3 jerseys, 2 days

I decided to follow up last weekend's musical weekend with a sporting one. Well, that's how it worked out anyway.

#1 - NRL - Canberra Raiders jersey

Saturday arvo/evening saw me at an NRL trial match - my beloved Raiders were playing the Canterbury Bulldogs at Meakin Park, Logan. So I dusted off the old viking helmet, threw on my jersey and off I went. Atmosphere was really good, as was the turnout. Both teams seemed fairly evenly represented. The ground itself was average, but that was expected given that it isn't really purpose built for big games. I'd seen much worse anyway.

Viking helmet got a lot of attention - two photographers from the local paper approached me over the duration of the night to ask for photos, and little kids kept pointing at me. Well, I hope they were pointing at me because of the helmet anyway. People asked where I got it. They seemed a little disappointed when I answered with "eBay".

The game itself was a bit scrappy, the teams still showing signs of rustiness. We had a great vantage point, standing just off the sideline. I've never been that close to a match before - you could easily hear the players talking amongst each other, and really feel each tackle.

The highlight had to be the crowd invading the field afterwards. Got to say hi to a few of my heroes and pose for some photos. One of those situations that make you realise they're just normal people really - the players were chatting to friends who had come along to watch them.

#2 - Sheffield Shield Cricket - QLD Bulls jersey

Sunday morning it was off to the Gabba to watch the final day of the last home game of the QLD Bulls for the season against NSW. Sheffield Shield doesn't really have large crowds at all, so to increase popularity entry to the final day is free. There were probably only about 70 people there to watch. The final day only lasted about an hour - the Bulls only needed to take 5 more wickets to win, which they did with ease.

The main reason for going (it was my first domestic test match) was that it was Martin Love's final home game before retiring - he is the final remaining member of QLD's famous title win of the 1994-95 season. And what a way to say farewell to the Gabba than with an unbeaten 219 with the bat. Got to meet a few of the players afterwards, including the man himself. It was good to be able to shake his hand and congratulate him on his successful career (oh, and get a photo and an autograph too of course).

#3 - Super 14 Rugby - QLD Reds jersey

After grabbing some lunch, killing some time and a jersey change, it was off to Suncorp Stadium to cheer on the QLD Reds against South African club Central Cheetahs. We sat in the Reds Zone - basically where the fanatics sit - and had pretty good seats up the front and behind the goalposts. There was a fairly decent turnout - generally more people tend to turn up when we play another Aussie team.

We did pretty well and won our first game of the season, which was great. We dominated but blew a lot of chances to really blow them away. Not to mention a couple of dodgy calls going against us - one referee definitely didn't make any friends in the crowd after disallowing a try due to an incident a few minutes beforehand.

Anyway it was great to see one of my old Canberra Raiders favourites Mark McLinden playing for the Reds at fullback, and score the first try of the match. And from the sounds of the cheers from the crowd, I wasn't the only one.