Farewell Parramatta Stadium - thanks for the memories..........

[The Colonel]

IIRC that was Tahu at his peak. He was smashing hill into the grass.

Yep.

Brett Stewart had only played a couple of games and was terrorised defensively for most of the game.

Great game.

 

[Kornstar]

My favourite moments were the late 80's and early to mid nineties when we sucked but the players actually loved playing for the club and gave their all.

The hope every time we turned up and the shit execution that let us down over and over again.

But the best of all was the mental patients on day release who sat on the north hill and made it interesting for a young kid. There was one who always said she was Scott Mahon's girlfriend, she chewed gum and twirled in on her finger the whole game, only there was no gum.......she was special and entertaining.

There are way too many games to mention though, the 2009 game late in the season against Penrith and the Storm game after they were caught cheating were awesome. Also the game Fui decapitated Kite and got sent off and we still won.

2005 game early in the season where Tim Smith had the ball on a string and we beat the Cowboys. Joey breaking the point scoring record where we killed them.

The GB game was awesome and there was once a college NFL game there that I cannot find anything anywhere on the Internet about but that was amazing too!

 

[I bleed blue & gold]

That 05 game V Manly was awesome.

Tahu was up against a young Matai and he carved him up for his first try and burned Stewart for his second.

 

[Last Week]

I don't remember it, glimpses, but my dad always reminds me of the time I dropped my bottle down the stairs. I don't know why that stands out. Late 80's. I think it was against Illawarra for some reason.

I loved Mark Tookey. The "Tookey" whenever he got the ball.

I remember the first game of the 1997 season, against the Bears. I remember someone saying that if we got a good crowd it would do us well against Super League.

In 2001, that win against the Broncos early in the year was tough. I remember my dad jumping around at our last try.

JT becoming the highest scoring player of all time. I believe that was against the Cowboys. 2001.

Again in 2001, winning the minor premiership. Pretty sure Smithy rested alot of our players for the game. That was the first piece of silverware I saw us win. Pretty sure we belted the Bulldogs that year too which was great to brag about over my friends who followed the dogs.

That first week of the finals, beating the Warriors in 2001. We asserted our dominance in that game.

2005 was great too. Tim Smith, John Morris, the emergence of Fui Fui. The game against the Dragons when Trent Barrett punched PJ Marsh in the back of the head. In the meantime Wade McKinnon is scoring under the posts. That was a big game for both teams.

2007, had one highlight for me. The win against Brisbane on Fathers day. Belting them. Hayne, Mateo and Tim Smith carving them up. The high lights for me though was Tahu's 100th try and the last try by Krisnan Inu. Going down the sideline on his own, full back to beat. He goes to kick but dummies the kick and scores untouched. The moment he did that, I and the crowd rawed "you freak".

I could go on and on, but Parramatta Stadium, and Rugby League in general has always been for my dad and I. It's what we do together and have for my whole life.

 

[phantom eel]

I almost forgot the first day-long "World Sevens Tournament" hosted at Parra Stadium in 1988.

They opened the gates at 10am or something, and thought serving full strength alcohol to supporters of 16 or whatever clubs kept caged in the one ground until the 10pm finish would be a good idea... As more and more teams were eliminated through the day, rival fans had less and less to due but drink - things reached a climax during the one hour break between the semis and final with no entertainment scheduled... I'm sure there was a streaker or two, and you could play spot the fight in the stands!

I've never seen so many fights at Parra Stadium... (although I've never attended a Wanderers game).

 

[phantom eel]

And while we're on that topic, what about all the great WSW / RBB memories that Parra Stadium have given the round ball followers over the years?

Like... er, um... gee...

And... uh... yep, all great WSW memories there.

It will be sad to see "Wanderland" demolished - and no safe standing in the rebuild....

 

[Hollywood Jesus]

1998...I think?

We were playing Newcastle and I had stopped on the halfway behind the Eastern Terrace to talk to this cute cop chick. Anyways, Cariage was close to that area so I screamed out "Action! I want to see some Action!" and he turned around and gave me a laugh.

2 minutes later he runs almost the length of the field, swerving a billion times, to score.

***

The GB game is still my favourite. My Dad took me to see it with my brother and it was the best time I had had in my life up until that point.

Also, getting into fights with the Dogs supporters on the Northern Hill. Great times.

There was a game, can't remember when because I was drunk, that we ended up drawing 20-20 with the Dogs. It was f**king pouring down rain all night and the thunder was threatening to come down. Down in the NW corner, a scrum was setting to pack...and the two teams smashed into each and the first lightning strike of the night timed perfectly with that clash. I screamed like a maniac. It was amazing.

 

[forward pass]

2005 Round 18 vs the Dragons when Barrett starts a fight with PJ Marsh. During the blue McKinnon plays on and score. We win 40-14 with Ben Smith scoring 3.

Ben Smith built his entire career out of that one game!

 

[forward pass]

And while we're on that topic, what about all the great WSW / RBB memories that Parra Stadium have given the round ball followers over the years?

Like... er, um... gee...

And... uh... yep, all great WSW memories there.

It will be sad to see "Wanderland" demolished - and no safe standing in the rebuild....

This is a Rugby League forum so I kept the thread to that. But for your information Bart, some of my greatest memories at the ground were at Wanderers games. Sorry to disappoint.

