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11. Newcastle Jets vs Central Coast Mariners – 09/02/20

Newcastle Jets 4 (Dimi Petratos 2, Nikolai Topor-Stanley & Own goals) def Central Coast Mariners 3 ( Ruon Tongyik, Jack Clisby & Chris Harold goals)

Newcastle Jets and Central Coast Mariners warm up prior to the game in front of an empty grandstand

PRE-GAME

Parking is plentiful in the streets around McDonald Jones Stadium with paid parking also available in the grounds at the front of the stadium. Public transport is also available if coming from Sydney or the Central Coast with Broadmeadow train station only a 1.5 km walk from the stadium.

There are a number of clubs and bars available within walking distance to the ground, as well as some local bars closer to the city who will run their courtesy bus to the ground. We can recommend Wests Leagues Club on Hobart Rd, New Lambton (a leisurely 1km stroll to the ground) or if a pub is more your scene both The General Roberts Hotel on the corner of Alma & Lambton Rd, New Lambton or The Sunnyside Tavern on Broadmeadow Rd, Broadmeadow are about a 1.2km walk.

ARRIVING AT THE GROUND

There are two main gates that are opened for most events the larger one on the western side of the ground also houses the ticketing and services areas for purchase and enquiry while the secondary gate is positioned in proximity to the south-eastern corner and is the best access point for seats on the southern hill or the eastern (Andrew Johns) grandstand.

THE GAME

Fortunately for the wet day ahead we had won ourselves a corporate suite in a raffle courtesy of the Hunter Melanoma Foundation and the Jets had made sure our spot was well out of the weather.

View of the action from our corporate suite

Leading up to the match the weather conditions had consisted of torrential rain for a couple of days leading in, add a Rugby Union match on the ground the night before and it was a chance the match wouldn’t even go ahead. But go ahead it did and what a display of attacking football we saw, seven goals in total meant the purists may not have been happy but it brightened what was otherwise a dour day. The Jets probably should have won by more with the number of opportunities they had but it wasn’t to be and the local faithful had to hang on to the edge of the seat as their local rivals the Mariners almost came back and seized a split of the points, an all too common experience in recent times for Jets fans.

Ultimately the Jets hung on through some questionable defensive decisions and walk away with a timely one goal win, their first since late November.

FOOD

It was a very good spread of finger food that was provided as a complimentary inclusion of our corporate suite with the usual fare of pies, sausage rolls, arancini balls, spring rolls and plenty more, we certainly were not left wanting.

OVERALL RATINGS

Parking – 4.5/5
View – 4/5
Value – 4/5 (based on standard ticketing)
Food Quality – 4/5
Food Pricing – 4/5 (Based on standard food pricing here)
Atmosphere – 2/5 (unfortunately a very small crowd didn’t add a lot)

TOTAL – 22.5/30

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10. NSW Waratahs vs Blues – 08/02/20

Blues 32 (Mark Telea 3, Blake Gibson & Joe Marchant tries, Stephen Perofeta 1/3 & Harry Plummer 1/2 conv. and Perofeta 1/2 pens) def NSW Waratahs 12 (Lalakai Foketi & Mark Nawaqanitawase tries, Will Harrison 1/1 & Kurtley Beale 0/1 conv. & Harrison 0/1 pens)

It was ominous weather predicted for the match at McDonald Jones Stadium

PRE-GAME

Parking is plentiful in the streets around McDonald Jones Stadium with paid parking also available in the grounds at the front of the stadium. Public transport is also available if coming from Sydney or the Central Coast with Broadmeadow train station only a 1.5 km walk from the stadium.

There are a number of clubs and bars available within walking distance to the ground, as well as some local bars closer to the city who will run their courtesy bus to the ground. We can recommend Wests Leagues Club on Hobart Rd, New Lambton (a leisurely 1km stroll to the ground) or if a pub is more your scene both The General Roberts Hotel on the corner of Alma & Lambton Rd, New Lambton or The Sunnyside Tavern on Broadmeadow Rd, Broadmeadow are about a 1.2km walk.

ARRIVING AT THE GROUND

There are two main gates that are opened for most events the larger one on the western side of the ground also houses the ticketing and services areas for purchase and enquiry while the secondary gate is positioned in proximity to the south-eastern corner and is the best access point for seats on the southern hill or the eastern (Andrew Johns) grandstand.

The Waratahs took to the pitch early and rewarded the early attendees with a glimpse of their heroes

The GAME

For today’s game we managed to pick up a complimentary ticket to the game thanks to Newcastle’s number 1 rugby whistle blower. We were allocated a seat in Bay 3 of the Andrew Johns (Eastern) grandstand, tickets were pretty pricey for non rugby players/members up to $65 for some seats which seemed a bit steep. Our seats had us positioned in line with the 22m line at the Southern end of the stands, we were originally sitting about 12 rows back but when some of the early rain came in we retreated back about 6 rows and found a spot in the furthest row forward that the rain was hitting and sat ourselves there for the remainder of the fixture.

The view from our seats – Rob Simmons takes an attacking line out in the first half

From pillar to post the Blues seemed to have the upper hand, and it certainly seemed for the most part the Waratahs were their own worst enemy, when they did make a break the ball wouldn’t stick when the pass was thrown or the ball would go to ground. The standouts for the home side were certainly the young guns, fly half Will Harrison and winger Mark Nawaqanitawase, albeit with some real concern for a short period after Nawaqanitawase’s spectacular try as he landed awkwardly.

It was the Blues though who were dominant with their forwards laying a great platform through ruck work and a strong scrum, allowing their backline to capitalise on repeated overlaps on the outside and Mark Telea was the repeated beneficiary as he scored a hat-trick including his third and the sealer on full time.

Mark Telea scores his third try after the siren

The Waratahs will now need to go back to the drawing board and rectify a number of areas particularly handling, dealing with the counter ruck, scrummaging and one on one defence as they are now win less after 2 matches and will travel to Melbourne for a bottom of the Australian conference match up with their southern counterparts the Rebels who are also yet to chalk a victory in 2020.

FOOD

We didn’t partake in the catering fare this game, but McDonald Jones in our experience serves up a solid offering

OVERALL RATINGS

Parking – 4.5/5
View – 4/5
Value – 2.5/5 (based on ticket pricing – not price of our complimentary ticket)
Food Quality – 4/5 (based on other events here)
Food Pricing – 4/5 (based on other events here)
Atmosphere – 2.5/5

TOTAL – 21.5/30