Popular Culture
In the 1980s Brisbane rugby league icon Wally Lewis became known as The Emperor of Lang Park after his performances in State of Origin matches played at the ground. Brisbane-based beer XXXX, which is brewed at the nearby Castlemaine Brewery, ran a television advertisement celebrating this title in song.
- Here's to Wally Lewis for lacing on a boot
- Sometimes he plays it rugged, sometimes he plays it cute
- He slices through a backline like a Stradbroke Island shark
- There's glue on all his fingers, he's the Emperor of Lang Park
There are bronze statues of Wally Lewis and Darren Lockyer erected outside the stadium. Another statue is also planned to commemorate the legendary Arthur Beetson.
The stadium has been nicknamed Fortress Suncorp for the Wallabies due to their impressive record at the redeveloped venue.
It is also known colloquially in rugby league circles as "the Cauldron", especially by visiting teams. This is due to how difficult it is for visiting teams to escape with a win under their belt, and the fact that when large crowds are present verbal communication is almost non-existent between players as their voices are inevitably lost beneath the roar of the crowd. This is also due to Suncorp Stadiums perfect rectangular stadium design, where patrons are almost sitting on top of the players: the roar has been indicated to develop a noise higher than the Melbourne Cricket Ground and ANZ Stadium many high class players have also indicated the atmosphere value of Suncorp Stadium.
In 2006, Queensland Minister for Sport, Tom Barton introduced the Stadium'd Sports Media Hall of Fame which honours honours the achievements of media representatives who have covered the two major football codes (Rugby League and Rugby Union) played at this historic ground over the past 40 years. So far there are three inductees: rugby league commentator George Lovejoy, rugby league journalist Jack Reardon and Frank O'Callaghan.
Read more about this topic: Lang Park
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