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NRL on track to open Perth stadium as first sporting match

Perth Red

Post Whore
Messages
65,420
IS rugby league raining on the AFL's parade by beating footy as the winter sport opener at Perth Stadium next year? Or is it fair game? Two of our writers go head-to-head on the issue.

THE CASE FOR FOOTY - by Simon White

FOR years the NRL has been given free kicks by the AFL.

Its season starts earlier. It’s had Good Friday games for a decade. It doesn’t insert a ridiculous bye weekend before its finals start.

But the fact an NRL double-header is going to precede the AFL in being played at the new Perth Stadium is the most laughable of these instances yet.

This is not a knock on the NRL. Good on them for making a bold in-roads into the western side of the country and stealing a march on their code rivals. The AFL isn’t to blame here either.

But it’s an indictment on the state government and the bodies who will look after what happens and the stadium and when it happens.

Without footy – and by that I mean the AFL – there would be no case for the new stadium even existing. The Ashes would stay at the WACA and Ed Sheeran would be strumming his guitar at Perth Arena.

The economic facts are that the state will spend $2 billion-plus on a ground for the Eagles and Dockers to play on 22-plus weeks of the year, with anything else that can partly fill the joint just an added bonus.

Footy ought to be entitled to be the opening sporting act. Whether it’s the Dockers or the Eagles I don’t care. Preferably it would be both.

I’ve no doubt the NRL has offered up a sizeable financial inducement to beat footy onto the park. To accept that cash might not quite be selling your soul – but it is selling out your number one tenant.

Right now the stadium is a big, big spend for a financially constrained state. But in the fullness of time it will pay for itself.

To sell its unveiling as what might be the best sporting venue in the country is a cheap act that will take away from what should be grand opening.

THE CASE FOR OTHER SPORTS - by Chris Robinson
PATIENCE is a virtue.

Few sporting fans in this country know this better than the WA footy public, who have been patient for a long time. For all the Subiaco Oval highlights and memories we’ve seen in the past few weeks, the decaying stadium has long tested the mettle of patrons with its uncomfortable bench seating, long queues and sub-par toilets.

The wait to move into the shiny new Perth Stadium digs comes to an end next March, with the AFL confirming March 22 as the first date in the season’s opening round.

So what difference does it make if footy has to ‘wait’ a couple of weeks after rugby league to get a crack at playing on the new turf?


The NRL’s planned double-header for March 10 makes no difference to the AFL opener. And it won’t even be the first major event at the stadium.

Music megastar Ed Sheeran and potentially a cricket one-dayer will already have come and gone by the time the winter sports check in.

The idea of having Perth Stadium lay dormant for weeks just so AFL can have the privilege of ‘opening’ it makes no sense. It’s similar logic applied by people who have visited a work-in-progress Elizabeth Quay and complain there’s not much down there. Should it have stayed closed for another few years until every last high-rise building is in place?

Sure, in an ideal world, Perth Stadium would have been timed to open with an AFL blockbuster, seeing it’s the biggest game in town. But if it’s ready to go before then, why not make the most of it?


http://www.perthnow.com.au/sport/de...8/news-story/4580ba74df3b20b3676867aae6c70985
 

Diesel

Coach
Messages
19,919
I'd expect a lot of people will go, not to watch the footy but to check out the stadium. 40k is realistic
 
Messages
14,139
Sydney merkins will have the shits when Perth averages 20k plus next year. Then again two of the shit Sydney clubs that can't pull a crowd in Sydney will have their averages boosted massively.
 

Desert Qlder

First Grade
Messages
9,081
Todd Greenberg is trying to have this cancelled...you gotta fish where the fish are...it's not about dots on the map...right game, right ground.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Vee

insert.pause

First Grade
Messages
6,446
IS rugby league raining on the AFL's parade by beating footy as the winter sport opener at Perth Stadium next year? Or is it fair game? Two of our writers go head-to-head on the issue.

THE CASE FOR FOOTY - by Simon White

FOR years the NRL has been given free kicks by the AFL.

Its season starts earlier. It’s had Good Friday games for a decade. It doesn’t insert a ridiculous bye weekend before its finals start.

But the fact an NRL double-header is going to precede the AFL in being played at the new Perth Stadium is the most laughable of these instances yet.

This is not a knock on the NRL. Good on them for making a bold in-roads into the western side of the country and stealing a march on their code rivals. The AFL isn’t to blame here either.

But it’s an indictment on the state government and the bodies who will look after what happens and the stadium and when it happens.

Without footy – and by that I mean the AFL – there would be no case for the new stadium even existing. The Ashes would stay at the WACA and Ed Sheeran would be strumming his guitar at Perth Arena.

