2 replies to this topic

[kiwityke]

The behaviour at Eden Park was outrageous. But what do you expect when booze is freely available. I had my bottle of water confiscated as I went in and had to buy another. But beer was sold (not FREE) to one and all. It is similar to Mad (Idiotic may be a better term) Mondays at which I assume (correct me if I'm wrong) that alcohol is provided often by the sponsors with no limits. No wonder Joel and others disgrace themselves.
Back at Eden Park. There were just over 44,300 attending. At a Warriors game we get about 14,000. Thus 25 to 30 thousand were not core Rugby League supporters. The Warriors supporters were in a special section "Vodafone One Tribe" in the bottom 10 rows of the ASB stand (and were bombarded with empty bottles). The hooligans were well back up in the stand. Sad that League was blamed for the trouble. Riff raff and access to booze were the main culprits IMO.
It will be interesting to see if things change for the Rugby World Cup next year. With Heineken a main sponsor and the urge to make a profit foremost it would be a rash person who would bet against more trouble.

It has been suggested that in Oz they sell "low alcohol" beer. Is that so?

[G Las D]

Unruly behaviour and threat of or incidence of violence is a nasty problem. A lot of it is fuelled by excessive alcohol and the mob effect.

A lot of profession sport is caught with its trousers down on this one. The money from alcohol is huge and difficult to turn down. The income raised in the ground from limitless alcohol sales is also huge. The result from the excess of it in already fired up bodies can be seen too often.

It's easy to talk in a PC way and tell people to drink responsibly but unless action is taken serious injury and worse can be the outcome.

The game has to think hard about not just its attitude but also its practice in promoting and serving alcohol in limitless amounts.

Decent people out to see a good game of rugby should not be at risk of threat, abuse or injury.
Once you've got an unruly mob fuelled up you are asking for trouble.

Week in week out I have only positive experience of match days where families can enjoy a good time.
I've recently been at a RL finals day which had three full competitive games for the price of the ticket in. The bars were open throughout - now that is just asking for trouble.

Edited by G Las D, 08 November 2010 - 03:50 PM.

[CrushersForever]

It has been suggested that in Oz they sell "low alcohol" beer. Is that so?

It was a few years ago now, but I recall that they only sold XXXX Gold (3.5%) or XXXX Light (2.3%) at Lang Park in Brisbane. And while it brings out a lot of macho, that's-not-real-beer posturing from a good few, I think it's good. You can still enjoy a beer; you just can't get hammered. Well, at least not until after the match is over and you've left the ground.