‘C’ – GOT TO DO BETTER

IT WAS a great day but I could only give the game at Clive Berghofer Stadium a ‘C’ on Sunday.

If Toowoomba is to host another NRL game, we have to address a few issues.

While a packed Clive Berghofer Stadium must have looked a picture from the corporate boxes in the John “Cracker” McDonald room, it was a very different story for those of us on the ground.

Firstly, if tickets are sold for gates A, B, C, D and E, then open gates A, B, C, D and E, not just gates A and D.

Fortunately, a member of my group insisted we get to the ground early and we arrived to be behind a crowd just 50m from Gate D yet it took us 30 minutes to get in.

Spare a thought for those behind us in the crowd that snaked down Hawthorn St and around the corner into Lindsay St. some of whom later told us it had taken up to an hour to get into the ground and many missed kick-off.

However, once inside the ground, getting a bite to eat and/or drink became the next issue.

I was in a shout of three and due to the long queues, we each got just one shout in.

The first mate to shout was lucky and had a limited queue and had our drinks in a tardy but acceptable 15 minutes.

I lost the toss to shout next which took 30 to 40 minutes before I arrived at the bar to find just two men, doing their very best, to keep up with strong demand for cool drinks on a warm day. A friend sitting in the stand told me after the game that catering was no quicker there.

That is unacceptable. Now, each of the rugby league clubs run canteens and bars every weekend so why not hand the bars over to the clubs who would have a dozen people eager to work to obtain some cash for their respective clubs?

And, as anyone who attends TRL Grand Final day can attest, the beer supplies ran out soon after half time.

We can and must do better.