Wallabies vs Wales - Docklands Stadium June 16

OK so on the Friday when it is perfectly obvious that ticket sales are woeful, allow anyone who has puchased two tickets to bring another person for free. No extra cost to the stadium but significant increase in revenue from food, drink , merchandise etc.

It looks more impressive on TV, allows more people to experience a Test match and everyone wins.

I know I'm dreaming, but that's allowed isn't it?

Btw. there was significant free tickets given away.

I like it because it rewards everyone who has already purchased tickets rather than just the late 'blow-ins' who get the deals.

AlexH - how has that sort of approach contributed to the Wallabies being unable to play when it gets inclement? How has that contributed to the opposition being able to shut down the Plan A game and there being no plan B?

Horses for courses, not evey player is suited to all conditions and it has always been thus. The RWC is a great example of Quade Cooper not being suitable for the game plan to be employed. There is no doubt that he was by far the most accomplished 10 in Oz last year, but there is no way that he was ever suited to play the territory and defence based plan Deans elected to take into the RWC.

Had this myself last night, with a friend I took. Talked to her at half-time and I think she finally understood why I love rugby.

just finished watching the replay. a very thrilling game. almost as good as ireland nz which was bloody fantasic. BOD perpetually unlucky in love with the southern hemisphere nations.
the crowd was really dissapointing. 34k..previous games v ireland and the all blacks in melbourne have drawn 45k-55k. not sure what italy drew a few years ago, but that is a bad figure. personally i think any test in melbourne not against england or new zealand should be held at AAMI. cram 30,000 into AAMI for games against wales, italy, france, etc. the atmosphere and views are that much better at aami v etihad. Personally, I would pay an extra $10 for my ticket were it at AAMI v Etihad and I'm sure a lot of others would too.

20,000 vs Italy in 09.

gees. that is bad. but italy were pretty woeful that year i think.not the team they are now.
I like the strategy the ARU are adopting in sydney going forward, unless its going to draw 60,000 plus - its at allianz.
repeart for melbourne.

Excellent post Bruce especially at it touches on two topics close to my heart. Growing the game by making it more accessible to new supporters and political scaremongering.

Ticket prices should be set at a level with the aim to fill the stadium rather than to skim the top end of the market for a little more profit. Get people into the stadium and then make money on them buying programs, beer, food, souvenirs etc. Sacrificing a little profit now for a much larger and healthier market tomorrow is the way to go. It's like these marketing people can't connect the dots and work out that if people attend test matches or S15 games then they are more likely to spend money on rugby in other ways (e.g. the new Wallaby jersey for themselves and the kids).

Someone who is skeptical about our sport isn't going to pay through the nose to dip their toe in the waters and see if they like it. Make the prices low enough so that these new comers feel like they're ripping the ARU off by taking up a seat at a price that's a steal. Then just when they're not expecting it we'll convert them by stealth and let the majesty that is test rugby do the talking.

As for political scaremongering your average politician knows about as much about running an economy as a RL player knows about scrummaging. Up here in the EU all the scaremongering about the Euro has talked our economy into a double dip recession. Just before Christmas the Euro crisis had abated and all the statistics, job figures, opinion polls from consumers and manufacturers, budgets for the new year etc. showed the green shoots of recovery. It was just short of hanging a huge sign out that Google Earth could read saying "Recession Over!".

I'm a firm believer that the current economic crisis would be over by now if the politicians shut up and stopped talking about it, then stood back and let those with the ability to DO something about it.

Everything looked good for the few weeks of the Christmas break with retailers reporting a brisker trade than expected in many countries. Then the politician and investment bankers came back from their holidays and within a week it was crisis all over again. The fact that the Euro didn't collapse while they were off skiing or whatever over Chirstmas didn't register with them. The important thing was that the FTSE, DAX or whatever market had lost a whole 1/2% or whatever it was.

I find it baffling why the level of an investment market should be so important to the health of an economy in the modern era. It's not ignorance on my part either having spent well over a decade working in banking and funds. The fact that I'm aware that banks will purposely engineer drops in certain markets in order to profit makes the obsession by politicians even more alarming. The additional fact that banks make more profit in times of recession also seems to escape them.

Politicians should look after the economy first and then let markets look after themselves by taking advantage of a favourable economy. Instead politicians the world over are the same. In good times when basic economic theory tells us that they should be putting the breaks on the economy they instead have tax cuts aimed at winning more votes in the upcoming election. These tax cuts then over stimulate the economy and lead to recession. In times of recession when they should be spending to stimulate the economy they make cuts to spending, because they or previous governments have spent our rainy day fund on tax cuts at the wrong time.

It's my firm belief that politicians have as much right to be near the running of an economy and indeed are as much use as a winger in the front row of a scrum.

Anyway I've prattled on too much and I'm sure many on here don't need to read my wanderings on politics when I can already bore you with my meanderings on rugby.

Does anyone else have "moments" when they read about Kurtley Beale and think of Andrew Walker? So much tallent located below the neck!!

Yeah too right. Agree with your thinking, England/New Zealand/Ireland at Jihad. Everyone else at AAMI.

I think the Welsh back row play well as a unit, each complimenting the other Warbs has just come back from injury, so might need a few more games to get back to his best, A 7 needs support at the Breakdown Higginbotham,palu, supports pocock very well, our back row has'nt quite clicked yet, perhaps your back row are not leting us,
Also and this isn't a dig at the refs, the tackle area seems to be more vigourously policed in the NH, perhaps we need to smarten up a little at the tackle area and play more to your rules,

My personal whinge ATM is that Wales show signs of becoming a team like the one Robbie Deans seems to be molding - based on playing percentages. Wales were great last season because the had a brilliant defence (and there was plenty of evidence the unbrella defence was back) but also because they were capable of unpredictable attack and kept the ball in hand. their superior fitness meant that the steamrollered teams. there are, I am afraid, signs that this riskier strategy has been abandoned in favour of field position and gaining ground via box kicks. They can still do it in patches but it isn't what they try to do all the time. Best comment I saw during the week was from george North whio said 'wales must be themselves'. I think he probably knew that the game plan was solely based on geting ahead early and then closing down the opposition. Nearly worked, but now they have to go back to attack.

wouldn;t make many changes. I'd like to see tips given a run on, hooker Owens and Scott Williams back in the centre to ensure we reach the gainline

Bardon, thoroughly enjoyed your "rant" and in many respects agree entirely.

"Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach. Those who can't teach, study law, politics, or sell cars".

If you think your meandering posts are boring, then you clearly haven't read too many of mine.

I love that quote Bardon, if you don't mind I'm going to use that as my signature on G&GR

Good luck with that!

Umm.shipperly, morahan, speight,mogg,d mitchell, l mitchell, le honey badger, gerardo, F sautai, davies..but I might be being overly critical.

HA! i said this to you last year and you were causing a great stink about how we'd get 40k to most Australia games. But yeah save for games against england or the blackness, swan st should be the ground.

Should of been in Perth. We would have got 45K to turn up.

And what stadium would that be at???