We're being watched........ though not unexpectedly

[serious14]

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,23236714-5001021,00.html

"SUNDAY is looming as the day from hell for commuters and sports fans as the A-League and one-day cricket go head-to-head at the Sydney Football Stadium and the SCG.

Through poor planning by government agencies and sports administrators, NSW faces gridlock and pain on the trains - from Newcastle to Gosford to Moore Park.

Football fans travelling from Newcastle and the Central Coast to the A-League grand final are bracing themselves for chaos as thousands of fans swamp rail lines and the F3.

Mariners and Jets fans will face many hurdles in their efforts to get to the game at the SFS, with fans questioning the logistics of transporting opposing fans to and from the venue on the same trains.

Those who plan to drive to the match face a similar dilemma as they navigate roadworks at Cowan, where three lanes merge to two on the southbound carriageway.

Fans who choose to drive to the SFS must compete to find a car park with cricket fans attending the Australia v India clash at the SCG.

Inspector Darryn Cox said yesterday police would hold a series of meetings this week to discuss security options for the trains, particularly regarding alcohol-affected fans making the trip back to the Central Coast and Newcastle.

"We understand a big part of the Newcastle contingent will travel to the football by bus, but there will still be a lot on the trains. But we will have a good number of crime officers travelling on the (train) line to make sure everything is OK," Insp Cox said.

RailCorp is encouraging fans to use trains, with three extra services running from Newcastle to Central, departing at 12 noon, 12.45pm and 1.05pm.

RailCorp will have three eight-car trains on standby at Newcastle and Gosford to meet any higher demand.

A RailCorp spokeswoman told The Daily Telegraph yesterday it had been in talks with police about "crime hotspots" and that transit officers would be where they were most needed.

Mariners and Jets fans have swamped supporter websites with suggestions that the fans be transported in separate carriages or even separate trains because of the potential of violence.

"About the best I would hope for would be to try and encourage Mariners fans to get on the back half of the train and Jets fans the front or vice versa - both for the trains there and the first couple of trains immediately after," one fan said on a Mariners forum.

Another fan said he would drive to avoid "the carnage".

The RailCorp spokeswoman said the issue of dividing fans would be a police matter.

Representatives from the SFS and SCG were meeting to discuss parking and security issues last night."

First things first - good to see that those in the positions of power are talking about it and what needs to be done.  Now that it's in the media I would be very surprised if nothing came of these meetings.

Re: the thread title - proof undeniable that everything we say on here this week (and to a lesser extent, other times during the season) is being watched with beady little eagle eyes - so we might want/need to be careful in what we say, and if certain things need to be said and discussed (security arrangements etc.), then it would be best to do it in private.  The AFL and NRL media are waiting to jump all over this, and believe me, they will use the smallest incident as an example of 'rowdy effnik sokkah hooligans run riot'.

To look at this positively though, it's nice to know that such things are of concern to the mainstream media - the profile of football in this country continues to grow.    ;D

 

[~Floss~]

Re: the thread title - proof undeniable that everything we say on here this week (and to a lesser extent, other times during the season) is being watched with beady little eagle eyes - so we might want/need to be careful in what we say, and if certain things need to be said and discussed (security arrangements etc.), then it would be best to do it in private.  The AFL and NRL media are waiting to jump all over this, and believe me, they will use the smallest incident as an example of 'rowdy effnik sokkah hooligans run riot'.

It's just like it would be for celebrities avoiding the gossip journos, or politicians who want to avoid providing the opposition with any ad-campaign fodder: you just have to be very careful with the words you choose.

Obviously if someone had written anything worse than "I want to avoid the carnage" the paper would've quoted that, but it's the most controvercial thing they could dig up. The meaning of that quote reflects positively on the group, but by selecting a quote containing the word "carnage" it sensationalises the article.

I'm sure if anyone was to read pages and pages of threads they'd realise that the only concern of us "supporters groups" is that we all want to avoid any "incidents" (which is actually summed-up quite well by the quote). They'd also see that no-one involeved in these discussions is condoning or encouraging violence.

We should be proud that they quoted our forum, they probably could't make sense of the Jets'.

 

[Sean]

Did anyone read the great centerfold spread in the MX paper on the train yesterday?
Marinators and the Squadron got great coverage!

 

[Chimmi]

Yay for two Mx pages - with a Foster-esque article (forget who wrote it - sorry) where it was implied that we are a grinding team and the jest play pure football (?). Will have to check if i still have that issue when i get home.

Eh - at least football is getting noticed and space on the newspaper. We are getting football in peoples heads - and that's great

 

[adz]

... one fan said on a Mariners forum...

now we're just "a Mariners forum"... pfffft thanks "journos"

 

[kevrenor]

Ah, but did anyone actually say:

Mariners and Jets fans have swamped supporter websites with suggestions that the fans be transported in separate carriages or even separate trains because of the potential of violence.

