Sydney Man In Awe Of Stadium Precinct With Great Pubs, Multiple Forms Of Transport, Electric Atmosphere

KEITH T. DENNETT | New South | CONTACT

As Ryan Buderus-Hodgson sips a mouthful of a mid-strength beer at the Caxton Hotel, a thought dawns upon him; Queenslanders just get it.

Up in Brisbane to attend the State of Origin tonight, the man who hails from Sydney’s north, sits back in awe at the incredibly slick setup in the left kidney of Brisbane.

In town for a work jolly, which will see him take out a bunch of QLD agribusiness clients to a corporate box in The Cauldron, Ryan has spent tonight’s small talk telling them all he’s dumbstruck that it’s possible to have a world class stadium that’s within walking distance from the CBD.

Not to mention one that is so close to a great run of bars, that you could peg a schooner glass from the roof of the pub and you’d probably be able to hit the crossbar.

“It’s epic, we’ve got nothing like this in Sydney!” Ryan tells his workmates.

“If you want to go to an NRL final, a Lady Gaga concert or the Crusty Demons, it comes with a mandatory two hour round trip with multiple station hops, and that’s only if there’s no trackwork.

“People offer me free tickets to the Sydney Kings all the time, but it means I’ve got to fork out a $100 Uber to get to Sydney Olympic or sit in the car park that is Parramatta Road, and watch brake lights for four hours.”

With less than an hour before kick-off, Ryan’s colleagues have reportedly had to restrain him, due to his inability to just relax and do Origin on Queensland time.

“When do we leave, shouldn’t we leave now?? I don’t want to miss anything? Surely it’ll take half an hour to get into the stadium!” said Ryan, panicking and buttoning up his suit blazer.

“Just woo up mate,” replied his QLD counterpart, Carl Vautin, “We can probably start walking over when we hear the national anthem start. There’s no rush…”

More to come.