Crowd record under threat as NRL’s Battle of Brisbane heats up

March 24, 2023 10:56 am.by Wayne Heming

Superstar NRL coach Wayne Bennett — Dolphins coach Wayne Bennett admits the clash against the Broncos is a huge moment in his glittering coaching career.

Brisbane rugby league fans are in a frenzy on the eve of the biggest NRL game to be played at Suncorp Stadium night.

Once the fortress of the Brisbane Broncos the new kids on the NRL block, the Dolphins, are planning to run them out of town in a showdown that has captured the attention of not just rugby league fans but also the general public caught up in all the pre-game hype.

Billed as the “Battle of Brisbane” by an excited media army, the historic clash is surging towards State of Origin proportions as the two clubs prepare for the historic meeting.

The game could threaten the ground attendance record for a rugby league game at Suncorp Stadium of 52,540 set at a State of Origin game in July 2017.

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“This is exactly what the NRL and Peter V’Landy’s had in mind when they approved the Dolphin’s licence to create that rivalry and a bit of tribalism,” Suncorp Stadium boss, Alan Graham told bettingsite.com.au today.

“You’ve got the characters, the players, and the coaches, one coach who coached the other coach.

“You could not have scripted it any better, both teams are unbeaten, nobody would have predicted that, not even Nostradamus.

“Everything has aligned for a wonderful game.”

A leading Brisbane radio station has already started an official countdown to the game which is scheduled to kick off at 7 pm (local time).

Stadium staff, catering, security, and public transport will operate at maximum levels to cater to a bumper crowd.

It’s a wonderful storyline.

Five years after being unceremoniously dumped by the Brisbane, Bennett is back to launch another Brisbane side into the NRL on the same ground where he took the Broncos to a 40-10 win over Manly back in 1988.

A lot of water has gone under the Bennett bridge in those 35 years and the 73-year-old coach, who rarely displays much public emotion, admitted tomorrow night’s game meant a “great deal” to him personally and to rugby league.

Did he ever dream less than five years after being shafted by the club he took to six premierships he would be back coaching another Brisbane side against the Broncos?

“No,” he said in his usually short response.

“I don’t dream much,” squeezing out a wry smile.

“To be here in week four and have the whole state and probably the whole country engage in this game, from that point of view it is outstanding.

“It has captured the public’s imagination. It will certainly be the biggest crowd that will be here for a club game that I can remember.”

“All the great cross-city rivals in the world are the best of what makes sport great theatre…and I am proud to be a part of it.”

Lang Park, now Suncorp Stadium has provided Bennett with some of his greatest memories and as he says, some of his worst.

Tonight, will no doubt be another memory.

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