Bellamy sees MCG grand final as shot in arm for NRL down south

Update to my post It seems like this QLD Health Officer and deputy minister really did go rogue. It has been reported that Vlandys rang the Qld Premier Saturday afternoon and she hadn't a clue. Way to go Queensland

Its had me suicidal at times mate especially when we lost the Origin game as well. I gave up trying to afford traveling to away games & finals years ago so my only live footy is the Storm and I have only seen 1 game of that in the last 2 years.

No doubt about it, Aussie Rules is the religion down here but 20 odd years of success has the Storm firmly entrenched in the sporting landscape but, yes, like almost every other sport apart from Aussie Rules it does struggle for coverage. Nonetheless, the Storm is almost everyone's 2nd football team down here and even teenage boys watch origin.

When St.George was winning the last of their eleven premierships in a row fans from other teams would barrack for whoever Saints were playing. They were cheering for the underdogs. I will be cheering for the underdogs this year although there are some Sydney teams I would never cheer for. It's not Manly as I don't mind them now that Ken Arthurson is no longer the Manly boss.

When I came to Canberra in 1974 it was still an AF town as the public service had moved from the previous capital Melbourne. They showed the VFL match of the day live and only showed the Sydney Rugby League on Sunday night after the Sunday night movie at around about 10:30-11:00pm. In 1980 I signed a petition demanding that channel 7 show the RL replay at a reasonable hour. In those days when people moved from NSW to Melbourne their kids couldn't find any RL teams so they had to play Aussie Rules. For a rugby league fan there was nothing to do in Melbourne.

Good to hear the Storm are making a difference down there. When I went there I couldn't get any news about RL or even scores in the papers. I lived in Adelaide in 1977/78 and had the same problem. I had to phone home to Sydney for the scores as the papers didn't print them and the only time there was a story about Sydney Rugby League it was fiction. They reported that a game between Manly and Wests was abandoned by the referee because the crowd rioted and invaded the field causing the game to be called off. When I rang the paper and asked why they didn't print the Sydney Rugby League results I was told nobody was interested. Why do you think the media were printing fake news about Rugby League?

And you’re point is?

It’s been fun not seeing our team for two seasons hasn’t it Walter? A ‘home’ Grand Final might make up for it though.

I moved here in 2001, don’t care for Australian Rules Football, don’t have a team, don’t care but surprisingly still find people to talk to. Next you’ll be trotting out the old “the only reason AFL crowds dwarf Rugby League crowds is because there’s nothing to do in Melbourne”

Neither Wimbledon or Wembley give a home ground advantage to one of the participants on a regular basis unlike what occurs when a Sydney team flukes an appearance in the NRL GF.

Mate, let it go, they’re 23 seasons in. They’re here to stay.

So why does the ARL or NRL or whoever runs Origin love to play games in Melbourne? Hoping to produce more juniors for the Storm or looking to make a buck? No amount of arguing can justify the GF always being in Sydney. It is obviously unfair to all those teams outside of Sydney. When I was last at the GF I was sitting amongst fans from other Sydney teams who were there to cheer on the Sydney team they would normally not spit on. No way the attendance is ever 50-50 at such match ups

Converted is a bit strong, interested from a distance is more like it. They only come out in numbers for Origin and the GF.

The NRL will be looking to maximise their financial return out of the GF wherever it is played. If they could have confidence in getting close to a full house in Melbourne, and with the Storm likely to make it rest assured they will, the NRL will only ‘give’ it to Brisbane if they coerce a money top up from the QLD government. Tell me why the NRL Grand Final, or AFL for that matter, should not be sold to the highest bidder, wherever that is?

To be honest, I don't really care where it's played, I won't be able to get there! I just want to see it played in a front of a full house. That said, I hope it isn't played in Sydney, which is still on the cards. Having a national competition's final big game played in the same State every year doesn't work for me

I don't have a large sample but I know of quite a few people who have the Storm as their second team, because they are so good. Walter Black has told me things are changing down in Melbourne and there is a growing acceptance of RL thanks to the Storm. Given the size of Melbourne I'm convinced a Melbourne GF would be a winner. My only worry is it will be an easy win for Melbourne. Hopefully Penrith can put a full strength team in and make a game of it.

I went to the pub on Saturday night and a bloke at the bar asked me if I was interested in the footy (obviously meaning some AFL game that was on the tv at the time). I told him I was an NRL man and couldn't abide that awful AFL game. He turned to me and said "You better well support the Storm then". There is more acceptance of the code in the state these days though it is still pretty much all AFL. That is why we need to make a big statement down here by holding an Origin on a regular basis or with this year's GF. Melburnians will flock to such games and whilst for many, it will be a one off, you only need to get one per cent coming back to start making in-roads. I have taken AFL loving mates to a Storm game before and whilst they struggle with some of the nuances, they usually come away quite impressed. Imagine what our game could be like if we started to gain real traction in Victoria.

"There may be be 80,000 plus there but they won’t be there because they love the code " Hmmmm..... not sure about that. The MCG has successfully hosted both Rugby Union Tests and State Of Origin matches in the past couple of decades and people have shelled out some serious money to be there. They're not likely to do that if they don't love the code. For a person living in Melbourne, it's going to be at least a hundred and fifty dollar day minimum. If people are coming form interstate or perhaps New Zealand, that number turns into thousands.

Lets say there's a Panthers/Storm or Rabbitohs/Storm Grand Final in Sydney. What proportion of the crowd would be supporting the Storm, simply because the game is being played where it is? I'm guessing at least 75-85% of people at the game would be NSW based and the overwhelming majority would be supporting the home team, just as it's been since the NRL was created. It's another barrier that has to be overcome, just as the interstate trip to play, staying in a hotel rather than at home before the game, etc are all hurdles Sydney based sides would not have to face. In terms of playing the GF at another League stronghold, it makes sense to play in Brisbane, but Qld in general and Brisbane in particular have made tens of millions from the game just this year alone. On the other hand, no Storm games have been played in Melbourne for 2 seasons and they had the first SOO taken from them at the last minute and given to Brisbane. Why shouldn't they share in the economic benefits from the Grand Final. As I've said elsewhere, I'd love to see 80 or 100,000 at the game at the MCG than 50,000 at Lang Park.

Hi Walter, you are a rare Victorian who doesn't like AF, are you not? It would be great if an MCG GF could change your fellow Victorians but will it ever happen? I have heard of people who have moved to Victoria and have been forced to choose a team or be treated like lepers.