Saturday night marked my first time watching a rugby union game live and not just on the television.
For the ACT Brumbiesโ first home game of 2025 at GIO Stadium Canberra on 22 February, I was given the opportunity to represent CW and CD in our role as a sponsor of the club in taking part in the game day experience.
I arrived early enough to watch the second half of the ACT Brumbiesโ womenโs trial match against Fijian Drua.
Following the match, some food and drinks were served to the guests at the Rugby Lounge.
The group of sponsors were escorted to the tunnel down to the playersโ locker rooms. This is also the area where they enter the field.
On the way to the locker room, there was a wall covered in photographs of the players on the field, which was really nice to see.
There were yellow Brumbiesโ flags hanging from the sides of the tunnels that would later be used for the guard of honour.
While the teams warmed up on the field, we were escorted into the locker room to see where the sponsors logo was assigned to the locker โ I of course took a selfie in front of our allocated locker which belonged to jersey number 3 (captain Allan Alaalatoa for this game).
A group photograph was taken before we were escorted to the dugout to watch the rest of the warm-up from the sideline.
It was such a cool experience being able to stand so close to the ground that the players walk on.
It was fun watching the teamโs mascots, Brumby Jack and Brumby Jill, warming up for the match, with Jack even posing for photographs and doing a little dance for us.
The final โofficialโ part of the evening, which was the most fun, was standing in the guard of honour as the players entered the field. You could see the concentration on their faces as they ran out of the tunnel, but this didnโt stop them from giving us high fives.
I had only ever been to rugby league matches, so it was a nice experience watching how the rules and the way the game was played differed across the codes.
There were a few intense moments, and it looked like it was going to go the way of the Brumbies, but it wasnโt meant to be.
Despite the ACT side losing to Western Force, cracking a 14-year drought with a 45-42 victory, I would probably still attend more Brumbies matches โ I really enjoyed the atmosphere of the crowd despite the stadium not being filled to capacity.
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