In our modern Australian football ecosystem, travelling for fixtures has become an intrinsic component of the profession.
Contemporary players are becoming immune to external factors which can be aroused when training and playing on the road.
Although it may be hard to comprehend by us mere spectators, game-day support, regardless of passion, does not win football matches.
The players have become accustomed to performing in front of large crowds on a weekly basis that the energy and excitement they receive, if any, is merely a gratifying prelude to their business of playing football.
The fact is regardless of how passionate your cheers or taunts, players, referees and blind touch judges are rarely affected.
They certainly don’t take your thoughts, no matter how sincere, into consideration.
What then, will become of the age old ‘home advantage’?
This fleeting psychological factor which has historically swung the outcome of games is on the brink of extinction.
Alike a celebrity has-been player, the ‘home ground advantage’ has become redundant within sporting realms and now seems to exists for business profitability purposes to promote fixtures and develop the guise of vivacious patriotism saving the day.
However, the powerful embers still exist deep within the football universe, awaiting ignition.
It’s this spark punters wish for walking through the gates.
Considering the array of rectangular field codes they host, nowhere else in Australia does this furnace burn more often than in Brisbane at the famed Suncorp Stadium.
Lang Park has the knack of hosting memorable and remarkable Queensland and Australian sporting moments.
How often have we witnessed our home teams rally in the dying embers of games to snatch victory when it is deemed unwinnable?
Maybe names such as Lockyer, Slater, Samo, Genia and Berisha will arouse a few remarkable memories.
It would be foolish of us regulars to Lang Park to believe the stars are always aligned.
The best summation I have found of Lang Park was by New Zealand Herald sports columnist, Wynne Gray, when he described the stadium as ‘intimate’.
He revelled in the proximity between supporter and sideline and the unique experiences that bestows upon the crowd.
He could hear the collision of bodies and symphony which is boot on ball, sounds that don’t reach him at other stadiums.
We as spectators take for granted our experiences within Suncorp Stadium.
Maybe it is the constant whiff of fermenting beer which alters our state of mind but there is no doubting football fanatics have struck gold in the River City.
If the ‘home ground advantage’ beast still exists it would certainly be housed up, deep within the brick foundation of Suncorp Stadium awaiting the correct circumstances to poke its head.
Fictional or not, there is no denying the pleasure and satisfaction spectators feel when our teams surmount unfavourable odds.
You can’t help but feel your presence has made a difference to the outcome of the game, and it’s these emotions which keep us coming back.
Spikhaza
Guest
Errr what, Canberra stadium is about to be bought by Rio Tinto its that much of a cavern
Spikhaza
Guest
Agreed. It's funny how one loud crowd brings out the best in another. You look at the game on Saturday and you had the most boring, conservative Wallaby fans roaring everytime Genia and Folau touched the ball
Slane
Guest
+1
Symbolsoup
Roar Rookie
Maybe it is proportionate to 'hope'. Coincides with Locky leaving...
Aaron Fraser
Guest
It's only gone quiet in the last 2/3 seasons. The atmosphere at Suncorp used to be terrific, with fairly constant cheering and Broncos chants. Now, it's a rare game that we even hear the Broncos chant. I think "Let's Go Broncos" is well and truly dead. It's a massive shame going to a home game and the opposition fans can be heard loud and clear. I have no idea how to fix it. It seems the South East Queensland league fans have lost their voice.
Griffo
Guest
I find crowds in Townsville to be like this for Cowboys games. I've never been anywhere else to watch a league game so I can't be certain but i suspect it's the way league is played that makes crowds like this. Usually one time team has the ball for about a minute and they way work their way forward and most of what happens isn't too surprising. Things liven up briefly if someone makes a big hit or a line break or something like that. Everyone is waiting patiently for something exciting to happen. My experience with AFL crowds is that because there are so many contests in short periods of time the crowd gets involved with cheering and oohs, ahhs, groans etc. frequently. Soccer crowds are different again. They understand that they could be facing very long build ups before someone scores (if at all) and so they sing songs and have lots of chants. They will take the time to clap a good bit of play too.
Johnno
Guest
Smiles stadium is tough.
mushi
Guest
Heinks last year I asked my self this question and so went back and got the results from 2007 to 2011 (so 960 games) what it showed was that: - if the visiting team was from the same city they got outscored by an average of 2.9 points - if the visiting team was from another city they got outscored by an average of 5.0 points
oikee
Guest
Contrived rabble, thats a step up from 'dribble' as some other posters call my ravings. Not bad, i am improving. Cheers.
turbodewd
Guest
Two words - Canberra Stadium (Bruce Stadium) This home ground (winter) advantage the Raiders has is enormous and the most telling one in the Australian sporting landscape.
