Melbourne Rising - a new generation of rugby

Melbourne Rising – a new generation of rugby

Melbourne Rising is a team made up of the best community Victorian Rugby Union players and Melbourne Rebels providing the next step as part of pathway program set in place to ensure the long term success of Victorian Rugby Union.

When:  Various dates and times, click here for more information about home matches.

Where:  Various venues, but three home matches at AAMI Stadium before 18 October 2014.

Cost:  Adults $15, child FREE.  Click here to buy now.  (Thursday 11 & 25 September buy 1 ticket get 1 free)

Review

Union?  League?  Rugby? Huh?!

You may have noticed that I am more likely to be found at a gallery or the theatre – I admit there has been a bit of a bias on Meetoo over the years, it’s true.  But, shhh don’t tell anyone {whispers}, I am not much of a {AFL} footy fan.  There I said it.

I promise I really am born and bred in Melbourne, but I am also quite happy to say that I can manage to get through a whole winter without knowing who is at the top of a ladder or ever glimpsing more than three seconds of the Footy Show at a time.

So you might be surprised to hear me declare that being invited to check out the Melbourne Rising (Rugby Union) inaugural match at AAMI Park Stadium was loads of fun for the kids and I.  In fact, despite the kids lack of exposure to major sporting events (other than the Australian Open or Spring Racing Carnival), we were all really excited to be going.

The match had the big stadium feel – thanks to the fabulous surrounds of AAMI Park Stadium.  But with the advantage of a lovely sized crowed (there were a few thousand of us there) filling a quarter of the stadium – don’t be fooled by the empty seats on the other side of the field, I promise everyone was sitting behind us.

We arrived a bit before the game started and got to watch the players warming up.  We also got to easily score ourselves front row seats.  While the warm up was underway there was some off field action happening with interviews with the crowd (yes that’s Charlie up on the big screen getting his 15 seconds of fame) and some competitions to win stuff.  The crowd was friendly, relaxed, full of kids and we even bumped into some friends – seemed a lot of junior teams had been encouraged to come along and see a real match.

Play went for under two hours including half time.

It was exciting to watch and easy to follow.  Basically certain players run all the way to the goal end (try line) with the ball and if they make it over the line they score a try (five points) – then allowed a kick “for a conversion” (what in other sports might be called “a goal”).  If you managed both of those elements you are awarded eight points (if you missed the goal then you only get five points).

Between chatting with our friends, eating chips, having the rules explained and cheering the winning team (YAY Melbourne Rising) the afternoon flew by.

When the game was over, as part of our media access, we were invited into the teams change rooms to hear the post game victory song – seriously if you’d told me three years ago when I wrote my first ever Meetoo post that one day I would find myself in a Rugby Union players change rooms thanks to Meetoo I would have laughed, quite frankly, a whole lot.  Thankfully I dragged my friend Prue in there too (so that I didn’t have to feel totally awkward on my own) and the two of us inspected the carpet whilst our children did a round of the room collecting signatures from guys covered in mud and cuts in not much more than their undies (in some cases possibly less – but I was too busy calculating the thread count of that carpet pile).  But for all the mums out there who are reading this and curious I have included a more g-rated change room photo for your viewing pleasure (and look to be honest, I felt weird taking that photo so it’s actually all I have for you).

With spring weather approaching and tickets this affordable – supporting Melbourne Rising is a family outing worth experiencing.