‘Have a look’: Jillaroos coach’s message to fans after crowd exodus
Jillaroos head coach Jess Skinner has urged fans to “get around women in sport” after a significant portion of the crowd left the stadium following the men’s Samoa v France clash, skipping the women’s fixture.
The mass exodus meant only a few thousand spectators remained in the stands for the second game of the double-header, where Australia ultimately dominated a brave Samoan side 40-0.
Isabelle Kelly during the match. Darrian Traynor
As the tournament hosts, the Jillaroos rightfully deserved the prime-time evening slot, though the empty seats sparked debate over whether scheduling the women’s game first would have guaranteed a stronger crowd presence.
Despite the turnout, Skinner warned fans that they risk missing “something cool” if they tune out of the women’s game during this year’s rugby league World Cup.
“Let’s get around women in sport, right? All women in sport, particularly this Rugby League World Cup,” Skinner said after the game.
“We’ve got a lot of talented women across all of the teams. The message would be to stay and support the growth.
“Something really cool is happening in this generation of sport with our ladies, and you’re going to miss it.
“There are history-making moments over this World Cup and we want to see our fans, particularly in the green and gold, be a part of that. Just come and have a look.”
During the earlier men’s game, Samoa fans more or less filled the bottom level of the stands at either end of CommBank Stadium.
But by the time the women’s game kicked off barely 20 minutes later, a significant portion of them had left.
Even though many Samoa fans had departed, fans wearing blue still heavily outnumbered fans wearing yellow.
Samoa coach, Eels legend Frank Pritchard looked reluctant to criticise fans, and said the 8.05pm start time would have been a contributing factor.
For those who did stay, debutant Jocelyn Kelleher put on a show-stopping performance.
Samoa fans packed each end of CommBank Stadium for the men’s match, but a large portion had left before the women’s match started. Getty Images
The playmaker orchestrated multiple tries to the delight of her fans who have been long-awaiting her international debut.
“We just celebrated her getting player of the match,” Skinner said of Kelleher’s performance.
“I reckon that’s a dream run for her, and her kicking game was amazing. She took her opportunities when she had them, so it couldn’t get better than that in a World Cup debut for the Jillaroos and becoming part of a legacy piece.
“Really proud of her.”
Australia will again be the second game of a double-header next week in Perth when they face England.
They will then play first in a triple-header in Parramatta on November 1 with two men’s games to follow.
Jillaroos skipper Isabelle Kelly noted that while the team’s on-field focus drowns out the empty seats, hearing about fans leaving was “unfortunate”.
Jillaroos coach Jessica Skinner and captain Isabelle Kelly. NRL
“When we’re out there, we’re focused on each other and the role we play for one another,” Kelly said.
“It’s unfortunate with a lot of people leaving, but at the end of the day, we play rugby league because we love playing it.
“We’ve never played for the crowds or the outside noise, we’ve just played because it’s something that we’re so passionate about.
“For the next few games, there’s going to be some really great, competitive, top-notch games that are going to showcase a lot of talent, so it’d be great for people to be coming and tuning into those games.
“At the end of the day, we just keep working hard and putting this game on a platform.”
