Lee Stensness: A Ballymore hoodoo or a Brisbane bogey?

Until this season the Queensland Reds held two notable records in Super rugby, namely having never lost at home to either the Blues or their interstate rivals the NSW Waratahs.

Of these two phenomena, one is perhaps easier to explain than the other - the Waratahs' failure, until this season, to win in Brisbane. The Reds want to win the game against the Waratahs more than any other fixture, possibly even more than the final, as there is a strong historical rivalry in all sports between the two states. On a personal level, it gives players bragging rights for the year, especially within the Wallaby camp.

Mental factors such as sheer Queensland passion, pride, determination and commitment were enough to see the Reds win four of five, with one draw, over often supposedly superior NSW teams. Even this year's Reds almost held on against a Waratahs side that is clearly superior on paper and will end up far higher on the table.

As for the Blues, why has Brisbane been such a graveyard? Having played there a few times for the Blues, unsuccessfully obviously, I can say the humidity has been a major factor in our lack of success. Sure, the quality of the opposition has something to do with it, especially in the early days of Super 12 when Queensland had players like John Eales, Tim Horan and Ben Tune, but even when the Reds have not been as strong they still manage to beat the Blues.

The humidity of Brisbane seems to affect the Blues more than other factors at other grounds such as altitude or cowbells. This humidity, coupled with heat, makes the players fatigue more quickly and renders the ball like a cake of soap. The slipperiness of the ball in those conditions is a real factor.

Last weekend the primary reason the Reds stayed with the Crusaders for as long as they did was the high number of handling errors made by the Crusaders. Humidity and sweat make the rugby ball more difficult to grip and handle than rain does. For many years Ballymore had very small changing rooms with little ventilation - it was like you were physically drained before the game even started, such was the heat.

In 1998, the hoodoo manifested itself before we even got to Ballymore. The brakes on the team bus failed and the bus pushed into the back of a car, which pushed into another which in turn pushed into another. Fortunately no one was hurt, especially as people had been walking in between the traffic to cross the road to get to the ground. But it forced us to get off the bus, grab our gear and walk the final kilometre or so to the ground, not the ideal build-up.

We lost. In 1996 we lost 51-13, four weeks before the semifinals, a result I still scratch my head about.

I did think the Blues' record there was simply a Ballymore hoodoo and not a Brisbane bogey. Now we know.

-HERALD ON SUNDAY