Last week saw Super League’s ‘Rivals Round’, a half-arsed marketing gimmick designed to feign interest in lieu of genuine commercial strategy. Nonetheless, it threw up a number of scintillating ties, with action-packed drama on the pitch and vociferous fans in the rafters.
Friday’s Wigan-St Helens derby produced a domineering 26-2 victory for the away side, and a standout evening from the fans to boot.
At various points this time round, the ground was regaled with the fact that “Wigan get battered everywhere they go”, as well as some unprintable lyrics relating to the Wiganese knack for, well, interrelating.
Such emotional investment by fans was on show from Hull to Castleford to Leigh, and is so often what elevates these grudge matches to the next level. That passion made vocal can elevate such games to a more intense level.
Unfortunately, the game in the NRL is poorer for a lack of atmospheric rhythm.
These games are, in fact the entire sport is, unthinkable without fans. Behind closed doors games never reached the same ferocity as when they are willed on by thousands of cheering fans. Australia lacks comparatively for such atmospheric generation.
That’s not to dismiss Sydney’s many rivalries, or the intense feelings garnered by their followers. Easts vs Souths is a fixture littered with history, with their respective recent histories at the top of the ladder allowing them to claim stake to the ‘best’ rivalry in the game.
The divergence of vocality at the Ashes is enough to illustrate the differences in supporter culture between the UK and Australia. Atmospheres are probably the only part of Super League that exceeds the NRL. That such vociferousness is generated by fewer paying punters is neither here nor there.
After the derby in 2019, St Helens fullback Lachlan Coote was amazed by the fans singing his praises, saying, “It’s really something we don’t get over in Australia with the way the fans battle each other in the stands.”
This isn’t a COVID thing, and this entire discussion precedes and proceeds a post-restriction world.
The recent behind-closed-doors fixtures and relocation to Queensland obviously don’t help, but it’s been something noted for far longer than the pandemic. This comparative silence can be explained to some extent by the peculiarities of Australian culture and sport.
The sheer vastness of Australian geography makes rivalries difficult to foster. The isolation of Melbourne means hyping ‘grudge’ games against Manly seems superficial. The same can be said of New Zealand and the difficulty of cultivating unique trans-Tasman spite.
Brisbane came into the NSWRL as a product of the city’s best, as did Newcastle with the Hunter region, and Canberra with the surrounding ACT. Billing fixtures against the Cowboys as a Queensland ‘derby’ is tricky when the sides are separated by 1340 kilometres.
The mergers at the ceasefire of the Super League War didn’t help. It’s tough to rationalise fans becoming so emotionally attached when the side you grew up with has been through a forced unification with a previous foe. Your previous identity is subsumed, divided with others.
These mergers brought with them ground sharing, but this is a phenomenon afflicting Australian sport. Many of Sydney’s clubs do not have a fixed abode, or share a ground with their rivals. More than half of the city’s teams regularly used the Olympic Stadium as a home venue, making it that more difficult to foster intra-city despisal.
In such a hard-hitting, territorial game as rugby league, timesharing ‘home’ with those you purport to hate doesn’t logically compute.
It’s not as if this is completely alien to Australia. South Sydney fans at least try with The Burrow and belting of ‘Take Me Home, Botany Road’. Every A-League club is replete with fanatical supporters making their presence heard. Why can’t the same be done for rugby league?
Australia leads the sport in so many ways. It is the pinnacle of domestic talent, has the highest viewership and sales figures, and in the eyes of many, the NRL simply is rugby league.
One day, it would be great if it had the soundtrack of the terraces to match.
Maxtruck
Roar Rookie
I go to the game to watch the game, on the sideline is the next best thing to still being able to play. The contact, the slight of hand , the pace and skill make it the best game in the world. I don't need some pelican screaming in my ear, singing, throwing stuff or generally being a pain in the butt to make it an event
Sam Drew
Roar Guru
As an outsider Pom, this is the thing about Brisbane expansion that I don't understand. Fair enough another team in SEQ. But considering the Broncos can't sell out Suncorp, why base another team there? All it does is risk dividing current support. If the Firehawks (with support of Easts Tigers) want to create that North-South rivalry, why not play out of the QEII stadium in Nathan? Redcliffe is far enough from the CBD to be distinct. Just use their huge reserves to get their own stadium up to scratch. Same goes for Ipswich, with the promises of local gov. money.
Big Daddy
Roar Rookie
The only culture we get out of the NRL matches is the crowd saying " the referee's a wanker ".
West Mitchy
Guest
No this started 5 mins before kick off. The atmosphere was terrible for 80k
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
I replied to this about a song by opposition fans at a S....thorpe game and it disappeared. Their program needs maintenance.
Albo
Roar Rookie
I watch it too Tim Buck. Can't get too excited , but enjoy seeing how the ex-NRL guys are doing and try to spot the odd good local talent for Ricky to chase .
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
Compared to the top four most NRL games are reserve grade standard too. I like to watch the ESL but Fox sports don't show it much.
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
I prefer to watch Canberra games on TV rather than go to Bruce Stadium or whatever it's called now. I do like the bucket of chips and a hot dog and Canberra has quite a few Dragon fans.
