A match of rugby at the Sydney Olympic Park

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I wanted to see a bit of Sydney on my first ever visit to the country. On my list of things to see was the Sydney Olympic Park, where the 2000 summer games were played. I can't remember if the Philippines ever placed in that one but still, I wanted to see what an Olympic Park looks like.

So I caught a train in Newtown and went to Homebush Bay, which was a few minutes away. When I got to the Olympic Park, I didn't know what I was expecting but I certainly didn't expect it to be seemingly deserted. But then there's the Telstra Stadium.

And I haven't been inside one of these stadiums. I just had to go in and check it out.

My wallet said it can't afford the cost of a guided tour of the stadium. My brain's telling me that I could live on pizza for another week if I have to but I just had to see what's inside. Curiosity got the PhD student, right?

Forest of Poles behind me.

The Olympic cauldron, transformed into a fountain.

I was about to go bankrupt because I wanted to demystify this olympic stadium.

Alas, there was no tour of the stadium, according to the ticket vendor because there was a match. A rugby match. I have never seen people play rugby before. I just had to see it (here we go again...) so I bought a ticket that was priced the same as the tour ticket.

I was quite shocked to find out that I bought one of the more expensive tickets, one that was three rows away from the pitch! I could see the players quite clearly, and the hotdog sandwich mascot too! Last time I watched a sports event, I was in the general admissions section of Araneta Coliseum, barely seeing the wrestlers of the Worldwide Wrestling Federation fake-duke it out in the ring (I was high school then; Daddy brought Anna, Biboy, and me to see that show). And then now, I got an almost-ringside seat!

Oh boy, what a mistake that was.

Someone (aka Google) should have warned me on how violent a rugby match could be. I mean, the players were seemingly not wearing any protective gear and they kept butting each other to get a ball and bring it to the other end of the pitch. Look at their necks... they're thick!




At the end of the match, I still didn't understand rugby. But at least now, I've seen one. I'll probably stick to watching soccer. It's more straightforward, I think. Definitely, no rugby-watching from now on...

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