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Dear Aussie Rugby “Supporters”, Administrators and Media,
I write you this open letter with desperation but hope.
Supporters, I don’t, as a supporter, we don’t, as professional players, understand. We don’t know what you want you want. Last week, the Wallabies turned it on, 7 tries, speed, power and precision. It was an impressive display of the national team wearing gold, yet where were you? Little more than the 30,000 turned out to watch the game in a 50,000 seat stadium. Perhaps you’re all frustrated by years past without meaningful trophies, but that should more reason to be turn up, not less.
Supporters, last week the scrum won, the backline won, The Wallabies won and won well. What do you need? Ok, the second game vs France was played in Melbourne, hardly a traditional stronghold in Australian Rugby but 27.000 (allegedly) in a stadium that holds 53,000 is either poor foresight by the head office or poor support. I wish it was only poor foresight deciding to play in front of a half empty stadium; it would be easily fixed with a broom, but it’s more than that.
Supporters, I don’t, as a supporter nor as a professional player know why you want what you want? If it is only entertainment you want, go to the movies. If it is perfect choreography you want, go to the ballet. But if you want see our Australian 15, the best we have, against the 15 best other countries have then get off the couch and get to a game. Use your voices. I promise you it’s a better experience than reading live tweets of the match. We are blessed with good weather in Australia, get out in it.
Australian “Supporters,” we have to shoulder the blame. After 7 years in European Rugby, I have discovered what support should be of a team should be, undivided and unwavering. My team never finished higher than 8th but we filled our 33,000 seat stadium in the middle of winter. Why? We in Sydney seem to hate to travel to Homebush, Moore Park, Rat Park or the corner park as there is too much traffic it’s, too far, there’s no parking, too many people, too few people; terrible coffee or it’s on Foxtel.
The difference between Australia and France was never clearer to me than when watching the semi final of the Top 14. Montpellier v Castres in Lille drew 49.000 people to a Stadium that was 8 hours from Castres and almost 9 hours from Montpellier. The very next day Toulon (9 hours) and Paris Racing (2.20 hours) drew the same number. Travelling times and costs far outweigh anything we are faced with in a capital city in Australia, yet as the saying goes, “where the bloody hell are we?”
Both French semi finals put together drew just under 100,000 people yet there were a total of two tries. The word “entertainment” wouldn’t dare to be mentioned, as it would render the effort of the 46 professional players meaningless and ake the losing supporter’s tears only as meaningless as those that accompany the movie, The Notebook. I’d never cry (twice) over such tripe.
If a game feels flat in Australia, it’s because you the supporters in your token scarves and apathy, let it become so. You stopped caring about what our team did and you started worrying more about how they did it.
Read more: http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/ope...tralian-rugby/
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Originally Posted by gagr
