Over the last couple of years, due to a number of different factors, I have started to enjoy the NRL (Rugby League). My team the mighty Melbourne Storm, have this weekend qualified for the NRL Grand Final to be played on Sunday next weekend.
So, let’s begin, Over the last couple of years North Melbourne have made me somewhat apathetic about the AFL. Seeing the team that you love, be on the arse-end of the AFL ladder since 2020, is well not fun. The COVID pandemic, meant that I was out of practice with going to the football every week and it just did not feel quite the same, grandad also no longer is able to go to games. The redevelopment of the Dockland Stadium was also really depressing (it is a lot better now and the sensory rooms are great). At the same time, university and work together meant that I often could not spare the 4 or 5 hours needed to commute to AFL games.
Growing up in Victoria, rugby was always seen as the sport that you would watch after the AFL Grand Final had concluded, it often was played on the first day of daylight savings (my least favourite day of the year). The rules of rugby, whilst now seem simple were confusing and I thought it were a bit violent. That being said, The NRL Grand Final was something that I always would watch.
The first game of rugby that I ever attended was on a Friday night after a uni class, I had a ticket near some of my colleagues. My work sponsors The Storm and I thought it was a good thing to support and a night out that I would’ve otherwise not gone to. This was quite an exciting game, and the atmosphere was cool.
The second game, that I went to in 2023, was against the Cronulla Sharks whom I don’t like for various reasons, so I wanted to beat them. I was with a friend, who was into the NRL as well though it was also his first game. I had by this point decided that I liked The Storm enough to buy a supporter scarf. The game was good and from memory I believe we absolutely annihilated The Sharks.
Fast forward to this year, I went to a game with my dad quite early in the season against the Brisbane Broncos. He really enjoyed the game and thought it was great and exciting, despite having lived in Sydney for a brief period he’d never been to a rugby game.
A few weeks later we went to another game I think it was against The Sharks and my dad decided that he wanted to buy a supporter scarf for the Melbourne Storm as well. I think he enjoyed that I took him out to the rugby. I also started to learn a bit more about the different teams in the NRL.
For the ANZAC day game, I bought dad a ticket to go to see the storm play the South Sydney Rabbitohs. Will supports The Rabbitohs with his best mate. It was also the first time that I went to a game of rugby that was not connected to my work. The Kangaroos were not doing too well again with the football and I really disliked watching the free to air telecast of the AFL for various reasons.
In July of this year, I went on a small weekend trip to Sydney. My parents were there for the first day of the trip and we went to the pub and I said how much I enjoyed watching the rugby league in a NSW pub. I knew that The Storm was playing somewhere in Sydney this week, I thought I would go. The game was at the LeichhardtOval in inner west Sydney essentially against the harbour, The Storm were playing The West Tigers. The Leichhardt Oval felt more like a VFL oval when compared to the grounds that are played on in Victoria for the AFL it was proper cool. The Storm got a massive win which was cool.
It was cool just being in Sydney to see some of the good aspects of the NRL as well as some of the more problematic elements such as the connection that many NRL clubs have with poker machine operators.
Anyway, I am really happy that the Melbourne Storm have got into the NRL grand final, and I am looking forward to seeing how we go. It is good how the sport that you thought you didn’t like turns out to be quite interesting.
Go Storm!!!