- Mar 12, 2003
- 5,865
- 10,702
- AFL Club
- Brisbane Lions
- Other Teams
- Brisbane
I think there's a massive misunderstanding of the Queensland sporting culture by both the AFL and NRL. Well, certainly the Brisbane sporting culture.The NRL leadership are deluded and think that they in a war with the AFL. Seems to me that disappointing people in SE Qld who like both codes is not a great way to treat that segment of your customers.
Bad news for them is that the GABBA will be a sell out with thousands of disappointed people at not being able to attend not matter what the NRL do.
Code wars absolutely are a thing in Sydney. If you like rugby league you hate AFL and vice versa. I was an absolute black sheep in that regard when I lived there, in that I was equally happy going to either code.
But up here, people happily follow either or both. So much so that you may recall the government put on buses from the Gabba to Lang Park for the two Prelim Finals in 2023, given they were both scheduled only a couple of hours apart and overlapped.
It seems to me that the AFL and NRL simply assume that the prevailing vibe in Sydney must be the same as up here, which in my experience could barely be further from the truth.