G’day everyone and hello to you all again. Tonight I’m going to talk to you about Skilled Park; a simply wonderful venue for rugby league. I made my maiden trip down there last week, dressed in my best Broncos jersey, and was blown away by the facility. I’m a regular at Suncorp Stadium and south-east Queensland is so lucky to have two world-class rugby league stadiums.
I didn’t intend to head down to the game but when the opportunity came up I jumped at it. My mate and I, who have attended a stack of footy games together, drove down to a nearby area before catching the train one stop to Robina. That station is 200 metres away from Skilled Park and they have set up a nice, easy walkway directly to the venue.
One of the surprising things about the ground is it is literally in the middle of nowhere. I had no idea about that; there were actually cows grazing on surrounding paddocks. Inside the ground is pretty special too.
All reports of it being a ‘mini Suncorp Stadium’ are correct. We were sitting about halfway up the southern stand, behind the goal posts, and had the same sort of view we get in Brisbane. Of course we were in enemy territory too, another first for me. That was great, I wouldn’t call it hostile as such, but I could definitely feel I was in the minority.
There are two massive features of Skilled Park that hit me: flags and noise.
It seemed every Titans fan had a flag! Their ground announcer made the call to start waving flags and looking across the crowd it was a sea of blue. It actually looked like a wave, it was almost hypnotic but a fabulous thing to see as well. Television doesn’t do it justice, you’d have to go down and see it for yourself. I’m not sure if flags are banned at Suncorp Stadium, but I have never seen anything like that up here.
But the noise, my God it was loud. I’d heard the stories about the place but you could almost see the sounds bouncing off the walls. The best way I can describe the design of the stadium is like a cylinder along each boundary. The whole thing just echoes and it’s like the noise can’t escape out the roof. The cheer when Kevin Gordon snared an intercept in the second half and ran 100 metres to score was the loudest I’d heard in rugby league. I’ve been to State of Origins and the one event I can recall coming close was the fight after the ‘up-and-under’ in Origin III this year.
Unfortunately there are some areas for the stadium to work on.
Leaving the venue was a real challenge and almost dampened the whole experience. As mentioned we only had to travel one stop on the train to get to the car but that trip took us over an hour. There was a capacity 27,000 crowd there but unfortunately they only have one entry/exit walkway. This wasn’t helped by a series of ‘bottlenecks’ where the crowd was forced to merge into narrower walkways or stadium exits. Some of this trip to the public transport was done in sheer darkness too which could cause problems should someone fall over or a young child get separated.
I did want to write a news story on this for our uni website, www.subtropic.com.au, but ran out of time this week. I have heard from Skilled Park Venue Manager David Lloyd about some of these issues.
Mr Lloyd claimed all patrons were exited and on public transport within an hour and the lack of size of Robina Station (two platforms, one direction) compared to Roma Street or Milton Station (many platforms, various directions), located near Suncorp Stadium, meant it is impossible to compare the systems.
“The venue has a transport plan and over 90% of patrons utilise the public transport services when attending events at Skilled Park,” Mr Lloyd said.
“Whenever 27,000 plus people try and exit the venue all at the same time going in the same direction there may be some minor delays getting on to the transport Hub.”
That really was the only blip on the Skilled Park experience. Not being familiar with the area it’s not appropriate for me to suggest viable suggestions. I’m sure the good people will work on it. That aside, Skilled Park is a fabulous venue and I strongly urge every rugby league fan to try and take a chance to watch their team play at Skilled Park.
Semi-Finals
As for the Titans, I reckon they’ll have a real task on their hands this week. I’m honestly struggling to see them beat the Eels on Friday. Parramatta are playing well and I’m not sure the Titans have the game to win a massive semi-final. They’ve been towelled up by Manly and conceded 40 points against the Broncos last week.
I hope I’m wrong, I really do. Every single Queensland rugby league fan wants to see an all-Queensland Grand Final one day and my word, a Titans/Broncos decider this year would be awesome!
