The Sydney Bledisloe Cup is three and a half weeks away, but where is the buzz and promotion? This is one of my favourite sporting events of the year.
However, it doesn’t seem to hold the prestige it once did, at least on this side of the ditch.
Rugby supporters in Sydney complained when the ARU took the Bledisloe interstate in 2006 and 2007. When it returned to Sydney in 2008, rugby fans showed their support for the fixture by almost selling out the ground. Again in 2009, the ground was almost at capacity.
In 2010, the Australian Bledisloe fixture was held in Melbourne and was in Brisbane for 2011.
Now the Bledisloe is back in Sydney. However, ticket sales are around the 50,000 mark and corporate sales are down from previous years.
In the not so distant past, the Bledisloe would be sold out in an hour.
These days a crowd of 70-75,000 is the norm, leaving a lot of empty seats at the former Olympic venue. Why?
One of the great rugby events each year in the biggest city in our nation and we can’t fill the stadium. It’s a real concern for the game.
This raises a lot of questions. Is it ticket prices? Is it lack of promotion? Is it the state of the game which seems to get belted from pillar to post in the media?
Is it the fact that the Wallabies haven’t won the Bledisloe in 10 years?
The NSW Blues haven’t won the Origin series in seven years, yet their supporters turn up every year to almost sell out the stadium on a Wednesday night, sometimes twice a year.
If Australia has any chance of winning back the Bledisloe, they need a strong home crowd behind them.
Why are rugby supporters abandoning the Wallabies in the biggest event of the year?
MAC
Guest
I've even given up trying to find a pub showing Rugby in my area in Melbourne 'burbs. Staff mostly don't no League from Union -in Sports Bars!- & are blissfully unaware when Wallabies, Rebels or Super Rugby Finals are on. There is no FTA TV tonight; with 9 showing a big series, is this nationwide??? Surely the ARU can make some noise & at least pressure them to get the game on Gem (showing Antiques Roadshow instead)- better still make Internations on FTA part of the Contract. No FTA=no interest outside we faithful. Overall media coverage here reflects this. It's Beyond Bledisloe, I think Rugby needs to learn from Netball -another VERY high-participant sport, which will never challenge AFL, cricket, NRL (only due to ownership)- which has found a media & public niche, thankfully.
Spottyb
Guest
Why aren't we going to the game in Sydney? For a family of 4 it's just become too expensive. Minimum cost is $200 to walk in the gate. Plus $20 to park. The cost of the hugely overpriced food and drink at Homebush will add up to another $50-100. We're a split family with 2 AB supporters and 2 Wallaby supporters. We will watch every game. But it will be in the comfort of my lounge room watching it on Foxtel. Cost? Under $100 including gourmet meal and enough alcohol for the losing parent to drown their sorrows! Off now to convince my son that RU is the purist sport and ARL is full of thugs ;)
Johnno
Guest
Irene totally agree with you honey. You are right you need to have a anthem or a song can be anything, to get the team going. Maybe australia should develop waltzing matidla again have an indigenous Australian dance, we used from memory the wallabies. The fact is Irene and others the Haka has only really developed over the last 25-30 years properly . Something would be good to fire the aussies up beforehand, other nations do have dances and rituals. Fiji,Samoa ,Tonga. have one and often do it together before battle. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJuoP_4Ubp8
Irene Watt
Roar Rookie
Not sure about this new breed of players but John Eales attributed winning the 1998 Bledisloe match in Christchurch after the Aussies in the crowd broke out into a spontaneous rendition of Waltzing Matilda. While it's definitely no match for the Haka, it's still something that evokes emotion. I love it when the crowd sings it.
liam
Guest
thats like the littlest billy goats gruff shooting the troll in the face with a rocket launcher. hahahahaha! nicely done
jus de couchon
Guest
Thankyou A good article. Some Kiwis take the rugby a bit seriouse and resemble football supporters with a grudge.
Ben S
Roar Guru
What do you know about English football? Apparently nothing.
mania
Guest
bludger - "How many players in the All Black team are actually born in NZ?" um most of them. benFranks was born in aus to NZ parents but he's about it in the current AB's. there was kaino born in american samoa but he's retired from the AB's...for now so lets look at it this way. how many wallaby's were born in aus? gee let me think, digby, samoan boy born in NZ, o'connor again born in nz, quade? yeah same again, harris born bred and played in nz till moving to aus recently, how bout other countries, pocock your premier openside...born zimbabwe, where was stephenMoore born? thats right saudiArabia, radike = fiji, Sitaleki Timani = tonga,Cooper Vuna = NZ u most be choking on your knee right bout now. foot in mouth much?
mania
Guest
hahah johnno, u trying to pass waltzing matilda as intimidating? lol, its catchy and i sing along too.
mania
Guest
yeah kovana, why would NZRFU have a charter to not expand rugby? seems an odd comment to make considering AB's are WC holders and #1 in the world. johnno - a better song than 'slice o heaven' would be scribes 'u cannot stop us'
Demon Dez
Guest
Why so, kovana?
RebelRanger
Guest
Will be getting smashed at Turf Bar and hopefully ABs win so I can rub it in everyone's face. Still holding a grudge against those Reds fans that booed me out after Super Rugby final lol
Bludger
Guest
When you can come over to Australia and beat us at our football then you can crow. It always amused me when you come across the Kiwis who were so over confident in how good they are in rugby. A lot of similarities with how the American basketball team carries on I always thought. How many players in the All Black team are actually born in NZ?
'The wallabies have abandoned the fans'. That is just an awful sentiment to be spouting. Its fans like you that will drive them to resent the fans ala the english football side. They hate each other and look at the results or lack thereof.
liam
Guest
what a troll. you should go post in greenandgold, thats where this rubbish belongs. generalize as much as you want, make broad strokes, speak for others when you dont walk in their shoes. NZ is a small city on the global scale, with a tiny fraction of australias population, resources and economy. you sound like you expect people to see NZ duking it out with australia in every category on the world stage. yeah rugby is stronger in nz than aussie. netball is about as strong. these things are anomalies, and most things, australia as the HUGE big brother should rightly win. do you have to get feral about it? who's got the chip on the shoulder really, from reading your comments? i'm a kiwi with lots of aussie friends and the pinnacle of my existence isnt to move to the gold coast. get over yourself.
allblackfan
Guest
just heard: NZRU is considering SBW for Smith's spot in Bledisloe 1 and 2!
Bludger
Guest
So you are a Johnny Foreigner? If you are born here, you see things differently. For Australia the Kiwis are the bench mark. Like Brazil is in soccer. For NZ we are the loathed, wealthy, loud neighbour for which they have this almighty chip on their shoulders about. Most of them that aspire to anything end up moving here which is ironic. If you think about it, rugby is about the only thing NZ does better than Australia. Mind you for 100 years they were all shamateurs, and we had our blokes leaving for RL or as working men. We have always played NZ with an arm tied behind our backs.
Bludger
Guest
The Japan game should have been played in Melbourne. They would have sold out Docklands and had 70 to 80 at the MCG. Just boof head policies giving decent fixtures to Queensland. Maybe their government bought the game.
Kuruki
Roar Guru
He is pulling out so he can complete a full pre season with his club. This was always going to happen.
Kuruki
Roar Guru
Is Waltzing Matilda motivational for the team? I can't see how that song gets the boys pumped for a game of rugby to be honest. maybe smash out some Jimmy Barnes