Fans attending the NRL grand final on Sunday are advised to arrive at ANZ Stadium early and by public transport after the NSW Police's counter-terrorism security measures caused large-scale delays at Parramatta Stadium this week.
A large police presence and more scrutinous security procedures are set to be in place across the Olympic Park precinct for the rugby league decider between Canterbury and South Sydney as part of the state-wide counter-terrorism measures dubbed "operation hammerhead".
Compulsory bag checks, full body pat-downs for all entrants, segregated inspection lines and more detection dogs are some of the measures that may be in action as part of the NSW Police security measures, which recently hampered the experience of spectators of other codes. ANZ Stadium is confident of a smooth passage into the ground, having avoided delays in last weekend's NRL semi-finals, but the venue encouraged fans not to risk delays by arriving at Olympic Park well before kick-off at 7:20pm.
"We have been well briefed by NSW Police. It's business as usual and we're prepared for Sunday's grand final," an ANZ Stadium spokesman said. "We will have more than 80,000 people attending and we encourage them to arrive early and enjoy the entertainment in the precinct."
A crowd of almost 19,000 caused a jam at the northern entrance of Parramatta Stadium on Wednesday night for the Wanderers and FC Seoul Asian Champions League semi-final, prompting fears of chaotic delays at the NRL grand final housing more than four times the number of fans. Wanderers fans endured significant delays on Wednesday night, which forced some patrons to wait up to 30 minutes for entry.
Due to the heavy security measures placed on all entrances, the stadium was not full until the 18th minute of the match. Many were held up at security checks at entrance points until well after Mateo Poljak's stunning fourth minute goal, which sent the Wanderers on the path to a memorable 2-0 victory.
Fairfax Media understands female and male supporters in particular sections were forced to wait in segregated lines for inspection and full body pat-downs, with some more scrutinous body searches reportedly in place as part of the new security measures. There was also a regulatory bag check policy in place with police detection dogs used at access points to the venue.
All staff, workers, media and special guests were required to sign in upon entry to the venue.
A member of the Wanderers supporter group, the RBB, who wished to remain anonymous said: "I was a bit disappointed because it was a big game and if I was there well before the game I expect to get in early. But I got inside 15 minutes after kick-off, and I only heard the first goal from outside because of the crowd cheering. The line was about 150 metres long."
The Wanderers are no strangers to large police presences at their games but Wednesday night's measures were understood not have been due to specific fan-related crowd control. Rather, they were part of the state-wide sweeping police patrolling of all major events. Increased security was in place simply due to the profile of the match, which drew a crowd of 18,896.
Despite the unprecedented measures, there was a reduced number of total number of police officers present at Wednesday night's game than some previous fixtures, which lead to a reduced security bill to be payed by the Wanderers. Club sources said the security checks in place may have been more stringent but involved less police manpower than previous games deemed high-risk.