The Broncos I’m a little more confident in. I, like most people, thought the Dragons had a play left this season, something big for the backend of the year. Now, I’m not so sure. I won’t write them off but I can definitely see them slipping out the back door. The Broncos are playing well and despite the 40-32 score last week, I think they have solid defence. Combine that with a lacklustre Dragons attack and I can see a 6-8 point win for Brisbane on Saturday night.
Tips this week: Eels, Brisbane
Last week: 3/4 (Total: 115/190)
Winning percentage: 61%
I’m going on holidays this weekend for a week and won’t actually see the Broncos v Dragons match, but please feel free to email me on andrew.keyte@gmail.com for your thoughts on the finals, Skilled Park or anything else.
I won’t be here next week but my early pick for the Grand Final is Melbourne Storm. They look fresh and are full of dangerous players; they destroyed Manly last week and look really good. Storm to play Bulldogs in the big one.
But if I have things my way, it’ll be Titans vs. Broncos. We, up here in Queensland, can only hope!
I’ll be back in two weeks for a Grand Final preview,Keyto
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Silly Sunday’s, Terrific Tuesday’s & Footy Finals
Good evening all and welcome back to the Qualifying Finals edition of my weekly ramblings. I don’t have anything decent to talk about this week … I have no idea who is going to win their games this weekend. I can tell you I was happy to see the Roosters take the wooden spoon last weekend. I went to the Broncos again on Sunday and must say, my headgear’s off to Raiders fullback Josh Dugan for his two great tackles/body-blocks on Dave Taylor in that game. Very brave effort from a player, who I think, is going to be pretty good. Tonight I will run through a couple of things making news this week.
South Sydney’s Silly Sunday
Ok, we’ve had plenty of crap in the game this year that’s seemed to occur about once every 2-3 weeks. We were due … and the Bunnies delivered. I don’t know why but I found this story to be a little bit funny: Big guy leaving the club, not his best season but had his moments, coach on the piss, does something that leaves the player embarrassed, player decks coach.
I just wonder how many other Bunnies players or fans wanted to see the same thing after this season. Hopefully something resembling the truth will come out eventually but if not…Player smacked his coach and I got a laugh.
Dally M’s
The NRL had their prestigious Dally M awards ceremony the other night. I am not a fan of these shows whether they are Dally M’s, AB Medal, Oscars, Logies or whatever … I don’t watch. But I do read the results and I think they were pretty spot on this season.
The Bulldogs were the big winners with a heap of positional awards handed out plus the coach and rookie of the year. If anything that is all good, official recognition of a strong season. But of course the best recognition is on Grand Final Day.
Jarryd Hayne won the Dally M medal for best player in the competition and it’s hard to argue against that. Hayne, like the Eels, had a slow start to the season but for the last three to four months at least he’s been head and shoulders above the rest and a deserved winner.
Moving Finals
I understand most of the talk in Sydney during the week was about why the NRL should or shouldn’t force the Dragons to take their home final against the Eels this week to a bigger stadium. Kogarah Oval holds 18,000 tops, with only half allocated seats, and the argument was this game could draw anywhere up to 60,000 people.
I’m happy for the game to stay there … as a TV viewer Kogarah is probably a better option on Sunday afternoon. The NRL was short-sighted in not granting themselves power to shift games like this. As far as I’m concerned the Dragons are allowed to play wherever they want and no one could blame them for making their choice.
If anything this should be major motivation for the Eels. They can take a real seize mentality into this contest now. But they have to show up this time … they were on the wrong bus last week and now there is no second chance.
All-Queensland Final
South-east Queensland is buzzing this week ahead of the Titans v Broncos game on Saturday night at Robina. Everyone is picking their sides and really looking forward to the game. I’m sensing that no one wants the loser punted out of the competition, but there’s a real possibility that may happen.
The Broncos are favourites but like the Eels above, the Gold Coast will have a real point to prove and will be so determined to win. It’s their maiden finals appearance, they’re at home and they’re playing the Broncos. And rugby league fans in Queensland will be the big winners.
