I had the best bloody day at the football yesterday...

[greg]

Great thread! Miccle you also make a good point. I haven't been to Henson since 1982 but it sounds like nothing has changed, a great afternoon out. These days living in Qld I thoroughly enjoy an afternoon at Pizzey Park watching the Burleigh Bears in Qld Cup. Get out there people, NSW and Qld Cup games have plenty to offer, you'll be in for a pleasant surprise.

 

[Brutus]

Been to a couple of Jets games at Henson over the past few years.

Fantastic day at the footy for all the family. My son loved the wide open spaces on the hill and it was great to sink down a can of KB.

 

[Paullyboy]

I couldn't agree more with this thread. I've found myself enjoying park footy more and more over the past 2-3 years. Before I moved down to Sydney at the start of this season I'd get out and watch Souths Logan in the QLD Cup as often as possible and enjoyed it a lot more than watching an NRL game for all the reasons previously stated in this thread.

I might have to get out to a few more club games in Sydney I think.

 

[The Business]

Always enjoy going to Henson Park.

The Jets are on fire lately!

 

[Lambretta]

Always enjoy the Queensland Cup games on ABC2 etc - it's great to see grass roots football.

I must get out to Henson Park to watch Newtown one of these days.

 

[Frailty]

Wenty had a lot of positive compliments a couple of weeks ago when it had its Family Day...

Free entry, rides and entertainment for the kids, two great games of footy (Wenty V Cabra in the Bundy Red, and Wenty V Netwon in the NSW Cup).... It was a great day for all.

 

[squiddy]

Great Post Timbo !!

Tell me can you still sit in your car and watch the game at henson ?

Love the Park footy !

 

[Babyface O'reilly]

Yep, love Henson so much that last year (with my wife's blessing) we had my daughter's fourth birthday party on the hill. Kids got to run around on and off the field and the grown-ups watched some great footy.

 

[jpaciocco91]

Went to henson in '07 to see Jets Vs Saints in the old Premier League...kinda ironic because Jamie soward played for newtown that day and joined the dragons that year.
it was awesome- no video ref, free entry, small crowd though!
also went to see wests vs balmain at pratten park near where i live last year, it was pretty good too
park footy is the best, the old stadia rock!

 

[innsaneink]

ONLY THING i HATE ABOUT HENSON GAMES IS THAT DAMNED ANNOYING SONG GETS STUCK IN MY HEAD...oops caps

"Newtown is comin, hear the blue bags something, new towwwwwn , newtowwwwwn"

Real footy and real footy people, though even moreso at all the other grounds moreso than henson, I think a lot of newtown people just get there as its chic and or trendy.

 

[OVP]

i think maybe the cutest thing is the little kids who come up and ask for your cans. heart.

LMAO that cracked me up Sass :lol::lol:

Yeah Henson Rules, just love going there, although its been about two years since Jamie Soward was a regular, and hence why i dont go anymore. Is the Yeeros stand still there ? I remember the old Henson Park thread on the really old Wall too. Thousands of pages dedicated to the highs and lows of Henson Park. Best thread ever, tis a crying shame they never backed it up

 

[Kiki]

Wenty had a lot of positive compliments a couple of weeks ago when it had its Family Day...

Free entry, rides and entertainment for the kids, two great games of footy (Wenty V Cabra in the Bundy Red, and Wenty V Netwon in the NSW Cup).... It was a great day for all.

we are off to Wenty on August 8th! can't wait

Babyface your daughter having her bday there..THAT IS SO CUTE!! one time we went there was a little girl running around the hill dressed in a fairy costume and picking up KB cans...hahaha ah it was adorable.

miccle i would love to come up and check out some of the QLD cup games too at some point, maybe not enough time left in this season but perhaps next year.

can i just say i love this thread so much. theres so much negativity and bitching on this forum, its nice to see something so lovely for a change!

 

[Babyface O'reilly]

ONLY THING i HATE ABOUT HENSON GAMES IS THAT DAMNED ANNOYING SONG GETS STUCK IN MY HEAD...oops caps

"Newtown is comin, hear the blue bags something, new towwwwwn , newtowwwwwn"

Real footy and real footy people, though even moreso at all the other grounds moreso than henson, I think a lot of newtown people just get there as its chic and or trendy.

Yeah, there's some of those but in the main, I think they're there more in a community spirit sense. At least it puts them in front of a footy game I guess.

