10 years since I left

[kitt green warriors]

On the 7th October it'll be 10 years since I left Wigan and the JJB with my final match being the grand final against Warrington, I'd had the same seat, East stand, row G, seat 131, exactly on the half way line since we moved from Central Park.
At the end of the last play off match against Leeds I sat in my chair (after everyone around me who I'd known for years through sitting in the same seat) and looked around, a few minutes past and a steward came upto me and said
"It's time to go",
I told him it was my last match and we were moving to Brisbane the following week, he said
"OK, take a minute"
with a tear in my eyes I thought of all the great times I'd had over the previous 13 years and reliving Renouf to Rads in 2000 in my mind's eye,
anyway I left and the following week we won at Old Trafford, the perfect send off!.
Anyway after watching the Broncos for 10 years with a season ticket I thought I'd give a few of my opinions on the differences between the games and clubs.
The biggest difference is the crowd numbers, for most regular season matches there'll be around 40k and the big matches and play offs are always sell outs of 52k, whereas when I left we would get about 14k on average with the play offs attendances lower than regular season matches.
When I lived in Wigan I felt closer to the club than I do the Broncos as here they're more like premier league footballers and not as accessible in my opinion. Whilst I understand rugby is a business too I always felt Wigan was more of a family club than a business.
The exposure over here is something which I was blown away by when I first got here, everybody on the streets know the players by name, they're household names in Queensland, whereas I don't think many people in Blackpool would have known who Matty Smith was. Of course having a 24 hours a day tv channel is helpful but I feel the marketing by the Broncos is better but of course money helps in that regard and with a turnover of $60 million it shouldn't come as a surprise.
The Matchday experience is a weird one as in my opinion a crowd of 50k make less noise here than 14k at the JJB, I used to love singing and shouting but here we behave like posh folk clapping and if you say owt folk look at you like your a naughty boy. I haven't been back since I left so can't comment on the fan village but it looks fantastic and something I'd say was missing when I was there, also I know Mr Lenegan looked I to Sharpys as a leagues club and I've got to say I think that would have been fantastic as it generates money everyday of the week, I really enjoy the Broncos leagues club, it has everything from Alfie's Warrington jerseys on the walls to a decent slab of beef, what else can anyone want.
The rugby is in my opinion better here depending on who's playing, the Broncos as you'll know from the tele over there play a game that's is probably the least structured in Australia which I like but then you have Melbourne who do everything methodically, I personally like expansive entertaining rugby not atricional rugby but it is definitely a quicker game this year than in previous years and I love to watch off the cuff.
The last thing is it's called rugby , I hate it over here when they call it footy and Lee Briers hasn't got the credit he deserves for this year.
I'll always bleed cherry and white but there's a decent bit of my heart for Brisbane too now, this is home and as I tell everyone I'd not live anywhere else in England except Wigan but Brisbane (Sunshine coast) and Australia is absolutely a better place to live even if you can't get Galloways meat and potato pies here!.
I think Ian Lenegan is a grand chap and has been a fantastic owner.
I could go on about a few other things but I'll leave it at that for now.

[josie andrews]

[morley pie eater]

Good write up, KGW. Look forward to the next instalment.

[moto748]

Fascinating read; thanks for that.