Queensland Cup Grand Final
Northern Pride, one of two feeder teams to the Cowboys, and Sunshine Coast Sea Eagles, feeders for Manly, will contest the QCup Decider this weekend. The game was taken away from Suncorp Stadium months ago, I think due to a possible date (not time) clash with an NRL final, and awarded to Kawana. For those outside of south-east Queensland, Kawana is on the Sunshine Coast and is the home ground for the Sea Eagles.
It should be a very interesting game with a few NRL-experienced players running around. For the Pride, their halfback Chris Shepperd has been described as a ‘Brett Kimmorley’ player for them and holds the key. I haven’t seen much of the Sea Eagles but the ‘T-Rex’ Tony Williams has been in great recent form and will be playing five-eighth this weekend.
Live coverage is available through the ABC outlets from 2pm Saturday and if like me you will be avoiding doing something constructive, I suggest you take a look.
Tips this week: Storm, Broncos, Bulldogs, Dragons
Last week: 5/8(Total: 112/186)
Winning percentage: 60%
Well that’s it for this week, please email your thoughts to andrew.keyte@gmail.com, and I will see you again soon.
Cheers,
Keyto
South Sydney’s Silly Sunday
Ok, we’ve had plenty of crap in the game this year that’s seemed to occur about once every 2-3 weeks. We were due … and the Bunnies delivered. I don’t know why but I found this story to be a little bit funny: Big guy leaving the club, not his best season but had his moments, coach on the piss, does something that leaves the player embarrassed, player decks coach.
I just wonder how many other Bunnies players or fans wanted to see the same thing after this season. Hopefully something resembling the truth will come out eventually but if not…Player smacked his coach and I got a laugh.
Dally M’s
The NRL had their prestigious Dally M awards ceremony the other night. I am not a fan of these shows whether they are Dally M’s, AB Medal, Oscars, Logies or whatever … I don’t watch. But I do read the results and I think they were pretty spot on this season.
The Bulldogs were the big winners with a heap of positional awards handed out plus the coach and rookie of the year. If anything that is all good, official recognition of a strong season. But of course the best recognition is on Grand Final Day.
Jarryd Hayne won the Dally M medal for best player in the competition and it’s hard to argue against that. Hayne, like the Eels, had a slow start to the season but for the last three to four months at least he’s been head and shoulders above the rest and a deserved winner.
Moving Finals
I understand most of the talk in Sydney during the week was about why the NRL should or shouldn’t force the Dragons to take their home final against the Eels this week to a bigger stadium. Kogarah Oval holds 18,000 tops, with only half allocated seats, and the argument was this game could draw anywhere up to 60,000 people.
I’m happy for the game to stay there … as a TV viewer Kogarah is probably a better option on Sunday afternoon. The NRL was short-sighted in not granting themselves power to shift games like this. As far as I’m concerned the Dragons are allowed to play wherever they want and no one could blame them for making their choice.
If anything this should be major motivation for the Eels. They can take a real seize mentality into this contest now. But they have to show up this time … they were on the wrong bus last week and now there is no second chance.
All-Queensland Final
South-east Queensland is buzzing this week ahead of the Titans v Broncos game on Saturday night at Robina. Everyone is picking their sides and really looking forward to the game. I’m sensing that no one wants the loser punted out of the competition, but there’s a real possibility that may happen.
The Broncos are favourites but like the Eels above, the Gold Coast will have a real point to prove and will be so determined to win. It’s their maiden finals appearance, they’re at home and they’re playing the Broncos. And rugby league fans in Queensland will be the big winners.
Queensland Cup Grand Final
Northern Pride, one of two feeder teams to the Cowboys, and Sunshine Coast Sea Eagles, feeders for Manly, will contest the QCup Decider this weekend. The game was taken away from Suncorp Stadium months ago, I think due to a possible date (not time) clash with an NRL final, and awarded to Kawana. For those outside of south-east Queensland, Kawana is on the Sunshine Coast and is the home ground for the Sea Eagles.
