Scream 2

Don’t you just hate it when a crowd of 30,000 people sneaks up on you? That’s what happened to me this afternoon. There I was, moseying home after a big week at the office. I decided to catch the bus all the way into the city so I could buy some milk. I got waylaid by the display of cheap DVDs in Target. I bought Master and Commander, The Others and The Minority Report for the princely sum of $12.95 each. I bought milk, rice crackers and Milo. Then I caught the bus. I was looking out of the bus window when I saw a couple of red and white jerseys. I thought ‘Maybe there’s an AFL game on tonight’, perhaps they’re heading over to the Gabba. I should have known better. The jerseys had sleeves—a clear sign that no one was out barracking for the Sydney Swans.

This is what happened. I had been lulled into a false sense of security because this week Suncorp Stadium had already hosted a major rugby league event. I thought it was okay to wander home aimlessly, because the crowds had been and gone to the State of Origin and left mounds of beer, vodka, and Bacardi Breeze bottles and kebab wrappers behind them on Wednesday night. The streets had been closed, buses had been diverted, and I knew that Queensland had won without even turning on the television or reading a newspaper, because the crowd hung around afterwards, celebrating with more beers and every now and then screaming ‘Queenslander!’ to anyone passing by, and the ether too, well into the wee hours, it seemed. Losers just go home and nurse their disappointment.

Wally Lewis Shows His True Colours

Usually the events at the Stadium are timed to occur at most once a fortnight. I thought that since the powers that be hadn’t even managed to send out the street sweepers, there would be no problem with timing my arrival at home for around 7 pm, just in time for the Big Brother daily show.

As the bus got to Upper Roma Street, I saw that the red and white jerseys were being outnumbered by others in maroon and gold, and the numbers of jersey wearers had grown into a migrating herd that was being corralled up the street on one side by a row of orange and white barriers. That’s when I knew:

Friday 16 June NRL Telstra Premiership—Round 15

Kick off: 4.15pm Preliminary Game 1: Redcliffe High v Marsden High
Kick off: 5.25pm Preliminary Game 2: Aspley v Easts (QRL U/16)
Kick off: 7.30pm Main Game: Broncos v Dragons

@#$%*!

Sheesh. Don’t scare me like that.