The economic facts are that the state will spend $2 billion-plus on a ground for the Eagles and Dockers to play on 22-plus weeks of the year, with anything else that can partly fill the joint just an added bonus.

Footy ought to be entitled to be the opening sporting act. Whether it’s the Dockers or the Eagles I don’t care. Preferably it would be both.

I’ve no doubt the NRL has offered up a sizeable financial inducement to beat footy onto the park. To accept that cash might not quite be selling your soul – but it is selling out your number one tenant.

Right now the stadium is a big, big spend for a financially constrained state. But in the fullness of time it will pay for itself.

To sell its unveiling as what might be the best sporting venue in the country is a cheap act that will take away from what should be grand opening.

THE CASE FOR OTHER SPORTS - by Chris Robinson
PATIENCE is a virtue.

Few sporting fans in this country know this better than the WA footy public, who have been patient for a long time. For all the Subiaco Oval highlights and memories we’ve seen in the past few weeks, the decaying stadium has long tested the mettle of patrons with its uncomfortable bench seating, long queues and sub-par toilets.

The wait to move into the shiny new Perth Stadium digs comes to an end next March, with the AFL confirming March 22 as the first date in the season’s opening round.

So what difference does it make if footy has to ‘wait’ a couple of weeks after rugby league to get a crack at playing on the new turf?


The NRL’s planned double-header for March 10 makes no difference to the AFL opener. And it won’t even be the first major event at the stadium.

Music megastar Ed Sheeran and potentially a cricket one-dayer will already have come and gone by the time the winter sports check in.

The idea of having Perth Stadium lay dormant for weeks just so AFL can have the privilege of ‘opening’ it makes no sense. It’s similar logic applied by people who have visited a work-in-progress Elizabeth Quay and complain there’s not much down there. Should it have stayed closed for another few years until every last high-rise building is in place?

Sure, in an ideal world, Perth Stadium would have been timed to open with an AFL blockbuster, seeing it’s the biggest game in town. But if it’s ready to go before then, why not make the most of it?


http://www.perthnow.com.au/sport/de...8/news-story/4580ba74df3b20b3676867aae6c70985
They seriously think the NRL is paying for the privilege to be the first football code to play games there? Why would they? Pretty sure the WA government & WA tourism are behind it. They argue about the cost and then are surprised when they need more than 22 afl games a year to make it cost effective? Not very bright over there.
 

Vee

First Grade
Messages
5,080
Souths v warriors, Bulldogs v broncos or storm would be the best drawing games and 40k would be a good shot.
People will go for the event. Don't waste premium games on this. The Warriors can play Souths and the Tits can play the Dogs.
 

DC_fan

Coach
Messages
11,980

David Riccio, The Daily TelegraphAugust 28, 2017 9:00pm
Subscriber only
SOUTH Sydney and Canterbury will host a historic double-header at the new Perth stadium in round one of the 2018 season, sparking renewed debate in the prospect of the NRL expanding west.

In an undeniable win for the NRL over rival footy codes, the opening round double-header on March 10 of next season will be the first rectangular sport to compete at the soon-to-be completed 60,000-seat Perth stadium.

Upon completion early next year, the state of the art stadium will be the third-largest stadium in Australia, behind only the MCG and ANZ Stadium

Both the Rabbitohs and the Bulldogs will be the host NRL teams for the first Saturday of the 2018 season, with the NRL yet to confirm their opponents.

The selection of the Bulldogs to be part of the historic double-header means that high-profile recruits Aaron Woods and Kieran Foran’s first official match for the club will be in the west.

So too South Sydney’s outstanding signing of Dane Gagai, who will play his final match for Newcastle this Sunday.

NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg described confirmation of the double-header for fans both here and abroad, as “incredible.’’

“This will be a spectacular way to help kick off the new NRL season — a Saturday double-header at a brand new stadium in Perth,” Greenberg said.

“Fans will get two premiership matches in a blockbuster event at incredible value.

“I’d like to thank both the Government of Western Australia and Tourism WA for their strong desire to showcase rugby league on this stage, as well as the two clubs for embracing the concept.”

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...m/news-story/6b331fc09a3a03cc1008332ff9ce22d5

What a great way to start the new season. Should pack them in. The only downside could be the Stadium itself. Being oval shaped it is not Rugby League friendly for fans attending. With the possibility of sitting some distance from the action
 

Billythekid

First Grade
Messages
6,562
Big crowd for this double header. A few games at the World Cup this year. Followed up by a SOO and potentially the nines. All this after the force getting kicked out.

It's like the perfect storm of events leading up to a new team in Perth. I know the NRL keep talking it down but surely if it was going to happen the next 5 years or so would be the time. Hopefully they announce it a couple of years in advance so they can build up to it.
 

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