End nears for suburban NRL grounds

[juro]

qft

Just wondering how many of BunniesMan's 15,000 posts have been 'qft'ed...

 

[WayneBennett]

Brisbane is in Sydney too

 

[magpie4ever]

Brisbane is in Sydney too

That's true, thats how the bananabenders select their SOO side: re: Inglis.

 

[ME SO HORNBY!]

Cityrail, thats how

M4 and M5 can be added to CityRail as well. Whether its rail or road, infrastructure in Sydney is a joke.

 

[The Elephant In The room]

I agree that the Sydney clubs should all move towards playing in the bigger stadiums but for me that model will only work if ?the SFS of the west? is built. There needs to be a 30,000-40,000 rectangle stadium in Western Sydney. Whether that is an upgraded Parramatta stadium or something new it needs to happen and would be a far better investment for the government than continuously giving handouts to the suburban grounds. It wouldn?t lack any tenants, Penrith and Parramatta would play there as well as Western Sydney Wanderers and you would probably get the odd Socceroos and Waratahs game there. Wests would also be a likely candidate to play there.

So under that model you would have the following:

ANZ Stadium ? Dogs and Souths
West Sydney ? Penrith, Parramatta and possibly Wests
SFS ? Roosters, Cronulla, Manly, Dragons (6 games)

Suburban grounds wouldn?t be completely abandoned, They could host 2-3 games a year against out of state teams.

Before the Govt would agree to rebuilding Parra Stadium into the ground we'd all like to have out in the west, they'd probably want some sort of concrete agreement in place from the Sydney clubs/NRL which would force them to play the majority of their games in the three major stadiums (ANZ/SFS/Parra). You've get agreement from Parra, maybe Penrith and West Tigers, but there's nothing in it for any of the other Sydney clubs that would be relocated so I can't see it happening. When we already have two big stadiums, a third won't be built unless its guaranteed to be used regulalry by more than one team.

 

[Big Sam]

I didn't hear any Souffs fans whinging when the government paid for an upgrade to their training ground

For a start the grant was minimal compared to what has been spent at Kogarah, WIN, and Hunter. And Redfern Oval is a public good. Unlike a lot of NRL stadiums, it is open to the public. You can go there now and play touch or whatever on it so long as the team is not training.

 

[smithie]

This was always going to happen and is the correct move. It simply isn't financially viable to fund all of these suburban grounds. It's time to decide whether the NRL is a national competition or not. Clubs that refuse to play at modern stadia must be relegated to the NSW Cup. This would help rise the profile of the NSW Cup and stop holding back the NRL at the same time. The NRL must go through some short-term pain for long-term gain, much like the AFL did in the past.



This is how the layout for Sydney should be by 2020:

• Sydney Football Stadium (Roosters: 12 games, Rabbitohs: 6 games, Dragons: 4 games, Northern Sydney-Central Coast team: 2 games)
• Homebush Stadium (Bulldogs: 12 games, Rabbitohs: 6 games, Tigers: 6 games)
• A new stadium at Blacktown. The same one proposed for the 2018/22 World Cup bid. (Eels: 12 games, Panthers: 12 games, Tigers: 6 games)
• Central Coast Stadium (Northern Sydney-Central Coast team: 10 games)
• Wollongong Showground (Dragons: 8 games)

Public transport must be included in the ticket price, just like in QLD.

 

[newman]

This is only really a problem for Manly. Brookvale is in a poor state and the money for upgrades keeps getting pulled from under them.


Shark Park since the upgrade to the southern stand is fine. Its not great at the Northern end, but in terms of facilities its fine. There are also some minor tweaks happening in the property development to further improve it.

Centrebet stadium gets a pass mark. Whats the problem with it?

Same story with Jubilee, but even then the Dragons have Wollongong to fall back on which looks pretty damn good since the renovation.

Tigers only play at Suburban grounds to keep their suburban fans happy. You get the feeling that they would play at Allianz full time if they got the right offer.

What to do with Manly then? Moving them to the SFS is not a solution and anyone who says "Send them to Perth" or whatever isnt thinking straight (hand all of the north of Sydney to the rah rah crowd?). Does the NRL pay for them to bring Brookie up to the level of Shark Park or Penrith or even Parra?

 

[magpie4ever]

This was always going to happen and is the correct move. It simply isn't financially viable to fund all of these suburban grounds. It's time to decide whether the NRL is a national competition or not. Clubs that refuse to play at modern stadia must be relegated to the NSW Cup. This would help rise the profile of the NSW Cup and stop holding back the NRL at the same time. The NRL must go through some short-term pain for long-term gain, much like the AFL did in the past.