 

[phantom eel]

That's OK FP... if this thread had included A-League, that game where the RBB decided to protest something by not showing up to support their team would have made my highlights.

 

[Incorrect]

The GB game was awesome and there was once a college NFL game there that I cannot find anything anywhere on the Internet about but that was amazing too!

I went to that college gridiron game! A mate of mine was infatuated with this girl who was cheerleading at the game. The girls were locals who were asked to cheerlead during the quarter and half time breaks... There we were up in the Thornett Stand and I was bored out of my skull for about 4 hours while my mate just stared at this girl.... I think that's about as close as he ever got to her! Nah, just kidding, he ended up taking her to the year 12 formal..... but he never made it past first base (just to keep the seppo sports theme going here).....

 

[Oscarman]

There was a game, can't remember when because I was drunk, that we ended up drawing 20-20 with the Dogs. It was f**king pouring down rain all night and the thunder was threatening to come down. Down in the NW corner, a scrum was setting to pack...and the two teams smashed into each and the first lightning strike of the night timed perfectly with that clash. I screamed like a maniac. It was amazing.

Was that 2001? Pretty sure after the game there was brawls in Parra CBD, no doubt helped along by the thunderstorm.

Sadly I have never been to a game at the Stadium. I did walk around on the playing surface for 10-15 minutes a week before Christmas 1998 on the way driving from Brisbane to Hobart where I have lived since. Place was totally deserted and no goalposts up. Was pretty cool to have it to myself and take in the atmosphere and remember some of the great moments I had seen on TV. Hopefully we finish our time at the ground like we started it.

 

[hineyrulz]

This ground got packed to the rafters for its first ever game, and now around half way through its useful life it is being pulled down. It was built to accommodate crowd expectations at the time it was built, with no allowance for the future. Hence a perfectly serviceable 30 year old facility is being demolished and rebuilt. What a waste of taxpayer money that could have been spent on grounds that really need it.

 

[forward pass]

A couple more I forgot about which some others have touched on -

Jason Taylor breaking the all time point scoring record against the Cowboys - we scored over 50 that day.

Andrew Johns breaking the same record at the same ground several years later - we scored 50 that day too !!! lol I recall Jarryd scored 4 tries in that game.

 

[Gronk]

This ground got packed to the rafters for its first ever game, and now around half way through its useful life it is being pulled down. It was built to accommodate crowd expectations at the time it was built, with no allowance for the future. Hence a perfectly serviceable 30 year old facility is being demolished and rebuilt. What a waste of taxpayer money that could have been spent on grounds that really need it.

Sorry Bro, the days of suburban grounds are over. Soon they will just be training bases with the games played in sporting precincts like Moore Park, Parramatta and another location like Bankstown in the future. The new Parramatta Stadium will be used by multiple teams from various codes 12 months a year. It's not a waste of money and the Parramatta CBD with the new light rail will benefit from the new infrastructure.

IIRC after the renovation of ANZ, there are residual funds to to tart up local grounds as well.

And in a final reversal of Mr Ayres’ policy, the government will provide $40m to NRL clubs, on a dollar-for-dollar basis, for upgrades to their suburban grounds, after Mr Ayres spent weeks trying to convince them to move to the government’s new stadiums.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nat...m/news-story/edb5dd263f8a0208c810cccda4909fde

 

[Gary Gutful]

Andrew Johns breaking the same record at the same ground several years later - we scored 50 that day too !!! lol I recall Jarryd scored 4 tries in that game.

I remember that game. It was before I had Fox so I took the missus out for a classy date to Crushers Leagues Club.

They did pretty awesome schnitzels from memory.

 

[Gronk]

A couple more I forgot about which some others have touched on -

Jason Taylor breaking the all time point scoring record against the Cowboys - we scored over 50 that day.

Andrew Johns breaking the same record at the same ground several years later - we scored 50 that day too !!! lol I recall Jarryd scored 4 tries in that game.

We had the game ball ready to hand over to him in a glass case and he snubbed us !!

 

[PARRA_FAN]

I think Johns said the other day he hated playing at Parra cause of his poor record there. I think he's played something like 10 games there and only won twice in his career against Parra, and a third time if you count the semi final against Norths. Correct me if I'm wrong but that win in 2002 was the Knights first ever win at Parramatta against Parra and then they won again in 2005 with Johns.

That game in 2006, his record was overshadowed by the big win, Hayne's 4 tries in his debut year and who can forget the duck on the field. That was a huge win for us cause we just gathered momentum after Brian Smith quit was coach, Taylor took over and we had a long list of injuries. That effort from us was similar to this years. And I think Tim Smith was injured early in the game, so not only were we down on props we also lost a halfback.

It was pretty ordinary of Johns to snub the presentation. At least Hindy accepted the game ball in his 300th at Penrith.

 

[parrathruandthru]

Mario Fenech's "falcon"

 

[TheFrog]

Sorry Bro, the days of suburban grounds are over. Soon they will just be training bases with the games played

Great for Parramatta, not so great for Cronulla, Penrith or Manly.

Are you going to cull the Sydney teams based on location, ie proximity to the Sydney CBD or Parramatta, or are you going to do it based on viability?