Footy fans brave train chaos
Fri 17 March 2006
Gail Loader, Communication
In conditions that resembled Tokyo peak hour, footy fans forced their way onto overcrowded trains to see the first rugby league match of the season in Brisbane on Sunday.
Citytrains were only arriving hourly and often with extended delays. Buses were brought in to ferry the crowds to the matches but were held up by people driving to the game because of the public transport chaos.
The train delays were a result of an increased number of drivers taking sick days as part of unofficial industrial action.
The big match saw the two Queensland National Rugby League (NRL) teams, the Brisbane Broncos and the Nth Queensland Cowboys, come head to head on an absolute scorcher of a day.
The anticipation was high as an almost record crowd turned out to cheer their favourite teams in this opening match. The extreme heat and crowded conditions were felt by most of the 46,000 fans that attended Suncorp Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The high temperature and humidity saw both teams taking enforced heat breaks every 20 minutes during the high scoring, action-packed match.
The Cowboys played like a well-oiled machine, scoring in the first five minutes of the game. They quickly followed up with a second try to have 12 points in 12 minutes.
Stand out player for the Cowboys, Jonathon Thurston, scored three tries and converted six goal attempts to win Man of the Match.
The home side was unable to get any set plays happening, as the Cowboy’s defence was almost impenetrable.
The Broncos failed to score in the first half of the match and at one point, looked as though they might remain scoreless for the game.
But they came out full of fight at the beginning of the second half after a motivating speech by coach Wayne Bennett.
But several try-scoring opportunities were dramatically lost as players failed to keep control of the ball.
With a final score of 36-4 in favour of the Cowboys the only consolation for the Broncos fans was that at least Queenslanders were the winners on the day.
The match was a milestone for the Cowboys, with their first away from home defeat of the Broncos.
Though many sports commentators had tipped the Cowboys to be the victors of the match, few expected them to win by such a convincing margin.
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