NRL: Broncos; Fan continues streak

[Queenslander]

Now this is a great story....seeing 132 games in a lifetime is great but 132 straight games is just amazing. This man loves his Broncos

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Fan continues streak
Thursday September 14, 2006

The Newcastle Knights may have the numerical supremacy when the fans turn out at Aussie Stadium on Saturday night but they will be more than matched for passion and loyalty by the Ergon Energy Broncos Sydney based fans.

Brian Hall is far from a fair weather fan not only does he never miss a game when the Broncos are in Sydney, for the past 4 seasons he hasn?t missed a Broncos game full stop.

Saturday night will be the 132nd straight Broncos game that Brian has attended, starting his current streak at ANZ Stadium against the Cowboys in 2002.

?Originally I thought it would be lovely to go to every game for a whole year and I did that in 2002 and made some very good friends up at ANZ Stadium and decided if they would go again I would and it sort of got out of hand from there.?

Originally from Atherton in North Queensland Brian was originally a Parramatta fan until the Broncos entered the competition in 1988 and his obsession with the Broncos grew.

?The last game I missed was at Gosford in 2001 when I got held up on a job.?

Hardly the wealthy philanthropist people might expect Brian owns his own metal fabrication business and searches the net for cheap flights when the draw is done. Despite this he has gone close to breaking his streak twice in recent times.

?Last year I started work at 3 am got home at one and it was raining and I thought do I really want to drive 3 hours in the rain to Canberra when I can sit beside a log fire and watch it on TV? I said to myself it?ll be worth it when you get there and it was.?

The only other time was a closer call.

?I nearly missed a game in New Zealand when I got to the airport and couldn?t find my passport but I retraced my steps and it was 200 metres back on the carpet!?

What drives a man to give up 30 weekends of the year to follow a football team up and down the East coast of Australia and across to New Zealand?

?It?s great to see a good game on telly, but it?s even better live.?

Brian remains upbeat despite the loss to the Dragons last week at Suncorp Stadium and says there?s plenty of life left in the Broncos in this finals campaign.

?I don?t think they played that bad last week, I thought St.George Illawarra were superb. I think they played their grand final last week.

If the Dragons keep playing like that they?re going to be very, very hard to beat but I really think that was their grand final.

They didn?t make any mistakes they did every thing you could do right and unfortunately we were the ones playing for them.?

He also thinks the Broncos will play to their strengths against the Knights.

?I think Brisbane will win with their defence. They?re lacking a little in attack but if your defence is good you?ll score enough points to win.?

The main danger for the Broncos is obvious even to the most ardent fans.

?There?s only one thing wrong with Andrew Johns, he hasn?t got a Broncos jersey on! I?ve seen him destroy us a couple of times he?s an absolute one off.?

The Broncos have a number of bays at Aussie Stadium exclusive to their fans but Brian keeps away from most of the Sydney based cheer squad.

?They?re a little too wild and woolly for me. They?re a lot younger and get a bit too carried away for my liking. I prefer to go sit there and watch it and take it all in. I don?t jump up and rant and rave.?

On the other side of the coin Sydney truck driver Anthony Sartori will be right in the thick of the wild and woolly Broncos cheer squad.

On game day he can be found frantically waving a Broncos banner, his phone message features the great Ray Warren calling a Broncos try but Anthony Sartori isn?t from Queensland.

?I?m from Sydney but I?m a big fan of Wally Lewis and Alfie Langer and I?ve been with the Broncos since the beginning in 88.?

The Broncos could never be relied on to be a Sydneysider?s ?second team? but Anthony says the numbers are slowly swelling.

"About 20 or 30 of us that consistently sit together in Sydney we link up through the Broncos website.

"We went up for the Dragons game on the weekend and we always try to go to the first game of the season, then halfway through the year and a semi final as well.?

Anthony says the players and indeed the club?s attitude to the Sydney based fans has helped attract new members to the group.

?They?re great to us after a game they give us a fair bit of time face to face where a lot of other clubs just sign things and walk away.

These guys appreciate what we do and that?s a lot of the reason why we keep turning up.?

Waving a Broncos flag at most grounds south of the border is akin to waving a red rag at a bull but Anthony says the opposition fans seem to have mellowed with their taunts.

?It?s died down a bit since Gordie (Gorden Tallis) left. They all loved to hate Gordie. They have a go at Lockyer or Justin Hodges but they?re not up there with the likes of Gordie, Wally or Alfie.

As passionate as the Sydney based Broncos fans might be they know they are going to be heavily outnumbered with at least 25 Sid Foggs coaches leading the procession down the Pacific Highway.

?They?re like that Newcastle; wherever they play they get a massive turn out. Newcastle?s going to have the most fans out there but I think we?ll have a lot of people turning out for us as well.?

Like Brian, Anthony is confident the Broncos can bounce back from the Dragons defeat.

?I reckon they can. The 3 good wins before the Dragons will have them in good stead. This is do or die and we have a good record at Aussie Stadium.

It?s going to be a forward battle, the halves a pretty even so who ever wins up front will give the backs some room to move.

I hope it?s a free flowing game.?

For Anthony this is the danger game.

?If the boys get on top on Saturday night the confidence will take them through to the Grand Final. I?m not too scared when we face the Bulldogs. Andrew Johns is the big test this week.?

Source: http://www.nrl.com

[Rayzr]

Omg , hasnt missed a Broncos game in 4 years!!
It would be quite hard for him but he might be crazy , going to 132 games straight .

Well good luck on the 5th and 6th year Brian!

[Poida]

yeh what a legend fan. id do that for my team if i could

[Rayzr]

So true but i cant always make it.

[Poida]

lol i cant cause my teams in north queensland im in canberra.
itd be very expensive.(sad)

[Darren Lockyer]

Omg , hasnt missed a Broncos game in 4 years!!
It would be quite hard for him but he might be crazy , going to 132 games straight .

Well good luck on the 5th and 6th year Brian!

yes well done

[[BroncosGirl]]

Thats just crazy! But good on him, hes a very loyal fan and its great to see
Wish I could do that!

[Hoppy2007Dragons]

That is one loyal bloke, i woudn't have gone in the rain and cold to watch.

[DeeGan]

It is time someone at the Broncos banned this guy from matches ... he may just be the curse that hasn't seen the Broncos win a finals game since '02

[[BroncosGirl]]

It is time someone at the Broncos banned this guy from matches ... he may just be the curse that hasn't seen the Broncos win a finals game since '02

Oo I never thought of that, someone should inform the club asap

[Dakink]

What devotion!!

Thanks Goodness the Titans a re a bit closer!

[Go_The_Doggies]

So true but i cant always make it.

I can never make it.

So i watch them all on TV instead. urdy: . Well I try to..but I don't rule the remote in my house. :dead: