A Saturday afternoon at Henson Park offered far more than a game of football.
Going to a Newtown Jets game is a rugby league bucket list item for me. It's like seeing your team in a final, a game in Queensland, or visiting one of the famous suburban grounds on a Sunday afternoon. The Jets are a special case because they were formerly a first-grade side, but now their sole representation is as a reserve/feeder team. Full disclosure I'd much prefer to have seen the other team that is in this circumstance the North Sydney Bears as they have a place in my heart from being my second team growing up. You know the side that your not cheering for but you always are interested in their scores and how they are going. Their players, kits and logos all appealed to me and could be a later article should this one be read at all.
The Jets on the other hand were folded as a first grade outfit before I was born. The grand final appearance against Parra, Being Tommy Raudonikis' other Sydney club and the starting place for notable character and coach Warren Ryan. Always a bit of a battler club with some cult hero players and occasionally playing with a hard edge. None of these things overly matter to the modern product on the field but it builds the character of the club. While Newtown itself has always been known as a bit alternative for one reason or another and originally very working class. The modern concept of it from an outsider has been blurred by hipsters landing spot in Sydney ten years ago and that idea may even be outdated as the cost of living and gentrification changes the suburb even more. The reason I'm pointing these things out is that when you haven't been to a ground before these ideas shape the kind of experience you have and there certainly was some truths to both concepts but let me detail the gameday experience to help you get a feel for the club.
It's a slightly overcast but otherwise nice Saturday afternoon. I've stayed for a few extra pints down the street and went for a shop, so now I must rush back to my hotel to check in and then grab an Uber to fly into the ground, avoiding what would have been a nice walk to the ground from nearby Erskineville. I get chatting to the driver and he's a Dogs fan as well we both find the recent collapse of the Dragons hilarious. He enquires what are you here for and I reply to see the Newtown Jets. we seem to get more red lights than there is road but he said Henson Park mate? You are here. I know local grounds are suburban but this looks like a normal street but if you look at the end what looks a racecourse entry awaits. A beautiful brick entrance with people selling tickets, fifteen dollars for an afternoon's entertainment.
What greets you on the other side without being overly dramatic is something magical. It's everything you imagine when you think about a local sports ground. You see the big old scoreboard with a canteen underneath that serves all the usual and a proper sausage sizzle, a beer tent with a specialised Henson Park brew, A merch stand mainly focused on retro style gear of the grand final era and the great green hill. The long wooden benches with peeling white paint is something you won't see at any other big Sydney ground. Avoiding overuse the only thing not retro is the ground with it being in immaculate condition. As I arrived thirty minutes early I thought I'd wander over and check out the main grandstand. It was at this moment I noticed the first of two groups that make the Jets special.
As people strolled into the grandstand the supporters near the stand greet each other with a how do you think we will go today and discuss current form of the sides and how the ladder is looking. They decide on what piece of merch they will pick up after considering it all week. They line up for a quick beer and sausage before kick off. These are rugby league people the same you would find in any members stand of any NRL club they are the heartbeat of the club and in this case, what keeps it running. As the game unfolds you are greeted with a stadium announcer who supports the team throughout offering summaries of tries as the play of the season and of course the Jets club song blares out at every try. Cars are allowed to park in the ground to watch the game (As the oval and it's surrounds are massive, sometimes making picking a vantage point difficult). You are reminded as to how the club got it's moniker as every ten minutes or so a plane soars over seemingly closer each time. At the half and full time intervals kids are allowed to run onto the ground and have a kick. With every try local Jets die hard rides his penny farthing for a lap around the ground with a pack of kids trailing behind. All of these quirks stand out in comparison to the national competitions product where this has been sterilised for loud popular music and generic half time competitions.
Wandering back over to the hill is where you meet the other half of the Jets support. This is crowd that have been drawn in possibly by the beer footy and food festival, the fact that it's a local event or perhaps the idea of a beer on a hill on a nice Saturday afternoon. I heard multiple times is that a try, what happened there or we don't even actually watch the football. Normally a huge group of people like this in a ground would kill the atmosphere or it's appeal. However, due to the sheer size of the ground it does not really impact anyone's enjoyment and the space to have conversations for these people is not ruined by people chanting jets. They all seem to own a Newtown jersey, have bought multiple beers and food so the club is certainly getting plenty out of them whether they really buy in or not. I noticed MG was there to watch his son play for the opposition Panthers, everyone left him alone (rightfully so) in part because I'm not sure how many of them knew who he was. You could also hear chatter of people who had came for the first time chatting about how good this was and they'll be back. It really shows how good local sport can be for a community and it is something we have seemed to have lost in the modern age with so many options of entertainment elsewhere.
The combination of both sides of the Jets support is what really makes it tick along with the rusted on group you have people who will pay the reasonable membership fees year in and year out and be a great advantage in supporting the club in the community like meeting the players at the local after the game. The other side of the support allows for a decent hit of matchday income and the more they are taken by the experience the more the club can branch out and be a staple of the community. Special days like the beer festival and the upcoming welcome day allow more people to witness how good a day at the footy can be and maybe diminish stereotypes that wrongfully they associate with the sport. This is how a club like this survives admittedly they are not Souths or even a Norths it's hardly a history of success so this
The game itself was a pretty one sided win for the Jets over the table topping Panthers in an enjoyable contest that did feature some decent plays and was of a reasonable standard for reggies. There will be better games this year, there will be louder and more intimidating support groups but there won't be the same experience that is a game at Henson Park.
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