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
I've known quite a few poms who have come out because their parents wanted a better climate. They seem to prefer the southern cities. When I came to Canberra I went to ANU and the Vics and SAers made convict jokes. The singing must come from people packed into a relatively small space. Do they sing at English cricket matcches?
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
I had a friend who was a Leeds fan and when he went back to England for a visit he took his Australian wife to experience the huge singing crowd packed into the stands. She was very impressed. I’ve seen some club rugby on Fox Sports but didn’t notice any singing but from what I saw it was a happy crowd not like the Sydney rugby crowds. When I was young I watched some St.George games at the SCG. They were the match of the round and usually had a bit of noise but not singing. It was very loud when the winning try was scored but other times it was fans yelling encouragement. AFL games have plenty of crowd noises. When I watched games in Adelaide there was a fair bit of noise but it was repetitive things like “Push in the back” and “Holding the ball”. When I played junior rugby league there was some games where the small crowd made a bit of noise and it helped me play better although once I got a big head and did something stupid that I regretted.
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
Were NSW getting beaten?
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
Yes those birds are the loudest in the world. Once I was getting out of my car at O'Connor when a big flock flying low over the shops above us started to screech. The man next to me cried out in a foreign language. Canberra has most of the embassies and they eventually find why Australia is the land of the parrots. We used to breed budgies in Sydney when I was young. Lovely birds.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
Best atmosphere games of any sport I have been to was a British and Irish Lions test in Melbourne and a Edinburgh vs Glasgow Pro14 game in Glasgow. UK fans seem to drive a better atmosphere than Aussie fans. They seem to be able to maintain the passion of their football fans, without going overboard into hooliganism.
Soda
Roar Rookie
I may be wrong but I always felt Sydney just a tad snobby when it comes to sport. It's almost like being a sports fan, especially NRL, is a class divider and something to be met with indifference or to be ashamed of. This is in contrast to Melbourne where virtually everyone has a team they barrack for. From the Garbo to the fancy art gallery curator. They even have a day off to celebrate the grand finalists. In my opinion the Sydney will never capture those kinds of atmospheres seen elsewhere because the sporting landscape is too fragmented and the public too apathetic.
GoGWS
Roar Guru
Yeah I’ve had this conversation before with people from England…we don’t all have to be a monoculture and all adopt the same way of doing things. Australian crowds in Australian football codes are not English, and don’t aspire to be. An AFL game has plenty of atmosphere with highs, lows .. noise and quieter patches. In fact, when I’ve been to football games in England I found the singing distracting after a while because it wasn’t quite in sync with what was going on in the actual game in the pitch - not in the same way you get player to crowd feedback in an AFL game. Each to their own. For me, singing the club theme song at beginning and end of an AFL game is enough… otherwise leave the singing and cheer (or boo) as the play unfolds.
dogs
Guest
Had an American friend over here for 6 months. Her horror the first morning she was woken by sulphur cresteds (a fair few just outside) was hillarious. She was so dissappointed, had thought they were such beautiful birds before that.
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
There was a rivalry in the old State (NSW) cup between Newcastle and Wollongong with Newcastle usually winning. Novacastrians are tough and aggressive but they don’t sing they growl. There is no one in the ACT surrounding Canberra but there may be some Canberra fans in Queanbeyan, Yass and Goulburn. Before the Raiders came to Canberra it was an Aussie Rules town because the early Canberrans were public servants who moved from Melbourne, the previous capital. The move was slow. Canberra was named by Lady Denman the wife of the Govener-General Lord Denman in 1913 but people didn’t start moving untill 1927 and they were still coming in 1974 when I came to Canberra. The one commercial TV station showed the VFL match of the day on Saturday and a few years later were showing a Sydney RL game late on Sunday after the 8:30 movie around about 10:30pm. In 1979-80 I remember signing a petition to get channel 7 to show the RL at an earlier time so the kiddies could watch the game. I went to the first Canberra game against the Western Suburbs Magpies at Seiffert Oval, Queanbeyan. Ironically Magpies were rarely seen in Sydney but Canberra had the Black Backed Magpies. On the coast and in Melbourne they have the White Backed Magpies. They’re mongrel birds but when there are Goshawks around they disappear whereas Rosellas, Red Wattle birds, Galahs and Sulpher Crested Cockatoos and others send a scout to sit near the Goshawk and give warning calls. I even saw a Magpie chase a Rosella out of a tree it was hiding in. The birds make more noise than Canberra RL crowds.
West Mitchy
Guest
The saddest thing in sport I've ever experienced was going to a Sydney State of Origin game at ANZ stadium after hearing the RL community rave about its atmosphere. The bloke on the PA was trying to rev the crowd up all throughout the game. I've never seen anything like it
Pete
Guest
Go to a soccer or Rugby game in the UK it gets even bigger with more fans to boot it along even the French create a awesome atmosphere with their trumpet playing ask a few league players that crossed over to rugby to play in France the atmosphere can be deafing.
Albo
Roar Rookie
Seems rather strange they go to a reserve grade standard footy match just to sing ? They would have more fun at an Eisteddfod ? :silly: