CANTERBURY BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS

Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs NRL Fan Experience at Belmore Sports Ground, Sydney, Australia 29/05/2022

Today was a game day fan experience that I’ve been wanting to do since the mid 90’s when I watched the Canterbury Bulldogs defeat Manly in the 1995 ARL Grand Final. 


I started the fan journey with a 25-minute train ride from Central Station to Belmore station before walking around the local streets to soak up the suburb and the game-day vibe. Blue and white streamers, balloons, and posters lined the shopfronts and it was evident that the locals really get behind the Bulldogs and game days here. 


The trip out to Belmore Sports Ground was enjoyable as I talked to a few Bulldogs fans on the train about Terry Lamb and the Dogs on what was a glorious Sunday afternoon in Sydney for my third and final game day this weekend in town. 


Hopping off the train at Belmore it was a quick walk following the Bulldogs fans the short distance to the Belmore ground entrance and through Terry Lamb reserve park. The Bulldog’s street art livened up the concrete facades while gate staff were pleasant, smiling, and wished us a good day at the match. 

I had wanted to check out some of the plaques, murals, memorbillia and the Canterbury Leagues Club which is adjacent to the train station however time got away from me as I wanted to get to the ground early. I’ll endeavour to check these out next time I’m out this way as I hope to be back for another game day at Belmore down the track.


It was really exciting upon entry to just soak up this gorgeous suburban footy ground from the grassy hill to the Peter Moore scoreboard and canteen. I walked around the length and breadth of the venue taking in all the angles from the Bulldog’s front entrance to the white bench seats and the main stand.

 
The food and beverage selection consisted of local food trucks and canteens selling standard footy fare like pies and chips along with kids’ favourites in cotton candy and ice cream while gourmet food items were also on offer and looked tasty from local businesses. Prices were standard from $5-15 while mid-strength cans of beer were $8 with only one beer variety available in Great Northern for obvious reasons given the one-off event here and the planning involved for catering. As for the beer tray price watch, these were free here. It’s always interesting to see the little things like the price of beer trays. Over this weekend they’ve ranged from $1.50 to 80c to free!


The fan engagement for kids and families was quality with face painting and kids jumping castle but even more, kids were just having fun rolling down the hills and passing or kicking footies with their families which looked like an enjoyable experience.


Toilets were scattered on either side and lines were only really heavy at halftime with men and women being able to get in and out fairly quickly from what I could witness. 


The hill was absolutely packed and looked incredible today with Bulldogs, Dragons, and Illawarra Steelers fans with 16,991 fans turning out to make this a huge sell-out crowd. It was a real carnival footy vibe with fans fully engaged in the community spirit of suburban footy as well as reconciliation week and the focus of the Indigenous round. 


The Indigenous focus for NRL Indigenous Round featured a respectful welcome to country, singers, and music on the land of the Dharug, Eora & Bediagal Peoples. 


The dogs tried to come back a few times but the Dragons pulled away too quickly and ran out 34-24 winners on a sunny but very windy and chilly day at Belmore. I was very glad I brought my heavy retro Bulldogs jersey to the game as it was very chilly on the hill by 4pm.


The merchandise tent and mobile store had fans lined up as items like the indigenous jersey and retro cord Bulldogs caps went flying out the door. I really liked seeing the use of the old Bulldogs logos too around the venue and on merchandise and hope other teams start to bring these back as well.

I also thought that it was clever that some fans had brought in their own milk crates to enable their kids to get a better vantage point on the hill as well.


The exit from the match was easy with the train station right at the stadium and within a 5-8 minute walk before the 20-odd minute train ride back to the Sydney CBD. 


I was so excited today to tick off another Australian sporting venue in Belmore Sports Ground and would encourage any fan to get out here the next time they bring a game day here as it is truly something special to witness at such an iconic ground.

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs NRL Fan Experience Review

Bulldogs NRL

Bulldogs NRL

Last Friday night (29-7-2016) I was able to take in the National Rugby League’s Canterbury Bulldogs game against St George Illawarra Dragons at Sydney’s ANZ Stadium and was really impressed with some of the things that the team there are doing to enhance the match day fan experience for rugby league fans.

