diffusions

Matt Mckay (Captain) and Ange Postecoglou (Coach) with the 2011 A League Premiership Plate

Last night was a historic night. My team, Brisbane Roar, played their last game of the 2010/11 season’s regular fixtures. They completely dominated the season and with a 25 game unbeaten streak, a new domestic record, they earned praise from Mark Bosnich: “The Roar are the best team I have seen in the A-League since my return”.

The finale was a local derby against the league’s so-called glamour team, Gold Coast United. While a strong team that can never be written off, and one that the Roar had never beaten before, GCU was dispatched emphatically with a 4-0 margin. Each of the goals was superb and suggests that Roar really have stepped up a gear just in time for the finals.

The boys and girls in the supporter’s bay have become known for their antics and often attempt to make a point through the use of banners. The last game against GCU saw them unfurl a banner that read “The Beach – Qld’s Shame“. The Beach is the nickname of the Gold Coast United Supporters Club. Strange that they can even have a group of supporters as they have 3 of the 5 lowest attendence levels in A League history. [As an aside: the  smallest ever crowd was the relocated North Queensland Fury vs Brisbane Roar match played last tuesday night at Skilled. Yes there is a pattern - Skilled is a terrible stadium]. The other week, the banner read “Australia, Queensland thanks you” – a missive about the outstanding community support from all over the country during the significant flooding in SEQ.

Last night’s antics included no less than two flares and a “Courier Fail” banner, which brings me to my point. With the biggest home attendance for the season, a local derby, a massive winning margin in the game (4 goals), a goal difference over the season of 14 goals greater than the next closest, a nine point margin over second place and only 1 loss from 30 games [official statistics] in the entire season what do you think the local paper, The Curious Snail The Courier Fail The Courier Mail have on the front page?

The Courier Mail - Sunday Feb 13, 2011

Yep. A man fighting a crocodile beats a historic win for a local sporting team.

I understand that Football, even A League, gets better coverage than many other sports. W League, the top tier of Australian Woman’s football, has even poorer coverage. I can’t even remember hearing about a Softball or Baseball game – at which we are supposedly quite good. However, my point is that 20,831 people turned up to a match at Suncorp Stadium last night, countless more watched it on Foxtel – where we won the second highest honour in domestic football and the local paper has a MAN FIGHTING A CROCODILE as the lead story!

Awesome. Is The Courier Mail anti-sport? No, the Brisbane Broncos feature in some form in just about every issue, on or off season. In today’s online edition, there are five stories about Rugby League or its current or previous players. There is one about Rugby Union, which is out of season and also not getting much love. Football does get two stories, but only because Rooney scored a sensational goal in the EPL.

There are also stories floating around that Murdoc Murdoch’s New’s Limited owns the Broncos. Well, they certainly have a close relationship which goes back beyond the Super League Wars. Being sceptical, I decided to investigate. Fortunately, the Bronco’s are a publicly listed sporting club and as such are required to publish their annual reports. Lo and be hold: New’s Limited’s Nationwide News Pty Ltd owned 69% of the Broncos in 2009 (page 60).

So, there you have it. Vested interests trying to control professional sport as a revenue channel. And the FFA supports this by selling the TV rights to Foxtel. Hmm. There is a consolation, though – they can keep Frank Farina.

PS: we had one of the best ever goal celebrations this seasons too. May I present to you The Kayak.