What's new
The Front Row Forums

Register a free account today to become a member of the world's largest Rugby League discussion forum! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

The Game Future NRL Stadiums part II

Colk

First Grade
Messages
6,488
They also didn't have the financial backing to achieve their goals. They totally underestimated how expensive it'd be to set up a club from scratch, totally overestimated take up in support and how much interest there'd be in their products, and were asking the NSWRL for loans before they'd even played their first game.

The truth of the matter is that they weren't in a position to support a team and shouldn't have been allowed anywhere near a license, and the NSWRL must have know that but gave it to them anyway. We can only speculate as to why it was allowed to happen, but they were set up to fail and they weren't the only expansion club that was in that boat at the time. It's the major reason why those clubs were falling over themselves to join SL despite having only just joined the NSWRL/ARL.

Chuck in Super League and the other issues of the time on top of that and you've got a complete clusterf**k. It's something of a miracle that any of the expansion clubs of the 80s and 90s survived that period, and most of the ones that did did so through good fortune more so than good management.

You could say that about every club to be fair. The competition had 11 Sydney clubs and it’s surprising that there was 9 remaining left standing after the war.
 

The Great Dane

First Grade
Messages
7,855
Even if you were to take out his specific examples most clubs don’t come from a second tier competition and are essentially by his definition a “plastic club”. Most of them are a success.
The whole concept of "plastic" is just braindead elitism. Every team could be considered plastic until it gets some history behind it and the only way that can happen is to give them time to build that history.

Furthermore some of the oldest and most storied clubs have some of the largest "plastic" support bases in the world. The Lakers are a classic example of a team that has an absolutely massive group of poseur glory chasers across the world, most of whom treat the club more as a fashion brand than a basketball team. Now compare that to the Clippers fan-base. . . Sure it's smaller, but there's no social cred in becoming a Clippers fan, so people generally don't unless they're genuinely passionate about the team.
 

Colk

First Grade
Messages
6,488
The whole concept of "plastic" is just braindead elitism. Every team could be considered plastic until it gets some history behind it and the only way that can happen is to give them time to build that history.

Furthermore some of the oldest and most storied clubs have some of the largest "plastic" support bases in the world. The Lakers are a classic example of a team that has an absolutely massive group of poseur glory chasers across the world, most of whom treat the club more as a fashion brand than a basketball team. Now compare that to the Clippers fan-base. . . Sure it's smaller, but there's no social cred in becoming a Clippers fan, so people generally don't unless they're genuinely passionate about the team.

Totally agree on the plastic comment. It is a construct to prevent any change or something new occurring to a sport. Therefore, they don’t have to be challenged or change with the times.

You could say the same type of supports permeates certain soccer clubs. A lot of those supporters wouldn’t understand any historical aspects of a club
 

The Great Dane

First Grade
Messages
7,855
You could say that about every club to be fair. The competition had 11 Sydney clubs and it’s surprising that there was 9 remaining left standing after the war.
Sure, to an extent.

When you look at it most of the Sydney clubs and basically all of the expansion clubs starting from the expansion in 82 (the Broncos being the only exception) were headed down a financial blackhole. Most of them would have required bailing out or would have gone bankrupt during the late 90s and early 00s had they, and the league, continued on the same trajectory and SL not happened.

The NSWRL/ARL didn't seem to have any viable strategy to address that problem other than leaning on LCs for larger grants or replicating the game of hot potato that the GC license had become where necessary. The teams that couldn't find a string of owners to prop them up simply would have died.
 

The Great Dane

First Grade
Messages
7,855
Totally agree on the plastic comment. It is a construct to prevent any change or something new occurring to a sport. Therefore, they don’t have to be challenged or change with the times.

You could say the same type of supports permeates certain soccer clubs. A lot of those supporters wouldn’t understand any historical aspects of a club
Those sorts of people exist in every sport. I mean we all know plenty of e.g. Rabbitohs "fans" who have an old cap that they wear all the time and a sticker on their car, but don't watch the games, can only name the star players of the time, aren't a member, and haven't been to a game in years, if ever.

Not to mention the fact that you rarely saw Panthers merch outside of Western Sydney until a few years ago, then suddenly every bloke with a mullet from the Tweed down to Albury was donning a schmick new Panthers jersey, and you could have sworn that you saw half of them in either Storm or Roosters gear just few years earlier lol.

It's just the nature of the space we're in, it isn't worth worrying about it most of the time.
 
