Queenslanders get the love of maroon into you early. Very early. Many would argue it’s unhealthily early.
But I can attest that I turned out alright, though my friends may disagree, and that even though I only spent the start of my life in the Sunshine State, the Queenslander was well and truly there to stay.
The Reds were my first passion. Some of my earliest memories as a child was attending a game against the Natal Sharks in the Castlemaine stand at Ballymore (rattling that metal with your feet, of course) and heading out onto the field after the match to kick the footy, and dive on it in the in goal. Damp with dew I’d report back to my mother, who’d whisk me off to the car. Why was she grumpy? I still don’t know…
Or Broncos games at (in those days) ANZ Stadium. The Broncos aren’t so much a team as a religion in Brisbane, and talk of a second NRL team in Brisbane always has me asking, ‘Who’d support them?’
Brisbane Bears-cum-Lions matches at the Gabba were a rarer treat, watching legends like Richard Champion (if only for his name), Alastair Lynch and a young Michael Voss start what was to become a Lions dynasty in the early millenium.
And then there was State of Origin, which is the Mixed Martial Arts of events for a Queensland supporter. Barely any holds barred, pure disdain for anything blue coursing through my body.
Caxton Street would have been a nightmare for opposing supporters.
While these days I might have to don my sports editors cap when watching State of Origin and Waratahs vs Reds matches, I still get the odd opportunity to celebrate with the brethren up in my former hometown of Brisbane.
As editor of The Roar, you spend a surprising amount of time looking at calendars. You’ve got to know who’s playing who, when and where, you see, otherwise it’s easy to be taken by surprise by Socceroos matches, club friendlies and one-off Tests.
When is the Ashes, again?
So glancing at the sports calendar the other day, I found three rather juicy fixtures on three consecutive days, all in my home state.
Brisbane Roar, three-time A-League champions, playing Liverpool, 18-time champions of England.
The Wallabies playing the Springboks, followed by the Broncos against the Tigers, all at Suncorp Stadium.
If you’ve never been to what used to be known as Lang Park before, it’s worth the trip.
I’ve made the pilgrimage a number of times, and it is a veritable rectangular shrine to football of all codes. If there was a weekend to pray to the football Gods in Brisbane, this one is it.
I watched Australia play the Springboks from the bleachers at the Caxton Street end, right up high. It was the nosebleed section, for all intents.
But at that beautiful Stadium, I felt like I was in a helicopter on top of the action. You could see the running lines of the players perfectly. The Wallabies played a good brand of football that day, and it was one of the most entertaining games of rugby I’ve watched live.
That was until I attended the Super Rugby final of 2011. Stuffed in the Northern corner, but close to action, I felt like I could almost reach out to Digby Ioane and give him a smooch as he danced the Dougie. He was right there!
It also helps that Lefty’s Old Time Music Hall is a hop, skip and a jump down the road, and is one of the best bars I’ve been to in this country.
I’m gushing now, but the point remains that Suncorp is a wonderful place to watch footy.
While Liverpool against Brisbane Roar is labelled a ‘friendly’ or ‘exhibition’, the simple truth is you don’t get to see footballers of this quality in Australia on a regular basis.
I was lucky enough to attend Sydney FC against Chelsea at ANZ Stadium recently. The English champions started Diego Costa, Loic Remy and Eden Hazard as their front three.
Liverpool will hopefully do the same, and put on a show.
Wallabies-Springboks has massive implications for the Rugby Championship, which is the key lead-up to the Rugby World Cup. It’s time the boys in gold got serious, and Brisbane has been a good hunting ground for them in the past.
Any Broncos match at Suncorp is worth attending, if just to see over 40,000 Queenslanders stacked in to support the team. What makes it more remarkable is that this happens every second week.
The only question left now is who’s buying me my plane ticket?
Looking for a holiday? Aside from watching footy, there’s heaps to do.
Brisbane’s the best place to a find a great mix of world class events in July.
Lionheart
Guest
Beaten only by security at the Gabba. Brisbane desperately needs a smaller, boutique stadium. But yes, Suncorp is great for big games, and the surface can be ok, but it is never guaranteed. I might add that Villarreal spoke highly of our stadium recently, as did Everton FC when they played here a few years back.
Stevo
Roar Rookie
It's OK, the love should be spread around rather than hogged by us Mexicans :) Anyway, will look forward shortly to Roma, Real Madrid and our little brother Manchester City coming to town for a Eurosnob extravanganza. I'm actually going to the pub to watch and sink a few beefs with mates. I don't want to deprive a Eurosnob a seat at The 'G'.
Lester
Guest
Well they certainly don't maintain it like a temple. The pitch situation is a disgrace and only going to get worse with the concert cap being increased. The Asian cup fiasco was embarrassing for Brisbane and it's nearly unplayable for the roar at times. Not to mention that I've found the security there to be the most unbearable overly authoritarian wankers in the country. They don't hesitate to make your experience unpleasant if they can do so. But apart from that, it's pretty good.
Bondy
Guest
Hi Patrick nice read . What I find enjoyable is the Qld Gov or Tourism Qld is getting these types of events instead of Victoria all the time , when Tottenham and Chelsea played Syd FC at Homebush 150.000 turned out for both matches over a three day period illustrating people will turn up for events outside of Victoria . If governments dont realise " primarily on the east coast " that major sporting events do big things for your City then they'll all be lost to Melbourne ...
Waz
Guest
I'm going to break with established tradition and actually bag the poor old girl; Lang Park is a better winter stadium than a summer one, and better at night than in the day. During the day you're left to the mercy of the Queensland sun if you sit on the wrong side (which is half of the stadium pretty much) and if it rains there's a postage stamp of cover to keep you dry, and in summer it rains a lot up here. The stadium layout itself is a vast cavern of a place, and even a recent 26,000 Reds crowd looked sparce with the concrete infrastructure sucking away the atmosphere from the game, this happens regularly in such a big space unless there's a 40k+ crowd in attendance. The poor playing surface is now over-used to such a point I doubt any code is particularly happy and the planned increase in stadium concerts is unlikely to improve that situation. Lose yourself in the history and myths of Suncorp stadium and she is indeed a temple to modern sport, look closely in the cold hard light of day and she is a second rate stadium in comparison to what is considered best in other sporting cities. That said, she is still loved up here and worth a big-match visit if you haven't already done so, not least for the feasts she regularly serves up :)