Symbolsoup
Roar Rookie
Yes oikee, the super league crowds are what I was talking about. I guess all I wish for is a bit of heart from the supporters, not a contrived rabble like most of your posts.
oikee
Guest
Also i think what is holding the Broncos noise levels back, a proper derby. I think Brisbane Broncos will evolve if and when they get a second team into Brisbane, with opposition crowds who can banter each other, that is the trigger i think.
Griffo
Guest
That's right. It does have a real effect. No matter how much a team is used to travelling they're not going to be as happy or familiar with the surroundings of a place they play 1 game at per year compared with a team that plays there 12 times a year. On top of that what you said about touch judges is actually wrong. Time and time again studies have shown that people officiating the games have a bias towards the home side, not intentionally but the home crowd has an effect on their subconscious. No matter how fair a referee is they're always susceptible to being swayed by the home crowd
oikee
Guest
Maybe the fans enjoy the silience, with only a golf-clap for doing good. I have been to many a Broncos game, and yes, it was nice and quite. If i wanted noise all game i would go to soccer games. I dont want noise, i want to eat my pie and drink my beers. To take it up a notch i use to go to the origins,. If you want noisey crowds you can go watch the Roar, they will sing and bang drums all game long for you. The Broncos are still in a growing phase, they are not that old a club really, i want to see them evolve on their own, without influience of a false cheersquad, (made up, contrived). This could take 5 years, it could take another 20 years. But it will be special when it happens, maybe you dont even know what i am talking about. It is like a origin crowd, unique and all its own doing, the crowd evolved into its own beast, nothing was false, no chants, no made up cries except the call of the mighty Queens-land-dar. The game has a natural rise and fall. Origin found its voice, the Broncos have to find their voice, in their own time, why rush. I love the super league crowds in England. , they have a special feel and it seems natural. This is why it is special. That might explain it better.
Griffo
Guest
The Wallabies too. It's been said for sometime that if you want the Wallabies to have the best chance of winning the tri nations/Bledisloe cup then make sure they play the All Blacks in Brisbane
B.A Sports
Guest
I notice you didn't have any stats to back up your hypothesis that home ground advantage is dead. You seem to think Homeground advantage only (historically) impacted the away team in a negative way, but it impacts the home team in a positive way. Look at a rubbish team like Parramatta this season. At Parra Stadium they almost have a positive for and against, away from Parra Stadium it is about -200. The Warriors are -72 in Australia (including a 40 point win at the feared Suncorp!) and -7 in NZ this year. How many games have the Cowboys won in NSW in the last six years? is it about 11 and I think 4 of those were at the same ground (WIN)? The West Tigers have won 65% of their games played at Leichhardt. The Panthers have less than a 20% success rate there.
Symbolsoup
Roar Rookie
Yep Suncorp Stadium is terrific, but at a standard Bronco fixture, the crowd are mostly dead-pan boring. When something exciting happens in the game, the crowd claps, not roars... It's a really strange phenomenon considering such a supportive infrastructure for great crowd atmosphere. If only crowds had the heart of soccer fans. My lounge room gets noisier than the stands at suncorp when the broncs are playing. Not sure how to fix it either? Maybe if we won a few it might help, but this isn't a new problem as for years it has been the same.
oikee
Guest
It truely is a remarkable stadium. Just standing outside gives you sense of something special about to happen. You read the floor plaques of past and present Origin players, you take photo's with the King, and then when it is time to take your place you walk into a stadium that falls away from the level you were just outside on, and your goosebumps remind you of why they call this place the cauldron. . This gives the old Lang Park a special feel, all its own. And we have to remember this stadium was built for rectangular codes in mind. You then fill it with Queenslanders who are so passionate about their teams, and it refuses to let the public down, it rises to the accasion every time. Intiment, yes 50 odd thousand in such a compact area is perfect, the chorus can rise to full voice for a one sided state. You will witness the rise and fall of one such crowd on next Wednesday , where 50 thousand of those one-eyed Queenslanders will be in full voice. That alone is intimadating, and every mistake becomes a nitemare for the opposition. Next game it is personal. We are out to right wrong. hehe. The Reds and Roar have also seen the benifits of this wonderful stadium, they all seem to lift in such a personal atmospheric space.