Last edited:

Colk

First Grade
Messages
6,488
Those sorts of people exist in every sport. I mean we all know plenty of e.g. Rabbitohs "fans" who have an old cap that they wear all the time and a sticker on their car, but don't watch the games, can only name the star players of the time, aren't a member, and haven't been to a game in years, if ever.

Not to mention the fact that you rarely saw Panthers merch outside of Western Sydney until a few years ago, then suddenly every bloke with a mullet from the Tweed down to Albury was donning a schmick new Panthers jersey, and you could have sworn that you saw half of them in either Storm or Roosters gear just few years earlier lol.

It's just the nature of the space we're in, it isn't worth worrying about it most of the time.

Don’t worry I am not worried about such trivialities; it is just something that I have just noticed and which makes such asinine descriptors as plastic clubs as even more well asinine for want of a better term
 

Iamback

Coach
Messages
17,514
I've always thought Wests tigers, Campbo council, Wests leagues campbo and Meriton should be able to come up with a development that's is beneficial to all parties. There's a lot of land around CSS.

Except the Tigers chose Concord over Campbelltown.

Ideally Campbelltown would of been the base
 

jim_57

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
4,374

Bukowski

Juniors
Messages
1,746
Except the Tigers chose Concord over Campbelltown.

Ideally Campbelltown would of been the base
Still hope for a stadium though. Richardson has indicated the south West will be the future. How anyone within the club hadn't realised this is amazing.
 

Iamback

Coach
Messages
17,514
Still hope for a stadium though. Richardson has indicated the south West will be the future. How anyone within the club hadn't realised this is amazing.

They'd have to go it alone if they did now

They got $16m to do minor upgrades for there

The Concord building cost $75m

$100m would of done wonders to Campbelltown
 

SpaceMonkey

Immortal
Messages
38,210
Still hope for a stadium though. Richardson has indicated the south West will be the future. How anyone within the club hadn't realised this is amazing.
I’ve said this before but the Tigers, Dogs, local council and the Western Sydney Airport Authority should get together to develop a stadium near the new airport with the aim of servicing both clubs and southwest Sydney. With an entire new city area being developed out there it’s a once in a generation opportunity to develop something that’s properly integrated with the newly developing area.
 

Suitman

Post Whore
Messages
55,086
I’ve said this before but the Tigers, Dogs, local council and the Western Sydney Airport Authority should get together to develop a stadium near the new airport with the aim of servicing both clubs and southwest Sydney. With an entire new city area being developed out there it’s a once in a generation opportunity to develop something that’s properly integrated with the newly developing area.
Not going to happen sorry.
It's too far from both clubs supporter bases.
 

SpaceMonkey

Immortal
Messages
38,210
Not going to happen sorry.
It's too far from both clubs supporter bases.
It’s 10-15km from both Campbelltown Liverpool and Penrith and all three areas are expanding in that direction. In the dogs case it’s closer than Homebush to many of their supporters.
 

Suitman

Post Whore
Messages
55,086
It’s 10-15km from both Campbelltown Liverpool and Penrith and all three areas are expanding in that direction. In the dogs case it’s closer than Homebush to many of their supporters.
Sorry mate, but it's currently in the middle of no where.
Until transport links are built and the area has a population, it's just fantasy to build a stadium there.
And to ask Tigers or Bulldogs to play at a stadium there anytime soon is just ridiculous.
20 - 30 years into the future? Maybe.
But not anytime soon.
That's just silly talk.
 

SpaceMonkey

Immortal
Messages
38,210
Sorry mate, but it's currently in the middle of no where.
Until transport links are built and the area has a population, it's just fantasy to build a stadium there.

transport links should 100% be part of the e deal. They’re going to be needed anyway and locating a stadium there would strengthen the case for them.

And to ask Tigers or Bulldogs to play at a stadium there anytime soon is just ridiculous.
20 - 30 years into the future? Maybe.
But not anytime soon.
That's just silly talk.
But those are the sort of timeframes major infrastructure needs to be planned for. And I think it’ll be closer to 10-15 than 20-30.
 

Suitman

Post Whore
Messages
55,086
transport links should 100% be part of the e deal. They’re going to be needed anyway and locating a stadium there would strengthen the case for them.


But those are the sort of timeframes major infrastructure needs to be planned for. And I think it’ll be closer to 10-15 than 20-30.
I agree that should be the case.
I just can't see it happening any time soon.
 
Top