It should be a very interesting game with a few NRL-experienced players running around. For the Pride, their halfback Chris Shepperd has been described as a ‘Brett Kimmorley’ player for them and holds the key. I haven’t seen much of the Sea Eagles but the ‘T-Rex’ Tony Williams has been in great recent form and will be playing five-eighth this weekend.
Live coverage is available through the ABC outlets from 2pm Saturday and if like me you will be avoiding doing something constructive, I suggest you take a look.
Tips this week: Storm, Broncos, Bulldogs, Dragons
Last week: 5/8(Total: 112/186)
Winning percentage: 60%
Well that’s it for this week, please email your thoughts to andrew.keyte@gmail.com, and I will see you again soon.
Cheers,
Keyto
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Hello all and welcome to what is the penultimate week of the 2009 NRL competition and most judges, now more than at any stage this year, have no idea who is going to win this thing! In fact it’s even proving a hard task working out who is playing where next week let alone Grand Final day! Let’s have a look why:
The following takes place between 7:30pm Friday Rd 25 and 9pm Monday Rd 25
The Broncos defeat a spirited North Queensland but don’t have things going entirely their own way. They scrap hard for a win, drop a lot of football, but eventually out-class their northern cousins.
Parramatta Eels don’t just beat the Panthers, they annihilate the Penrith side in what was meant to be top eight shoot-out. It was a shoot-out alright, a dead set fatality as the Eels blazed Penrith off the park with a 48-6 thumping to all but confirm a spot in the final eight.
Moving on to Saturday where the Gold Coast Titans get locked in an attacking battle with a desperate, yet high octane, Wests Tigers. The visitors fought back a couple of times before the Titans turned to veteran Mat Rogers late in the game to get them home. The win, and future results, gave the Gold Coast a shot at a top two finish and meant they passed their toughest test in a month.
The Melbourne Storm, welcoming back star Greg Inglis, said goodbye to the ‘Graveyard’ by burying the Roosters by 40 points. It was clean, methodical and very ‘Melbourne Storm’. Just when you think this team is slipping, they go and fire a few more bullets.
Then came the big one...
The St George-Illawarra Dragons are beaten, humbled, embarrassed and thrashed 41-6 by Souths…South Sydney Rabbitohs of all teams!! An underperforming unit, a few weeks out of finals contention and a big casualty ward, put the cleaners through the side that spent all year leading the comp and carrying premiership favouritism. The Dragons have lost three in a row and are in some trouble. The one thing in their favour is the master coach Bennett, a man who has seen it all, but jeez they’re running out of time to bounce back.
Enter Sunday and what a Sunday it was. Referees’ rob Cronulla of a victory over Manly which not only resulted in the Sea Eagles moving within a point of a top four berth, but also ended the faint hopes of the Tigers. I ended up watching the whole game and, withstanding the fact I should have won $100 on a Sharkies 1-12 win, I was quite shattered for Cronulla. I don’t support that team, but I felt worse for them Sunday than I did when the Broncos lost to the Storm in the last minute of a semi final last year.
Surely that would be the end of the drama with a day of celebration for Hazem to follow?
Nope, the Bulldogs easily beat the Warriors to move into first on the ladder but lose their on-field general Brett Kimmorley. He controls everything at that club with their entire game played out under his command. They have some decent replacements in Roberts, Ennis and Daniel Holdsworth … but neither of them are Brett Kimmorley. ‘Noddy’ might be back for the Grand Final, but the Dogs have to get there first.
Then there is Newcastle who simply had to beat the Raiders in Canberra on Monday night to seal their place in the eight. Right, sounds easy hey? Not quite…The Raiders explode out of the blocks, bring some weather with them, dominate the game, get in a fight and win quite comfortably. Hhmm…Newcastle v Penrith on Sunday for a spot in the top eight. Wow!
So how do we pick a winner from all this? Parramatta are the form team, the Dragons and Bulldogs have sat at the top all year, Manly and Melbourne have done it before, Brisbane are back, the Titans are new at this caper and whoever makes eighth can beat anyone on their day.
