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Australian Bid for 2027 World Cup

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
I went to the Wallabies Bledisloe win in 2007 at the MCG... great game for sure, but those two massive empty pockets of the field in the middle of the ground don't make for the best viewing experience, and it doesn't look great on TV:

I was there too. Great win!

We were right up the top and I thought for how far away we were, the height gives you a pretty good perspective.

The best bit with the MCG is that you can roll into Richmond after the match and hit up all the pubs.

For the Lions test in 2013, it was reasonable in terms of an overflow bar at Olympic Park but still pretty dire in relation to being able to stay at a pub beforehand then walk to the ground in time for kick-off.

Afterwards it sucks trying to get on the train with a massive crowd to get back somewhere to continue your night.
 

whitefalcon

Bob Loudon (25)
Having it at Olympic Park in Sydney may be better viewing but what a terrible venue in terms of broader event engagement.

Perhaps its an opportunity for RA to take a "build it and they will come" approach.

Why don't they go full on for a market/festival approach and put in a lot of pop up bars and food and give people an excuse to rock up early. I'd imagine they'd have to trial this with a bledisloe or two before now and then but it might work...

I must admit I've not been to a game at Homebush but on paper it seems to be the logical location for the final.
 

Marce

Jim Lenehan (48)
Why don't they go full on for a market/festival approach and put in a lot of pop up bars and food and give people an excuse to rock up early. I'd imagine they'd have to trial this with a bledisloe or two before now and then but it might work..
They can do something similar to the Sydney Sevens Festival:

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There is a lot of space in the Olympic Park
788d4a9a-ec76-48be-7940-08d9474daf8e.jpg
 

liquor box

Greg Davis (50)
In 2003 Melbourne only had 38,899 attend NZ v Canada, 40734 for NZ v SA, 33134 for France v Ireland. (all at Docklands)

I don't think they should get the final, it should be played in a traditional rugby city so Sydney should get it unless QLD can upgrade to a 60000 seat stadium.

If Sydney don't get it then Perth would be my next best based purely on support for the Force compared to the Rebels.
 

Rebel man

Peter Johnson (47)
Look at how good Melbourne was for the Super Round. Between 6 matches across 3 days they got ... fewer people than a single NRL match the following day.

Melbourne is the accountants choice. It's got the most seats for overseas bums to occupy (100,000) and the associated $$, but other than those in the small niche community Melbournians DGAF about rugby. The venue you'll know what's going on, but not in any pubs, cafe's, on public transport people won't be discussing matches.

Sydney & Perth have passionate communities. Perth has been shown to put on great shows when the Wallabies played there in recent years that got the whole city pumping. But Perth Stadium can only hold 61,266, barely a thousand over the World Rugby absolute minimum (60,000).

Sydney is one of two Rugby Heartlands in Australia, Brisbane being the other, but Lang Park (52,500 seats) is below the World Rugby minimum capacity for finals. Either would get the community in general pumped & talking about it in pubs, cafe's, public transport etc.

Stadium Australia at 83,500 is the obvious choice.


Hence why I call it the accountants choice.
Lol Perth got 60k the G has hosted 3 Bledisloe Cup games and got 90k 80k and about 75k. It is by being means a crack at them I loved the bledisloe in Perth and hope to see it return there more regularly.

We need to look to maximise the revenue and grow the game Sydney does not achieve that. If you talk about poor crowds look at the test crowds there.

You will sell out the G for the final, it is the obvious choice.
 

Rebel man

Peter Johnson (47)
In 2003 Melbourne only had 38,899 attend NZ v Canada, 40734 for NZ v SA, 33134 for France v Ireland. (all at Docklands)

I don't think they should get the final, it should be played in a traditional rugby city so Sydney should get it unless QLD can upgrade to a 60000 seat stadium.

If Sydney don't get it then Perth would be my next best based purely on support for the Force compared to the Rebels.
So we had games played at a shit venue, without Aus and we were roughly at 80% capacity.
 

Slim 293

Stirling Mortlock (74)
I was there too. Great win!

We were right up the top and I thought for how far away we were, the height gives you a pretty good perspective.

The best bit with the MCG is that you can roll into Richmond after the match and hit up all the pubs.

For the Lions test in 2013, it was reasonable in terms of an overflow bar at Olympic Park but still pretty dire in relation to being able to stay at a pub beforehand then walk to the ground in time for kick-off.

Afterwards it sucks trying to get on the train with a massive crowd to get back somewhere to continue your night.

It's definitely one of the best aspects of that entire sporting precinct is its proximity to Richmond or the city... we usually just walk back into the cbd afterwards - I'm not a big fan of the Richmond nightlife...

Marvel Stadium is handy with the station right there, but as someone mentioned elsewhere on here the bottleneck heading back to the train is never fun... and Docklands is such a shithole.
 

Rebel man

Peter Johnson (47)
It's definitely one of the best aspects of that entire sporting precinct is its proximity to Richmond or the city... we usually just walk back into the cbd afterwards - I'm not a big fan of the Richmond nightlife...

Marvel Stadium is handy with the station right there, but as someone mentioned elsewhere on here the bottleneck heading back to the train is never fun... and Docklands is such a shithole.
Docklands is a dump. It’s small it’s cramped, so many bottle necks trying to get in and out. Parking is three times the price of the MCG and to fill it there are so many areas that are restricted viewing.
 

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
Why don't they go full on for a market/festival approach and put in a lot of pop up bars and food and give people an excuse to rock up early. I'd imagine they'd have to trial this with a bledisloe or two before now and then but it might work...

This was the sort of setup they had at Olympic Park in 2015 for the Lions test. It was only ok.

I think it's a pretty poor replacement for being close to a nightlife/entertainment precinct.
 

Rebel man

Peter Johnson (47)
Yes. It's the World Cup Final. It's about the event. You go there to be part of something special and watching the rugby is a fairly small part of that.

I can rewatch the game when I get home and the next day.
Also people from all around the world will be coming to the final. You want it in a prime venue.
 

Members Section

John Thornett (49)
It's definitely one of the best aspects of that entire sporting precinct is its proximity to Richmond or the city... we usually just walk back into the cbd afterwards - I'm not a big fan of the Richmond nightlife...

Marvel Stadium is handy with the station right there, but as someone mentioned elsewhere on here the bottleneck heading back to the train is never fun... and Docklands is such a shithole.

Not a fan!!!!!!! Richmond is way better than the city/southbank. Way better pubs, South Yarra is the next suburb over for good night clubs & Richmond has a much better choice of restaurants in terms of different cuisines
 

Slim 293

Stirling Mortlock (74)
Not a fan!!!!!!! Richmond is way better than the city/southbank. Way better pubs, South Yarra is the next suburb over for good night clubs & Richmond has a much better choice of restaurants in terms of different cuisines

Being within close proximity to South Yarra is not a selling point... Chapel Street is garbage.

I would say that, without a doubt, the CBD is a much more desirable destination than Richmond for food and drink... although the CBD is bereft of pubs...

But I'm in Footscray, so I'm already spoiled for choice when it comes to quality Vietnamese and top shelf bars and pubs.
 
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