"About the best I would hope for would be to try and encourage Mariners fans to get on the back half of the train and Jets fans the front or vice versa - both for the trains there and the first couple of trains immediately after," one fan said on a Mariners forum.

Marconigirl used the word 'carnage' but not in that sentence!

Or from another article:

""About the best I would hope for would be to try and encourage Mariners fans to get on the back half of the train and Jets fans the front or vice versa - both for the trains there and the first couple of trains immediately after," one fan said on a Mariners forum.

Another fan said he would drive to avoid "the carnage"."

Or will they just use things selectively whatever we actually say!

Yes, we have always say you must realise this is a public forum ... but unless someone is inciting violence (which we would delete anyway) .... the more sensible debate there is the better!

 

[FFC Mariner]

Looks like the FFA really thought this one out didnt they.

Seems likely that it never occurred to them that the Boss's side would be in the GF and they would be at ANZ.

 

[dibo]

Shityrail can't even get it right on a normal day. There will be no planning for this. Me and my mates are getting a bus down to avoid the inevitable carnage on the trains. I would suggest to try and find alternative transport. Anyone who has to catch a train, I urge you to use common sense and NO VIOLENCE

Me and my mates will probably drive down. Id rather use a few dollars more in petrol than get involved in the carnage that will happen on trains.

they're the mentions of carnage. choose words carefully, some words are more exciting to journos than others.

there's nothing to fear from media - we're hardly a bunch of hooligans, far from it. they can browse the site and if they want to quote from it, it's a public forum so good luck to them.

 

[brett]

Anyone know if the trained chimps at Cityrail

They're trained now?

If there are going to be problems on the train, they'd be more likely to occur on the return leg with the influence of alcohol, and emotions run amok.  And considering people will be returning home at any time from immediately after the game to late that night, there isn't really much they can do then.

About the best I would hope for would be to try and encourage mariners fans to get on the back half of the train and jets fans the front, or vice versa - both for the trains there and the first couple of trains immediately after. 

Me and my mates will probably drive down. Id rather use a few dollars more in petrol than get involved in the carnage that will happen on trains.

: : :

So instead of these doomsday messages that add fuel to the potential fire, why not just leave it off?

In the words of the Hives.

'Hate to say I told you so ALRIGHT'

Lucky they didn't put 'Carnage' in the headline. Quite a sensible article when it came down to it. They could have published the 'trained chimps' part though, I liked that!

 

[adz]

1 post from Kimba and it is about "carnage" and an unnecessary plead for no violence, which leads to more unnecessary pleads for no violence from people who took the bait... I smell a RAT.

 

[skilbeck]

Shityrail can't even get it right on a normal day. There will be no planning for this. Me and my mates are getting a bus down to avoid the inevitable carnage on the trains. I would suggest to try and find alternative transport. Anyone who has to catch a train, I urge you to use common sense and NO VIOLENCE

Me and my mates will probably drive down. Id rather use a few dollars more in petrol than get involved in the carnage that will happen on trains.

they're the mentions of carnage. choose words carefully, some words are more exciting to journos than others.

there's nothing to fear from media - we're hardly a bunch of hooligans, far from it. they can browse the site and if they want to quote from it, it's a public forum so good luck to them.

I dont see this article as a bad thing. They are just highlighting the concerns that fans may have with transport on that day and that thread was set up to discuss any possible issues that may arise from the Mariners travelling with the Jets to Sydney as well as the hassle of getting to the game that day.

Im sorry for the use of "carnage" in my post to further their alarmist agenda but im not sorry for the post in itself

 

[Jeff (LouMacari)]

Kimba = journo creating own story?

 

[dibo]

anonymous one post wonder, registered feb 18, posts once on same day. who knows?

 

[brett]

Kimba = journo creating own story?

Nothing stopping them from doing that...which is why most people with half a clue are pretty sceptical of stories with quotes off fan forums.

 

[skilbeck]

anonymous one post wonder, registered feb 18, posts once on same day. who knows?

Does anyone know who wrote the article for the terrorgraph? or can anyone trace the IP address or any other identification somewhere?

 

[dibo]

no clear indication from ip or email address.

 

[Pokes]

When we won the premiership....Mx had a tiny, few sentence article in the bottom corner about it. They had a double spread, however, on the Superbowl.

Does anyone in Australia actually CARE about the Superbowl?

 

[Wheresdadspants?]

Off topic but yeah I love the Superbowl. Was owed a day off for doing work on the weekend so I got to watch it this year. I know most people don't like it but I love it ( obviously not as much as football).

 

[rosko]

Yeah me too... I love the NFL... Not giving up the Mariners for it, but yes I care... 

 

[MrCelery]

I don't give a flying f@#k about any oval ball code. They're all dreadfully boring for the most part. So there.