In a very surprising turns of events and unexpected surprises, this past Friday (July 1) I not only saw my first rugby league game between the Parramatta Eels and the Brisbane Broncos but I also met some of rugby league’s greatest players!
Travelling back from a vacation and on her way to the Sydney Airport Long Term Parking lot, Sandy met Roy Spagnolo, the CEO and President, of the Parramatta Eels and several of its players. Through this connection Sandy was able to secure us free tickets to the game.
We were expecting general admission tickets to the game and were totally flabbergasted when we picked up our tickets and were escorted to box seats in the Ray Price suite!
What amazing generosity! We had canapés, wine, dessert and most importantly meat pies and sausage rolls in the suite! Meat pies are a tradition at league games so in spite of trying hard to watch my carbs, I had my first meat pies and found they were very saucy and tasty!
And using her keen observation and celeb spotting skills, Kate pointed out that Ray Price was also in the suite (how ironic, Ray Price was in the suite named after him). Only afterwards, when I’ve told people I met Ray Price do I understand what a big deal this is – he’s a legend in both Rugby Union, Rugby League and he’s even been recognized as the first rugby league player to win the Order of Australia Medal (OAM).
The game itself was very spirited and a close game until the end when the Broncos pulled a last minute try and won. The biggest difference between rugby union and league is that in the latter a team only has 6 attempts to move the ball down the field and if they don’t score a try, they have to kick the ball into their opponent’s end zone (in union there is no limit). Now that I’ve watched a few rugby games, I’ve noticed how symmetrical the game is – all the players are lined up, making a wall which their opponent tries to penetrate. There are no long passes (they only throw short passes to the player running alongside them) and not a lot of ground gained in each play as there are no running backs that are weaving around trying to get open for the quarterback to throw them a pass.
After the game, we went to the local RSL (reserve service league) to watch the presentation of the team and met another famous league player named Eric Grothe, Sr. who won four premierships when playing for the Parramatta Eels.
On final note, when I think of names of sports teams I think of ferocious animals and intimidating characters like the St. George Dragons, Chicago Bulls, Chicago Bears or the San Diego Chargers. But eels? I know it’s my Japanese heritage that makes me think “unagi” (eel in Japanese) which is an incredible delicacy BBQ’s in a flavorful sauce and served over rice. I just can’t imagine a team mascot that’s an eel! What I’ve since learned is that the town of Parramatta has a river and evidently there are a lot of eels in the river (yikes, won’t be swimming there).
Nevertheless, what a HUGE and LEGENDARY night it was – Go Eels!
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