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59,721 watch State of Origin rugby league in Perth


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State of Origin went to Perth for the first time today. The crowd of 59,721 at the new Optus Stadium was a ground record, beating the Australian Rules final played there last year.

This shows that Perth is ripe for its own rugby league team in the NRL, and that rugby league must expand its geographic reach to that city.

 

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11 minutes ago, deluded pom? said:

It’s like playing Yorkshire v Lancashire in Somerset.

But it can't be analogous given the fact that such a huge crowd attended in Perth.

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Just now, Manfred Mann said:

But it can't be analogous given the fact that such a huge crowd attended in Perth.

Why can’t it? SoO is chasing the almighty dollar by binning home advantage and taking it to a venue with next to nothing to do with the combatants. It has lost something IMO by doing so.

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3 minutes ago, deluded pom? said:

Why can’t it? SoO is chasing the almighty dollar by binning home advantage and taking it to a venue with next to nothing to do with the combatants. It has lost something IMO by doing so.

I quite like the concept. 3 game series, so each side gets a home game and then 1 at a neutral venue.

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1 minute ago, deluded pom? said:

I’m sure the NSW and Qld fans love having a game taken off them each year.

It's been played in Melbourne 8 times - there were 87k watching at the MCG last year and 91k for the previous game in Melbourne, so this is hardly a new thing. Adelaide next year I think.

Sydney Roosters v Melbourne Storm in the NRL in Adelaide this week.

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I can understand both sides of the argument. It’s a series between NSW and Queensland so don’t know what it has to do with any other state or country for that matter. But then again it’s a good opportunity to take a successful product like SOO to uncharted territories to showcase the sport. 

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A strange sidelight to this event is the fact that the famous game caller on Channel 9, Ray Warren, has a phobia of flying. So he rarely calls any game more than 100 miles from Sydney. This means that for him to be in Perth for the State of Origin game he must have been forced to take a train across the country (several days travel) and then back again by train after the game.

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When the rain teamed down, I did notice quite a lot of empty seats, particularly in the middle tier. Is that where the corporates sit? Despite having a roof on, it seemed quite exposed, as a lot of people in the crowd had rain jackets on. I suppose in a state where there are 300 days of sunshine a year, they don’t have to deal with those weather conditions very often

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29 minutes ago, deluded pom? said:

Why can’t it? SoO is chasing the almighty dollar by binning home advantage and taking it to a venue with next to nothing to do with the combatants. It has lost something IMO by doing so.

I think it makes complete sense having one of the matches outside of NSW and Queensland so that neither has an advantage in the series.

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9 minutes ago, Manfred Mann said:

A strange sidelight to this event is the fact that the famous game caller on Channel 9, Ray Warren, has a phobia of flying. So he rarely calls any game more than 100 miles from Sydney. This means that for him to be in Perth for the State of Origin game he must have been forced to take a train across the country (several days travel) and then back again by train after the game.

He didn't because he flew to Perth.

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47 minutes ago, deluded pom? said:

It’s like playing Yorkshire v Lancashire in Somerset.

No it's not stop being so ridiculous (with respect). Like it or not, the product has states in Australia willing to pay huge $$$$ to bring it there. 

Do we like it to dominate internationals? No - it sucks it is that way. But being facetious about it doesn't help anyone.  

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12 minutes ago, Manfred Mann said:

A strange sidelight to this event is the fact that the famous game caller on Channel 9, Ray Warren, has a phobia of flying. So he rarely calls any game more than 100 miles from Sydney. This means that for him to be in Perth for the State of Origin game he must have been forced to take a train across the country (several days travel) and then back again by train after the game.

Or Joey and Gus Gould took the A-Team BA Baracus approach to get the rabbit to Perth? Usually dropped into a glass of milk.

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Every time I go to Perth I don’t see or hear any Aussies, just Brits and Irish.   Probably some potential there based on the fact that some expats will be from Northern England and the Irish seem to admire RL whenever I’ve spoken to them.

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36 minutes ago, deluded pom? said:

Why can’t it? SoO is chasing the almighty dollar by binning home advantage and taking it to a venue with next to nothing to do with the combatants. It has lost something IMO by doing so.

What has it lost?

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I love the idea of one Origin game per year being at a neutral venue. Quite apart from making the contest more even, it helps spread the word and wins new fans. It would be nice if this also included plans for a major club side for the new fans to attach themselves to, though, but the NRL have been very conservative about expansion and I don't see that changing soon.

The new stadium at Perth is magnificent, if not 100% ideally suited to RL, due to its shape. As a replacement for the WACA, is the Cricket pitch still lethally fast, flat and bouncy? It was always the defining character of Perth tests and I hope they've retained that.

Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

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