Opinion
Editorial
TASSIE sports fans keep kicking goals -- big time.
When was the last time almost 12,000 people crammed into North Hobart Oval? And in the middle of summer, no less.
But 11,752 people packed into the ground to watch a National Rugby League practice match between Melbourne Storm and the Brisbane Broncos on Saturday.
That's right, a practice match between two rugby league clubs in an Aussie Rules heartland.
The spiritual home of football in Tasmania hasn't hosted crowds that big since the old days of the statewide league and then only during finals.
The turnout proves Tasmanians are desperate for more top-level sport.
It follows the blowout success of the Hobart Hurricanes, who set a number of attendance records during the Big Bash in December.
Cricket, more than any mainstream sport, has struggled to get people to games.
But the Hurricanes were drawing up to 14,000 people to their Twenty20 matches at Bellerive Oval.
The response to the game between Melbourne and Brisbane has delighted the NRL and improved the chances of a game for premiership points being played in Hobart.
But there was no excuse for Tasmanians not to roll up to the game. Interest in the code is mainly confined to telecasts of State of Origin games but what an opportunity to watch world-class players such as Billy Slatter and Cameron Smith running around in your backyard.
Tasmanians have sometimes been maligned for failing to support major sports and an old-school mentality of rocking up "on the day" and expecting to walk straight into big-ticket events.
More than 5000 tickets for the NRL game were pre-sold, evidence such an attitude is changing.
The NRL success is another example that Tasmania will support big, new events. It followed the response to Daniel Geale's world title defence last August, when more than 5000 people packed the Derwent Entertainment Centre.
That was good enough for Geale to arrange another title defence in Hobart next month in a massive promotion where fellow Aussie boxer Billy Dib will also put his world crown on the line.
Tasmania's hunger for sport will have the AFL rubbing its hands together.
If nearly 12,000 people turn up for an NRL game, Bellerive Oval should be packed to the rafters when North Melbourne plays two home games at the venue this season.
The AFL and cash-strapped Kangaroos are desperate to extend the agreement in Hobart, to mirror the success of Hawthorn in the north of the state.
But first they need the fans to turn up and pay up. On that score, it seems they can count on it.
http://www.themercury.com.au/opinion/index.html
The tards over at Little Footy will continue to wage their hate campaign against him.
