it would matter naught where you staged a Bledisloe since Kiwis will always have a home turf advantage in this country, they are ubiquitous and esp in respect of Union, wheras in NZ there is no such advantage to Australia. The loyal heartlands however should be a priority in hosting these tests - to be sure and Melbourne is not one of them. This only leaves Brissy and Sydney with Canberra simply too small for such a block buster sadly.
Fragglerocker
Roar Rookie
Unfortunately we don't have the luxury of having many world-class rugby grounds. Suncorp is currently our only one. Etihad/Docklands, the MCG, ANZ/Stadium Australia, are all cricket grounds, making them excellent AFL grounds but awful League/Union/Soccer grounds.
Neville Howard
Guest
Hey, you're finally seeing the point. In a scenario where Brisbane Lions qualify for the finals, I'll be all for the final to be hosted in Brisbane. Do you know though that there are Vic players, playing in the Super 14 outside of Victoria? No you wouldn't.
Glen
Guest
Really Howi. How many players have you had in the Wallabies? Probably half a dozen in the past 50 years. Australia is also bigger than Melb, so why don't you move the AFL grand finalto say, Brisbane???????????????
Liam
Guest
We, southerners, amassed a crowd of 51 thousand here at Etihad stadium. Every Wallabies game I have attended here has been well attended. Brisbane mustered a paltry 44 thousand. And if you think we don't know the difference between league and Union then you are as ignorant as your article seems. Bring on the Rebels.
Rugby Fan
Guest
"Sure, take rugby to Melbourne for demonstration purposes and to promote the two elite rugby teams there (Storm and Rebels)" Doesn't this statement, illustrate all that is wrong with Australian Rugby. Storm indeed!
kovana
Guest
Dont forget. You Saffas lost to samoa in the 1980's... But you quickly called a Saffa 'A' team after the loss..
Gary
Guest
Pocock is a Zimbabwean who spent a brief time in Queensland before settling in WA.
Bill Baxter
Guest
It is relevant, because I would suggest that large numbers of followers would have come from the traditional Rugby States, similar to when the State of Origin games are played in Melbourne. Half the crowd at these games come from Interstate.
Joh4Canberra
Roar Rookie
Yeah, what's the story with the stadium reconfiguration? There is a picture on Wikipedia of Docklands Stadium with a rectangular configuration for a soccer international (so it has certainly been reconfigured at least once before) and another one with its usual oval configuration for the A-League soccer grand final. Why the difference in approach? And (in my viewing experience at least) they've never reconfigured the seating for a rugby game. Did the fact that the stadium was being used for aerial pingpong the very next day mean that they couldn't reconfigure it for the rugby game? Will bringing the stands in for a rectangular configuration damage the playing surface even more?
Tui
Guest
Howi nice to share that moment about the smartarse kiwis. Ive had plenty of similar experiences with the aussies too but there has been that many of them now that you forget them all pretty quickly...
Glen
Guest
Dan, you are so wrong! Firstly, the Storm are a rugby LEAGUE team. It's a bit like saying Nth Melb are a Gaelic Football team.. related, but utterly different. Secondly and more importantly, The Bledisloe Cup is not about how many people go to the G or that other stupidly named stadium... or how much tickets cost... or marketing... or competing against another event. It's about history and tradition and RUGBY. Giving back to the supporters, instead of treating the grass roots of the game with contempt by calling it "the product", is what will make the game strong.. not pandering to the ponytailed marketing wankers that seem to run the game these days. The Bledisloe IS THE pinnacle of rugby in Australia and should not be wasted on a fairweather crowd in Melbourne. If spreading a code is the ultimate goal, why doesn't the AFL grand final move to Brisbane or Fremantle???????
mcxd
Guest
abf, can you please go to christchurch this saturday ?
Researcher
Guest
Actually, last time I looked Melbourne was in Australia. Our Wallabies, and I assume they are 'Australia', not just a NSW/QLD combine do not even need to pack their passports, or get a visa to spend time in Melbourne. The MCG only got 78,000 for the last Bledisloe Cup game held there, so crowds in Melbourne for rugby are dropping off. I was there and still have the pictures on my pc I took. The Docklands attendance of 50,000 is excellent. They should have brought the lower terraces in, that ground does apparently have the technology to allow this, allow they seldom use it due to design defects.
Neville Howard
Guest
"There may have been a large number of fans wearing Wallaby jumpers, but where did they come from?' How is this relevant? You think the average non union fan will buy a Bledisloe cup ticket for $115, a Wallaby jersey for $150 just to go have a look-see whether or not they like it? I doubt that. I am an ex-pat, and I was in the crowd wearing a Wallaby jersey. I in fact have probably seen more Wallaby games life than the average Australian union fan!
Neville Howard
Guest
That's true, but Argentina to the world is like Victoria to Australia - a sleeping giant in Rugby finally turning professional! :-)
Jerry
Guest
Not to say Deans has done well or anything, but the Wallabies record in 3 seasons prior to Deans taking over was 6 losses to 1 win. They haven't improved under him, but it's not like he inherited a great team.
Howi
Roar Rookie
This article is stupid on so many levels. I don't know where to begin. Although it's obvious you're not Victorian, I'm inclined to wonder that you're not even Australian. New Zealand, yes, the No1 rugby playing nation of the world, plays tests at more than one venue. England and Wales combined don't even add up to the size of Qld. The fact those countries play their tests at 'home' grounds in the densely populated capitals with huge transport systems running throughout the countries is hardly a puzzle. I don't think the kiwis enjoyed their cow paddock so much as they sank into the earth while defending their own tryline. And I suppose you don't see kiwi expats at Sydney matches because they're still bathing at Bondi. Hell, you know what you didn't think of in your article? - the ARU could start asking for passports as rugby fans enter our grounds. Or if we're losing, then just before full-time we could turn all the lights out so the kiwis don't get to see their team win. You may be able to make it to a Stadium Australia match, but I got to see the Wallabies at the M.C.G. in 2007 and it was bloody magic. At half-time two kiwi smartarses came over and actually started consoling me as I was comtemplating how the Wallabies were behind and wondering how they would rise above their halftime deficit. What followed next was Adam AC's huge try and Mortlock's sublime step and sprint down the field with the basketball pass to Staniforth. I didn't see those kiwis after the game. They were gone for dust. Australia is bigger than Sydney, rollo. And so is Rugby.
Justin
Roar Pro
Where is Diggers from? Should they have got Bledisloes in the 90s when McKenzie was playing and then had them pulled when he retired? Great logic ;)