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APEC riot squad to police Bulldogs, Eels
Article from:
By Josh Massoud
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22180344-5006066,00.html
August 03, 2007
UNRULY fans at tonight's Bulldogs-Eels blockbuster will risk an up close and personal preview of the police riot squad's tactics for this month's APEC summit.
Just days after undertaking specialist training ahead of the top-security gathering of world leaders, riot officers will patrol what is shaping as a 35,000-plus crowd - the biggest Sydney turn-out for a regular season game in NRL history.
Although the riot squad already oversees every Bulldogs home game, tonight's deployment will be much larger given last week's drama involving an irate Eels fan throwing coins at opposition players.
There is also no love lost between both sets of neighbouring fans, who this week broke Telstra Stadium's record for pre-match ticket sales.
Head of the NSW riot squad, Chief Superintendent Steve Cullen, last night confirmed all on-duty officers have recently honed their response tactics for the five-day APEC summit.
Just this week, more than 300 riot police descended upon Bathurst to prepare for the August 31 summit.
"Our role at any football match is to restore order if needed," Supt Cullen told The Daily Telegraph.
Since a much-publicised firecracker incident two seasons ago, the Bulldogs have forked out for additional police and riot squad officers at every home game.
Supplemented by the introduction of allocated seating in all bays, the greater security presence has significantly defused crowd violence.
Club officials are also working with Telstra Stadium to enable fans to dob in offenders via SMS.
Tonight's massive occasion, however, looms as the litmus test of the new measures.
Provided there are no incidents, Bulldogs CEO Malcolm Noad said fans deserved to take credit for the turnaround.
"If everything goes off smoothly it would be a great acknowledgement to our fans and the input they've had," Noad said.
"Inevitably there will be people asked to leave the stadium - that happens in all sports.
"But we won't judge the success of the night on how many people are ejected because we have a no tolerance policy.
"We want people to have a positive, enjoyable experience and come back again."
By last night, more than 15,000 tickets had already been pre-sold - the most for a preliminary NRL fixture at Telstra Stadium.
In April, the Olympic Park venue hosted the biggest-ever attendance for a Sydney game when 34,315 fans watched the visiting Bulldogs hammer South Sydney 34-10.
But given early sales for tonight's derby have outstripped that game, Noad is hopeful of regaining the record and overtaking Wests Tigers as Sydney's highest-drawing team.
There is also is a genuine feeling at Belmore that Bulldogs fans supplied the bulk of the Rabbitohs' Good Friday record.
"With great respect to the other teams, we have the best fans in the NRL because they actually travel to away games," Noad said.
"That's part of the reason why Souths were able to break the record.
"When our players ran out they actually thought it was a Bulldogs home game."
Article from:
By Josh Massoud
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22180344-5006066,00.html
August 03, 2007
UNRULY fans at tonight's Bulldogs-Eels blockbuster will risk an up close and personal preview of the police riot squad's tactics for this month's APEC summit.
Just days after undertaking specialist training ahead of the top-security gathering of world leaders, riot officers will patrol what is shaping as a 35,000-plus crowd - the biggest Sydney turn-out for a regular season game in NRL history.
Although the riot squad already oversees every Bulldogs home game, tonight's deployment will be much larger given last week's drama involving an irate Eels fan throwing coins at opposition players.
There is also no love lost between both sets of neighbouring fans, who this week broke Telstra Stadium's record for pre-match ticket sales.
Head of the NSW riot squad, Chief Superintendent Steve Cullen, last night confirmed all on-duty officers have recently honed their response tactics for the five-day APEC summit.
Just this week, more than 300 riot police descended upon Bathurst to prepare for the August 31 summit.
"Our role at any football match is to restore order if needed," Supt Cullen told The Daily Telegraph.
Since a much-publicised firecracker incident two seasons ago, the Bulldogs have forked out for additional police and riot squad officers at every home game.
Supplemented by the introduction of allocated seating in all bays, the greater security presence has significantly defused crowd violence.
Club officials are also working with Telstra Stadium to enable fans to dob in offenders via SMS.
Tonight's massive occasion, however, looms as the litmus test of the new measures.
Provided there are no incidents, Bulldogs CEO Malcolm Noad said fans deserved to take credit for the turnaround.
"If everything goes off smoothly it would be a great acknowledgement to our fans and the input they've had," Noad said.
"Inevitably there will be people asked to leave the stadium - that happens in all sports.
"But we won't judge the success of the night on how many people are ejected because we have a no tolerance policy.
"We want people to have a positive, enjoyable experience and come back again."
By last night, more than 15,000 tickets had already been pre-sold - the most for a preliminary NRL fixture at Telstra Stadium.
In April, the Olympic Park venue hosted the biggest-ever attendance for a Sydney game when 34,315 fans watched the visiting Bulldogs hammer South Sydney 34-10.
But given early sales for tonight's derby have outstripped that game, Noad is hopeful of regaining the record and overtaking Wests Tigers as Sydney's highest-drawing team.
There is also is a genuine feeling at Belmore that Bulldogs fans supplied the bulk of the Rabbitohs' Good Friday record.
"With great respect to the other teams, we have the best fans in the NRL because they actually travel to away games," Noad said.
"That's part of the reason why Souths were able to break the record.
"When our players ran out they actually thought it was a Bulldogs home game."
