Worlds apart but how about leagues?

Having spent the last three months travelling Australia with my young family I’ve been a little quiet on here. It’s been an incredible experience and we’ve made memories to last a lifetime. Over the coming weeks I’ll be publishing a few pieces that I wrote whilst on the road. Thanks for the continued interest.

There can be fewer greater sporting cities on earth than Melbourne. Firstly there’s that great fascination with ‘footy’, or Aussie Rules to us Brits, with nine of the AFL’s eighteen teams based within the confines of the Metropolitan area and a local amateur scene that thrives unlike any other. Then you’ve got ‘soccer’, or ‘footy’ to the pommies, with three teams competing for local bragging rights in the A League and hugely impressive participation numbers at junior level. Throw in the iconic Melbourne Cup, Australian Open and a Formula One race that sees drivers speed through the beautiful Albert Park and you’ll begin to understand this cities thirst for sport. It seems to penetrate everyday life unlike anywhere else I’ve ever visited. ‘Did you watch the game last night?’, ‘who’ve you got on your multi’, or as I overheard on the metro this weekend ‘why’ve we got tickets for this shit tonight (Carlton vs Melbourne at the MCG), the Storm are playing Manly’.

Ah the Storm, Victoria’s lonesome bastion of the third and final form of ‘footy’, Rugby League, a game whose players and teams retain a god like status in New South Wales, Queensland and a small strip of post industrial mining towns in England’s industrial north, but down on the shores of Port Philip Bay must play second fiddle to storied institutions like Collingwood, Essendon and Richmond. Now that’s not to say there isn’t an appetite for League, far from it, but what else would you expect from this athletic obsessed Sportopolis. On Saturday evening we took the tram to AAMI Park for the Storms important clash against Manly’s unpredictable but in form Sea Eagles. Just a stones throw from the imposing MCG, AAMI Park’s geodesic domes twinkled invitingly, enticing a crowd of almost 20,000 to roar on their home town heroes. We were shepherded to our seats by a friendly local family who talked us through the heartache of last years agonising grand final defeat to the all conquering Penrith dynasty and their subsequent nine hour car journey home. They encompassed everything that’s great about Rugby League, sharing their passion for the game with a refreshing sense of warmth and openness.

Community is after all what the code was built on, and at a time when Super League finds itself at a challenging but important crossroads, it would be well advised to remember this. Now that’s not to say the powers that be shouldn’t always be looking to improve or enhance the sporting experience but there is surely a balance to be struck between embracing the future and nurturing the already steadfast foundations on which the game has been built upon. Just last week we were reminded of the trailblazing nature of ‘League’, when Sir Billy Boston was finally given the recognition both him and the sport deserve when he was knighted for his services to the game as one of the code’s great pioneers. Revered in Wigan after signing there as a young man when passed over by Rugby Union clubs in his native Wales due to the colour of his skin, Boston would go on to become one of the greatest try scorers the game has ever seen. It’s these forward thinking qualities of yesteryear that today’s authorities would be well advised to tap in to.

Back to the briskness of the cold Melbourne night and the game didn’t unfold as the purple donning home crowd may have wished. The Storm were miserable in defence and erratic in attack, allowing a confident Manly team to take a ten point cushion in to the half time break. Emerging for the second stanza Melbourne attacked with renewed vigour and levelled the scores after a wonderfully finished hat-trick from star man Xavier Coates. With both teams pushing hard for a winning score, the away team attempted a long range drop goal only to see the ball sail wide of its intended target. Sighs of relief were though short lived, as the video referee adjudged a dangerous contact on the Manly kicker, enabling a simple two point penalty under the sticks to wrap things up.

A disappointing night for the second place Storm but a fantastic first experience for a British Rugby League fan in Australia. Tickets were reasonably priced at $45 (£22.50) dollars each (there were cheaper available), good quality food outlets littered the concourse and helpful staff ensured that our pram was safely stored whilst we enjoyed the game. There’s plenty Super League can learn from the way our cousins down under govern their cherished game but we must not lose sight of what makes ‘football’ in the northern hemisphere special and the communities it supports. Whether you’re in Castleford or Canberra, you’ll still see the same show stopping try’s, frustrating unforced errors and bone crunching big hits, but it’s now up to the bigwigs of Britain’s Super League to strike forth on an ambitious new path and deliver to the devoted fans a product that they both crave and deserve.

Written on 19/07/25.

AAMI PARK