Under the leadership of fan engagement manager Arnaleah Hunt, the Bulldogs fan experience (along with the Melbourne Storm and the Brisbane Broncos) features some of the best fan engagement activations I have seen over the course of my travels in the past three years working with audioBoom. Since 2014, I’ve visited the majority of NRL, AFL and Australian based Super Rugby club’s home fan experience set up’s and the Bulldogs, Storm, Broncos, GC Suns, GWS Giants and Port Adelaide are among the best in the business.

I met up with Arnaleah at 4pm on a chilly but sunny Sydney afternoon at Gate L where I was then led around ANZ Stadium (which now also features a variety of local craft beer options) to check out the various activations starting with the nice blue carpet that worked as a Bulldogs member’s loyalty entrance.

Bulldogs NRL

Bulldogs NRL

It was inspiring to hear Arnaleah’s thoughts on fan engagement as we talked about how we both agreed that activations don’t always need to be expensive as so much of creating the fan experience is down to creativity, innovation and thinking outside the box to get fans, especially the young ones excited and coming back game after game.

One idea that the Bulldogs have had in 2016 has been the creation of The Canterbury Breed which has seen the Bulldogs squad transformed into superheroes with trading cards, face masks and posters all given out to members for free on match days.

Bulldogs NRL

Bulldogs NRL

Bulldogs NRL

Bulldogs NRL

Bulldogs NRL

Bulldogs NRL

Bulldogs NRL

Bulldogs NRL

Bulldogs NRL

Bulldogs NRL

Bulldogs NRL

Bulldogs NRL

Bulldogs NRL

Bulldogs NRL

Bulldogs NRL

Bulldogs NRL

Walking around the ground before the game to take in all of the fan engagement activities it was clear to see that the Bulldogs have gone above and beyond for fans young and old to create some memorable match day experiences.

The Bulldogs ‘Dog Box’ which sees members get the chance to watch the game from the half way line next to the coaches box in their very own fan cave was a cool idea complete with free programs, drinks and plenty of photo opportunities.

Bulldogs NRL

Bulldogs NRL

Bulldogs NRL

Bulldogs NRL

Bulldogs NRL

Bulldogs NRL

The Dogs also have a Kia sponsored sideline seat set up for selected members to take in the game from a closer vantage point (yes that’s a ridiculous image of me below in my fan engagement element) while the Delivery Hero sponsored buggy allows a fan the chance to take the kicking tee and match ball out at the start of the game.

Bulldogs NRL

Bulldogs NRL

Bulldogs NRL

Bulldogs NRL

The Bulldogs DJ takes social media requests from fans for songs on game day while the ‘Player Post’ box is a nice idea with an educational element for young kids who are able to write a letter to their favourite player and post it in the Bulldogs post box.

Bulldogs NRL

Bulldogs NRL

Bulldogs NRL

Bulldogs NRL

Bulldogs NRL

Bulldogs NRL

Bulldogs NRL

Bulldogs NRL

It was really impressive to also see the free game day guide that fans can pick up which includes an ‘activation map’ listing all of the fan engagement activities as well as the rules of rugby league, a profile on the club and a season draw.

The Dogs really value the importance of listening to their fans and have a suggestion box set up in the main fan zone area where fans can leave their suggestions on how to continue to improve the match day experience. I’ve seen a similar set up at Fulham at Craven Cottage with their post box so this was also impressive to see.

What was also impressive and somewhat hilarious to see was the poor bloke below who was being swamped by excited kids as he handed out free Bulldogs trading cards and then packs of trading cards to fans as they entered through the gates. Fans were also given free lollies on entry and free raffle numbers which were part of a promotion over the course of the night whereby one fan walked away with 5K and 20-30 others grabbed free prizes over the course of the game. It was a good way to promote sponsors, give prizes away to fans and get more people through the gates.

Bulldogs NRL

Bulldogs NRL

Bulldogs NRL

Bulldogs NRL

Bulldogs NRL

Bulldogs NRL

Bulldogs NRL

Bulldogs NRL

Bulldogs NRL

Bulldogs NRL

Bulldogs NRL

Bulldogs NRL

Bulldogs NRL

Bulldogs NRL

The Bulldogs fan experience is certainly one of the better NRL and Australian team match day’s and Bulldogs fans should be proud of the work that both Arnaleah and the team do for them to provide an exceptional day out at the football.

Bulldogs NRL

Bulldogs NRL

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