There were grumbles about the mid-strength beer and the seating allocations but smiles all round about the results as Canberra Stadium hosted its first back-to-back major games under upwardly revised COVID-19 crowd numbers over the weekend, with both home teams in different codes emerging as winners.
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Stadium staff had less than 17 hours to turn around the venue between the Brumbies' rugby union grand final game against the Queensland Reds on Saturday night, and the league game in which Raiders played the Warriors on Sunday afternoon.
The Brumbies held on for a four-point championship win as the Reds surged in the final minutes, while the Raiders put on a clinic against the New Zealand side.
Signage, sponsorship, and field dimensions all had to be changed, and the stadium thoroughly cleaned between games with every handrail and door handle disinfected, as well as food and beverages replenished.
Both games accepted a maximum of 6000 fans, the biggest numbers seen since last season.
Patrons were spaced out right across the stadium to satisfy the new compliance requirement and there were some disgruntled Brumbies members who were bundled out of their usual prime seats and banished beyond the goalposts, into the worst of the general admission seats.
The Brumbies were reportedly swamped with calls when the tickets were allocated, but little could be done.
Excited fans rose as one from their seats to celebrate the new Super Rugby champions, only to be chided over the loudspeakers that if they wished to watch the presentations they had to stay seated or they would be escorted out.
In a statement, Venues Canberra's Matthew Elkins said he was "very happy with the way the crowd responded to the measures", with a review coming on future exemption requests for larger crowds.
