Sea Eagles to Gosford

[Perth Red]

The reason I pointed it out is that the neglect of those grounds is not something that has occurred for like 4-5 years, but for the last 30+ years. Some of the councils spent $0 on their upkeep and expected the State and/or Federal Government to do it for them. The councils instead used the money that should have been spent on maintenance/upgrades on other things.

Now, the need for upgrades are so urgent, and so big, it is such a big upfront cost that many councils can't afford it in one hit.

Is it really a local councils responsibility to fund stadiums for professional sports teams turning over millions of $'s a year revenue? I don't see them building shopping malls for Westfield to use. Funding stadiums should be a combination of state govt (fed govt if it is the cities main stadium) the club and the governing body. Councils can be involved in building community facilities within stadiums that benefit the wider community which is their remit.

 

[docbrown]

Ok, I was thinking more along the lines of the capital cites, Melbourne is just so much bigger than Brisbane at the moment that I cant see it happening but as a state I could see Queensland overtaking Victoria due to It's sheer size.

No worries.

GWS exist because the AFL have got next to nowhere else to expand. Victoria? Over-saturated. Tassie/NT/SA? Small stagnant markets. WA? Would cannibalise the existing teams. Regional NSW/QLD? Big risk. Overseas? Pipedream.

GWS is a gamble. Western Sydney is rugby league and soccer heartland and remains so after 30 years of the Swans. The pecking order is unlikely to change.

Meanwhile that status still exists despite the NRL repeatedly failing to capitalise on the game's popularity there. Rugby league in Western Sydney is nowhere near optimal performance. It's a similar story elsewhere in NSW & QLD.

That's why teams like the Panthers, Sea Eagles and expansion sides like South-West Brisbane & Central Coast have potential.

So yes I understand what you mean about Melbourne but let's wait till the Storm reach their peak before we make a GWS type gamble.

Cronulla development is not going to give them the $100mill plus they need to build two decent main stands in the next 5-10 years

They need to do it in that time frame for that specific cost according to... Perth Red? :lol:

How many times do you have to be told? The NSW government policy isn't about what's best for rugby league or for sport in general, it's about the government covering theirs asses because they've f**ked up. That's no basis for any kind of decent policy. Hell what does get funded is due in no small part to outright cronyism. After their last handout which largely benefited the corporates now the SCG trust are lobbying for a $100 million underground indoor cricket centre and olympic swimming pool. Maybe if the money was being spent WISELY you might have a point but it's not. Hopefully some of this will come out at ICAC.

It's about time we start spending money on what the public needs, not what stadium trusts/board executives want.