I still like Melbourne a bit but not sure why…stuff it, bet on the Dogs because they’ll pay alright now without Kimmorley...
Who am I kidding, I have no idea!
Tips this week: Dragons, Bulldogs, Warriors, Manly, Cronulla, Cowboys, Newcastle, Brisbane
Last week: 7/8(Total: 107/178)
Winning percentage: 60%
Who do you think can win this thing? You can share your thoughts at andrew.keyte@gmail.com or comment below.
Have fun,
Keyto
The following takes place between 7:30pm Friday Rd 25 and 9pm Monday Rd 25
The Broncos defeat a spirited North Queensland but don’t have things going entirely their own way. They scrap hard for a win, drop a lot of football, but eventually out-class their northern cousins.
Parramatta Eels don’t just beat the Panthers, they annihilate the Penrith side in what was meant to be top eight shoot-out. It was a shoot-out alright, a dead set fatality as the Eels blazed Penrith off the park with a 48-6 thumping to all but confirm a spot in the final eight.
Moving on to Saturday where the Gold Coast Titans get locked in an attacking battle with a desperate, yet high octane, Wests Tigers. The visitors fought back a couple of times before the Titans turned to veteran Mat Rogers late in the game to get them home. The win, and future results, gave the Gold Coast a shot at a top two finish and meant they passed their toughest test in a month.
The Melbourne Storm, welcoming back star Greg Inglis, said goodbye to the ‘Graveyard’ by burying the Roosters by 40 points. It was clean, methodical and very ‘Melbourne Storm’. Just when you think this team is slipping, they go and fire a few more bullets.
Then came the big one...
The St George-Illawarra Dragons are beaten, humbled, embarrassed and thrashed 41-6 by Souths…South Sydney Rabbitohs of all teams!! An underperforming unit, a few weeks out of finals contention and a big casualty ward, put the cleaners through the side that spent all year leading the comp and carrying premiership favouritism. The Dragons have lost three in a row and are in some trouble. The one thing in their favour is the master coach Bennett, a man who has seen it all, but jeez they’re running out of time to bounce back.
Enter Sunday and what a Sunday it was. Referees’ rob Cronulla of a victory over Manly which not only resulted in the Sea Eagles moving within a point of a top four berth, but also ended the faint hopes of the Tigers. I ended up watching the whole game and, withstanding the fact I should have won $100 on a Sharkies 1-12 win, I was quite shattered for Cronulla. I don’t support that team, but I felt worse for them Sunday than I did when the Broncos lost to the Storm in the last minute of a semi final last year.
Surely that would be the end of the drama with a day of celebration for Hazem to follow?
Nope, the Bulldogs easily beat the Warriors to move into first on the ladder but lose their on-field general Brett Kimmorley. He controls everything at that club with their entire game played out under his command. They have some decent replacements in Roberts, Ennis and Daniel Holdsworth … but neither of them are Brett Kimmorley. ‘Noddy’ might be back for the Grand Final, but the Dogs have to get there first.
Then there is Newcastle who simply had to beat the Raiders in Canberra on Monday night to seal their place in the eight. Right, sounds easy hey? Not quite…The Raiders explode out of the blocks, bring some weather with them, dominate the game, get in a fight and win quite comfortably. Hhmm…Newcastle v Penrith on Sunday for a spot in the top eight. Wow!
So how do we pick a winner from all this? Parramatta are the form team, the Dragons and Bulldogs have sat at the top all year, Manly and Melbourne have done it before, Brisbane are back, the Titans are new at this caper and whoever makes eighth can beat anyone on their day.
I still like Melbourne a bit but not sure why…stuff it, bet on the Dogs because they’ll pay alright now without Kimmorley...
Who am I kidding, I have no idea!
Tips this week: Dragons, Bulldogs, Warriors, Manly, Cronulla, Cowboys, Newcastle, Brisbane
Last week: 7/8(Total: 107/178)
Winning percentage: 60%
Who do you think can win this thing? You can share your thoughts at andrew.keyte@gmail.com or comment below.
Have fun,
Keyto
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