Second Sitting Suits Stadium
by
Thursday June 12, 2003

After the less than auspicious experience at the June 1 christening of the revamped Suncorp-Metway Stadium, State of Origin presented a painless, enjoyable experience.

Despite again being on the wrong end of the scoreboard, the Stadium's handling of its first full capacity crowd during peak hour seems to have gone almost completely without a hitch - although this time we took the safe option of avoiding train travel altogether.

Lord Mayor Jim Soorley comes under a lot of criticism - most of it deserved - but the efforts he and the State Government went to in developing the South-East Busway should be congratulated.

After completing a day's work at Sunnybank, it was a short drive to Holland Park to pick up the rest of the troupe and a courteous father-in-law to drop us off at Holland Park West Busway station.  Within 10 minutes a bus arrived which, although full, had enough room to accommodate us.

Within 20 minutes we were stepping off at the Suncorp-Metway Stadium bus tunnel.  Already that's a massive improvement on the 15 minute train trip from Indooroopilly to Milton, combined with the 20 minute walk to the ground.

After the game, we were back at Indooroopilly less than two hours after full time - despite having to drive across town as part of the process.  After negotiating the testing walk amongst understandably congested plaza areas from the northern end of the ground to the southern end bus tunnel - a task that took half an hour in itself - we were amazed to literally walk down to the bus station and step onto a bus. 

20 minutes later - less than 45 minutes after full time - we were back at Holland Park.

Let this be a lesson to all who visit the ground - avoid train transport, particularly out of Milton Station, if you can absolutely avoid it!  The Milton Railway Station walkway was visibly chockers, a repeat of the June 1 disaster, as we strolled down to the bus station.  Clearly the government will have to review the status of Milton Station, and hopefully within the next few years sanity will prevail and it will be rebuilt 500 metres up the road directly opposite the stadium itself.

Combine it with a much improved atmosphere borne out of a combination of a more football-focussed patronage, some very well lubricated, and one of the most enthralling games of football in a long time, and you've got a near perfect sporting experience.

So, I hereby stand corrected on my first observations of the ground.  Suncorp-Metway Stadium is without doubt the best sporting venue I have attended...

...but I still believe it should've been built at the RNA Showgrounds!

The only problem yet to be resolved is our flags situation, however after cordial discussions with the Broncos and Stadium Management, it looks like a solution will be reached well and truly before the Sydney Roosters match on Friday June 27.