7th Tackle: Punters cash in on surprise Origin freebies

On Tuesday afternoon we walked past ANZ Stadium and noticed an enormous line of people snaking from the Eastern box office.

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It easily numbered hundreds and stretched halfway back to the Olympic Park railway station.

We spoke to some of the punters and were told they were waiting to cash in on an offer whereby workers in the precinct received two free tickets to last night’s game.

Given CBA alone has a massive office at Olympic Park, it’s conceivable that over a thousand tickets to the game’s showpiece event could have been given away.

We can only wonder how those who’ve forked out top dollar – and travelled from Interstate and regional areas – might feel.

They can at least console themselves in the realisation they are not alone, with the game as a whole becoming more and more reliant on freebies.

NRL clubs are constantly talking about record high membership levels, only for the hype to fall flat with games that attract record low attendances.

So what’s the disconnect? In the past year the NRL has become extremely concerned about the amount of free memberships that have been handed-out by clubs.

By the end of last year a stunning 14 percent of memberships – one in seven – weren’t paid for.

With no financial outlay at stake, people are far less likely to invest the time and effort required to head-out and watch the game live.