Macarthur flipped the climate coin last Saturday afternoon and lost. It was one extreme after another.
Initially their men’s match against Newcastle was delayed due to the summer heat. Then, after roughly fifteen minutes of play, it was briefly postponed due to a lightning storm. For the hapless Bulls, it was akin to the old saying: tails you lose, heads I win. Somehow the Jets ran out winners, despite possessing less ball and limited shots.
Across town, performing comfortably at an updated Moore Park, Sydney FC drew with Brisbane. Rhyan Grant celebrated 250 A-League games, as Steve Corica’s charmed lads squeezed in a late equaliser.
Rhyan Grant netted the winner for Sydney in the A-League grand final. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
After the game, a light drizzle began, its gentle cascade predictable as clockwork, gifting the Sky Blues’ fans considerable luck.
The same couldn’t be said for the Bull’s keen supporters, huddling under the aged awnings of Campbelltown Stadium.
With Macarthur’s game recommencing at 7:45pm, the A-League’s newest franchise had to compete with the much bigger Melbourne derby, taking place at the same time.
And that’s where the streaming metrics get interesting. For a football fan or neutral, how could you miss watching the Victory and City game? There’s no comparison. By terrible coincidence, after yet another weather delay in the Sydney contest, patience was tested, and the evening’s television viewers travelled south to Victoria instead.
Campbelltown was a ghost town. Even respected football commentator, Lucy Zelic, became fed-up with the broadcast, commenting on Twitter: “I don’t care what anyone says, cameras in a dressing room are just wrong, wrong, wrong.”
In retrospect, should Macarthur have stuck with their original kick-off time of 5pm?
Surely management had access to the Bureau of Meteorology. A delayed 6pm time sadly coincided with the approaching thunderstorm, which in hindsight, could have been avoided. Via Facebook, the fixture was only updated last Friday, a mere twenty-four hours before the event.
The domino effect of multiple delays also impeded the Perth and Central Coast match later in the night, by setting it back half an hour. You have to wonder if Paramount heavily influenced that decision, wishing not to overlap more games.
To the brave Macarthur faithful who persisted, hanging around for nearly four hours, your tenacity will eventually be rewarded. Sadly though, sometimes when it rain, it pours.
Kewell
Roar Rookie
Why are the Bulls in the ALeague? they are letting down the integrity of the competition. Their crowd numbers are pathetic.
Kewell
Roar Rookie
Does anyone care. McCarthurare a disappointment both on and off the field.
Garry
Roar Rookie
That would be the same weekend torrential rain hit Allianz – lucky I had paid extra for Tunnel seating so watched the second half indoors on tv. It proved how ineffective the roof was & how so called platinum plus seats werent so.. the stadium members were covered tho :sick:
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
The year they were winning the spoon they didnt want the liability? Mulvey a good coach but makes John Aloisi look like a choir boy.
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
keyword is potential. they should never have gone into the a league yet, they are a prime candidate for NSD and then entry into the a league after 10 years of trying to build crowds up at either NPL or NSD level
Garry
Roar Rookie
tough to pick Macarthur looking at the depth of quality at WSW
Garry
Roar Rookie
Unfortunately he was poor player & CCM didnt want the liability
Marcel
Guest
BMO predict the weather ....based on the data sets they obtain the make a judgement of probability....more often than not they get it wrong ...we accept it because weather is a highly complex array of systems beyond our current computational power. The point I was making was that for the entire season people have been complaining that games can't be played in the heat..then as soon as a game is delayed we find something else to whine about. Seriously ....you could play a game in some people's front yard and they would be unhappy that it wasn't in the backyard.
Brendan
Roar Pro
True. Waiting that long really tests the patience of fans. Still, all the best for the Bulls. I recall at the start of the season when a Mariner’s game was postponed due to rain. Club legend Matt Simon had an official presentation & the guy got soaked. The field was waterlogged.
Brendan
Roar Pro
I have a feeling the APL want to lure high-profile marquees, but to be honest, most stars would be reluctant to play in heat over 30 degrees. Maybe the NSD could start in winter, then the A-League might follow, if the move is popular.
Brendan
Roar Pro
I liked Usain Bolt too. If anything, I was comfortable with the Mariner’s signing him to a four game guest appearance.
Brendan
Roar Pro
Time to turn Macathur’s luck around this weekend, with the western derby against WSW at CommBank Stadium.
Grem
Roar Rookie
Hindsight is a wonderful thing! I’m glad I was at the Sydney game and had other Macarthur games up my sleeve on my 6 game Flexi. I wouldn’t have waited for four hours in those conditions.
Brendan
Roar Pro
People don’t “predict” the weather for professional matches. They rely on technology for assistance. In this case, it was severely misread. The issue is bigger than one sporting code. It’s beyond the A-League.
Marcel
Guest
Complaining about people's inability to predict the weather ? Surely this is a new high watermark in our capacity to find fault with the ALM.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
Nothing changed it was Usain Bolt drew the crowd. Dumbest decision ever made by the A-league not to make Bolt a marquee A-league matches sold out all over the country and got world wide coverage. There seem to be a concerted effort to stop it happening, with negative media articles as well.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
33 degrees and 40% humidity is nothing. Australia has played heaps of world cup qualifiers in hotter conditions without drinks breaks either, and a lot more with high temperatures and humidity. So why is the match say between and Australia and Solomon islands in 2005 kicked off at 1. There seems to be a new ultra soft heat policy here and WCQ there used to be none. Until the WCQ changes there is no point having an ultra soft heat policy here.
Roberto Bettega
Roar Rookie
An unfortunate series of events, nothing much anyone could do about it. In a season of bad news for the Bulls, this was just another bad day.
Brendan
Roar Pro
The Bull’s have the potential for larger crowds. Geographically, fan’s don’t get the coastal breezes, unlike Sydney or the Central Coast. In 2018, Usain Bolt brought in nearly 6,000 fans to a CCM trial match against Macarthur South West United in Campbelltown. The biggest mystery is what changed between then (2018) & 2023.
Brendan
Roar Pro
At 5:50pm last Saturday, the temperature in Campbelltown was 32 degrees. At 6:15pm, KeepUp posted a BOM image of the thunderstorm via Twitter, stating: “It might be time to reach for an umbrella.” Too little, too late. Then it became farcical. Although, credit to the ground staff, as the stadium has decent drainage.