Rugby Fans the Worst at Subiaco

[Darren]

Spectators at Western Force games are the worst behaved of the football codes at Subiaco Oval.

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[frontrow]

What a load of sh*t......At least we don`t throw shit at players, or spit on coaches, and we are no where near as large a bunch of obnoxious pri*cks as Eagles fans....Obviously written by someone pro AFL, and as for police stats, probably trumped up due to extra numbers(of police) and less tolerance to Rugby supporters in general, and those being kicked out by Subiaco ushers who love AFL dobbing in the odd drunk to security......W*NKERS

[Flamethrower]

What a load of sh*t......At least we don`t throw shit at players, or spit on coaches, and we are no where near as large a bunch of obnoxious pri*cks as Eagles fans....Obviously written by someone pro AFL, and as for police stats, probably trumped up due to extra numbers(of police) and less tolerance to Rugby supporters in general, and those being kicked out by Subiaco ushers who love AFL dobbing in the odd drunk to security......W*NKERS

That screams closet Dorkers fan

It would be interesting to know if those kicked out were season ticket holders?
Maybe they were so far back from the ground they gave up trying to watch and just got plastered. I havn't seen anyone booted from near where we sit.

[Darren]

I saw 2 people removed from one of the very early games. They were heckling, and probably a little drunk, but they cerainly did NOT need to be ejected without warning. Betcha that was the game when the 53 were removed and that every other game was no different to any other sports event there.

We know there was a zero tolerance crackdown - we were told about it. I'd like to see them enforce the same level of contientiousness to AFL games also..

There are 3 types of lies: Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics.

[frontrow]

AFL is not my cup of tea, not enough big hits....What sought of game is it when even if you don`t have the ball someone can hit you from behind (if you`re any where near it), and it`s classed as a legal hit. I`d get up and belt the crap out of the A hole, and that is why i don`t play AFL as punching on is frowned at, only slapping is OK....Not that punching on is something i condone in rugby, but it is a tough game and sometimes tempers flare.....especially in the frontrow

[.X.]

the Article isnt very well written, the first line says "SPECTATORS at Western Force games are the worst behaved of the football codes at Subiaco Oval."

then a couple of paragraphs down the same article "Police believe Force fans are the worst behaved because their matches begin later than the AFL night fixtures, allowing more drinking time at pubs before the games."

so which is it - Force fans, or spectators at Force games? Sure I am being pedantic, but there is a difference.

The last thing the Western Force, and RugbyWA need is to be accused of having fans that are trouble makers and have a noteriety with the authorities.

Here in Sydney a Rugbly League team has had some major problems with their fans. to such an extent that now an additional 50 Police are sent to their games. This team has lost sponsorship because of these problems. Crowd numbers for their games dropped.

Problems at Force games have been highligted in the media and on this site before - tho previously I am sure that one of our own clearly stated that they were opposition fans rather then Force Fans that were the problem.

By attending Force games and wearing Force Supporter wear we show our allegence clearly. The last thing that anyone would want (including RugbyWA) would be Force supporters in trouble with the law.

Enjoy the game and by all means enjoy a drink - but not to the detrement of others or our team.

[tragic]

I actually haven't seen any problems at Subi at any of the Force games. That's not to say they don't happen, but I haven't seen it, either before, after or during the game.

Perhaps if there was more parking made available for rugby matches, then less people would be inclined to drink too much (and that's not to excuse the louts, but may be part of the reason why the crowd behaviour is apparently different).

And I agree that it's one thing to say that "spectators" are poorly behaved, and another to say "Force fans."

[Shaun]

I remember at the Brumbies game the guy behind me was going off and swearing like anything, the rest of the season he was one of the best supporters around, shows that if u want to clean up your act it aint hard.

[Darren]

I just noticed and subsequently inserted a word I missed from my last post which probably changes its tone somewhat!

Spectators at Force games were targeted [local law enforcement stated previous to the games that they would be]. The numbers mean nothing....

[bluey]

Its interesting that they highlight Force games. I have been to a lot of rugby games at Subiaco in the past few years, including the world cup, and have yet to see any problems. I would think that an international between the Wallabies and Springboks would be more of a crowd problem than a Super 14 game, but I don't recall reading anything in the papers about crowd problems.
The group that sit behind us are from South Africa and are very loud in their support but the main reason they go to games is to enjoy themselves and watch good rugby. The same can probably be said for 99.9% of all fans, wether it be a force game or an international.

[Lonzy]

meh I have only seen good things at the rugby ... I like to have a jug or two before I watch the game ... but im generally very well behaved lol ... spesh cos little kiddies are sitting next to me ... but yeah ... the crowd usually seems to be fine ...

[LarryNJ]

It's obvious that this guy has no clue.

First, why is his name all in capital letters? My guess is it's his first published article and he just wanted to see his name in print.

Second: "Police believe Force fans are the worst behaved because their matches begin later than the AFL night fixtures, allowing more drinking time at pubs before the games."

Hmmm....police believe? Did he ask the chief? The cop directing traffic? The girl answering the phone? The guy cleaning the bathrooms? Or a crook in jail?

Up here the starting time of the game has nothing to do with how much you drink. If it's a 1:00 pm game the tailgating starts at 8:00 am, 11:00 am for a 4:00 game, and 4:00 pm for a 9:00 pm game. It's 5 hours no matter what time the game is.

This article should be in the gossip section. It's certainly not State News!

[JohnBoy]

I have'nt seen any problems at any of the Force games and I have watched the games from many positions at Subi having only sat in my official seat once, the only problems I've seen are the actions of the over zealous stewards at times.

[elemental]

*cough* First Post *cough*

Where I sit, I have some lads who obviously have a few rums before the game... they get a bit rowdy but nothing serious or violent. They are just having a good time and vocally supporting their team. Good on em. But because they are making noise, we are always getting the coppers coming around to check up on them. Why? Because the police "think" rugby fans are rowdy when in fact we are probably one of the better behaved and respectful groups of supporters around.

When we are getting around 25k spectators to a game and 20k of them are going for the home team... who are the ones causing trouble? I haven't see anything.

On another note... Perhaps people wouldn't binge drink before the game if it wasn't so hard to get a drink at the game.

[Burgs]

Perhaps people wouldn't binge drink before the game if it wasn't so hard to get a drink at the game.

I think that is a pretty big factor in people's mind set on going to the rugby and also the biggest factor for sneaking grog in too.
Most people don't object too much to the ludicrously high prices but get very narky when they are away from the game for too long because the bars can't keep up.
I don't know what the answer is there but I don't run a stadium either!
It's not as if it is something new that people drink at sporting events, hopefully in any new stadium they will double the bar service and double the dunnies and therefore drop much of the agro (which I haven't witnessed from our seats either anyway!)
Another way to get people to their seats earlier and therefore out of the pubs would be to have a decent card of curtain raisers, Club v Club, Perth Gold v X and Force Gold v X for example.
Welcome along elemental, hope you enjoy the ride