 

[Babyface O'reilly]

we are off to Wenty on August 8th! can't wait

Babyface your daughter having her bday there..THAT IS SO CUTE!! one time we went there was a little girl running around the hill dressed in a fairy costume and picking up KB cans...hahaha ah it was adorable.

miccle i would love to come up and check out some of the QLD cup games too at some point, maybe not enough time left in this season but perhaps next year.

can i just say i love this thread so much. theres so much negativity and bitching on this forum, its nice to see something so lovely for a change!

Just starting the education process early Kiki.;-)

 

[Kiki]

hahaha i love it! i'll be the same with my kids (when i have them).

as for going to the Jets being trendy...eh there might be like 10% of people there for that reason, but as babyface said, the majority of the crowd are long time fans who just really love their footy.

btw i got some BEAUTIFUL photos there on Saturday, ill upload them this arvo and post them in here.

 

[Johns Magic]

No, I didn't get to CUA Stadium. Neither did I go to Toyota Stadium.

I was at Henson Park for the game between the Newtown Jets and the Auckland Vulcans.

On Thursday night, I was out with a mate in a bar on King Street when we won a lucky door prize - two passes to the Jets game on Saturday.

What the hell, we thought. What else are we going to be doing? We went not expecting much.

How wrong we were. It was fantastic.

There was no video screen or video ref. When a try was a bit iffy, the ref pointed to the spot and called it. And noone cared, just get on with the game.

There were kids kicking a footy around on the hill. No security telling them to sit down because of liability issues or because they were interefereing with other patrons. And at halftime they all ran out on the field to kick the ball around with each other. Again, no security shoo-ing them away or kicking them out.

The only food was pies or sausage sandwiches. The beer was KB lager. There were no nazi's at the bar saying that you could only buy 2 drinks so you'd have to go back to your seat and come back again.

The pre-match entertainment was a well worn casset tape playing Beach Boys music, and the ground announcer was a character - not a wanker or a robot like you get at other grounds.

But the thing that got me most was the atmosphere. There would have only been 2,000 people there at the most, but everyone was into the game - which was close and of a high standard. And when the Jet's won it right on the buzzer, the crowd went pretty wild.

We went to find out how much it would cost to get in normally - because we'll be back - and discovered it's only a paltry $8 to get in, and kids under 16 are free.

This is everything people miss about going to the football. It was the best day I've had at a Rugby League game in, well, ever. And I realized why shortly into the second half - it's still 1982 at Henson Park. And I think people do miss that a little.

So do yourselves a favour, head down to Henson Park, grab a sausage sanger and a KB and watch the Jets run around from the hill. It'll be one of the best days out you have at the footy in a long, long time.

It's funny how much club rugby union gets ripped on in here for its crowd figures and its lack of media coverage when it's pretty much exactly the same as what you described.

 

[miccle]

miccle i would love to come up and check out some of the QLD cup games too at some point, maybe not enough time left in this season but perhaps next year.

Hells yeah, book it in. Come up to see the Dragons beat the Broncos (again ) & get out to a game or two throughout the course of a weekend. I don't get out there as often as I used to (but once my little one gets a bit older I'll be changing that, she can come with me!), but it's always tops. The Chook Pen at Kougari Oval, while cheering for the opposition, is the #1 recommendation on Qld RL things you must do before you die! :crazy:

(bit of a story there in my past regarding a heated afternoon and police escorting us to our car for personal safety reasons, but that's for another thread...)

 

[Kiki]

hahahah police escorting you..aaah. this sounds great.

 

[Timbo]

It's funny how much club rugby union gets ripped on in here for its crowd figures and its lack of media coverage when it's pretty much exactly the same as what you described.

Don't get me wrong - my first thought at Henson was that I could be at Coogee Oval watching Randwick but I don't know, there was something a bit different...

Club rugby has moved - to a degree - with the times. They have corporate marquees at most Sydney club games now, and admission is getting slightly more expensive. I still love going to club rugby in Sydney but this was just a bit different somehow.

Henson just had a very...authentic...feeling to it. I can't quite put my finger on it.

 

[Perth Red]

I love watching the Bundy cup. You can get a beer for $3 some chips for $2 have a good yarn with all the old guys stood around you and when we win (which hasn't been often this season!) it's as sood as anything. We may be a small lot in WA but we are very vocal and I always go home sounding like Lockyer after he has somked a box of cigars!

I love park footy but having said all that I do love to see a big game under lights with 20,000 in a great stadium as well. The joys of being a true sports fan is you get to enjoy both ends of the scale!