This is how the layout for Sydney should be by 2020:

• Sydney Football Stadium (Roosters: 12 games, Rabbitohs: 6 games, Dragons: 4 games, Northern Sydney-Central Coast team: 2 games)
• Homebush Stadium (Bulldogs: 12 games, Rabbitohs: 6 games, Tigers: 6 games)
• A new stadium at Blacktown. The same one proposed for the 2018/22 World Cup bid. (Eels: 12 games, Panthers: 12 games, Tigers: 6 games)
• Central Coast Stadium (Northern Sydney-Central Coast team: 10 games)
• Wollongong Showground (Dragons: 8 games)

Public transport must be included in the ticket price, just like in QLD.

What happened to Cronulla?

 

[carcharias]

Why on earth would people go to watch their team
play home games at a stadium that holds no historical significance what so ever?

Soulless half empty stadium that are a mission to get to
will lose supporters if anything.

The whole idea is absurd.

Rugby league is at its best played to a packed crowd
in a suburban ground.

 

[Pete Cash]

hahaha BM shows his ignorance about Sydney again. Maybe pop down here for a bunnies home game once and awhile and grow a clue about the real situation that faces the city.

Sydney is not Melbourne. We cannot just ape the set up they have down there. The city is vastly bigger, is denser, has appalling public transportation options outside of the CBD (where BM is seemingly expecting people to travel)

Build an option out in the West and we will talk. Until that time stop showing your ignorance of a city you have only ever pretended to live in.

 

[The Elephant In The room]

Why on earth would people go to watch their team
play home games at a stadium that holds no historical significance what so ever?

Soulless half empty stadium that are a mission to get to
will lose supporters if anything.

The whole idea is absurd.

Rugby league is at its best played to a packed crowd
in a suburban ground.

The Doggies/Bunnies haven't had a problem with crowd numbers since their move.

Sharks, Penrith and Manly are the only teams where is doesn't make sense to play in one of the 2 big grounds in Sydney and the Sharks own their own ground, so they can suit themselves.

As much as I hate them, its a shame (from an NRL perspective) that the money that was pumped into Kogarah, Belmore and Redfern oval wasn't spent at Brookie because its the worst ground in the comp and from all logistical points of view, it makes the least sense for them to move to a big stadium.

 

[Pete Cash]

You mean the bulldogs who are traditionally based in the inner west have not had problems with their crowds since they moved to a stadium in the inner west.

 

[betcats]

I can see at some point in the future this will have to happen, but I dont think we are there yet. IMO crowd figures should drive this move. My team averaged like 13k last season, if that was 18-19k average then I wouldnt mind moving games to bigger stadiums.

 

[BunniesMan]

Souths and Dogs had the 2 highest Sydney crowds this year.

Proof the central stadium model works. It should lay the groundwork for more clubs to make the move.

 

[firechild]

I can see at some point in the future this will have to happen, but I dont think we are there yet. IMO crowd figures should drive this move. My team averaged like 13k last season, if that was 18-19k average then I wouldnt mind moving games to bigger stadiums.

The other issue is if you're averaging 13k when people don't have to travel far from home, you'll probably get less rather than more in larger stadiums and that means there is even less sense in moving these games.

 

[firechild]

Souths and Dogs had the 2 highest Sydney crowds this year.

Proof the central stadium model works. It should lay the groundwork for more clubs to make the move.

The Dogs are still playing in their home area, using them to bolster a feeble argument is just stupid. For many of their fans getting to ANZ is no easier or more difficult than getting to Belmore. In the opposite end of the scale, the Roosters play in a large stadium close to their home area, does that mean the large stadium model doesn't work?

 

[LineBall]

It's not just Manly. It's all the teams from outskirt clubs (Manly, Wests, Penrith and the Dragons). I didn't hear any Souffs fans whinging when the government paid for an upgrade to their training ground but as soon as someone mentions an upgrade of a ground actually used for NRL games the toothless rabble start with the "what about the hospitals?" lines.

I'm no Manly fan, but how the hell would Manly survive, playing all of their games at Allianz or ANZ. In a perfect world it would be great to have a large purpose built stadium north of the harbour. Bring back the bears and let both teams play out of it.

 

[carcharias]

What could possibly make me want to drive further in more traffic and pay more in a place I don't want be?

Foxtel would be the big winner.


If the sharks moved to a big stadium I would never go.
Watching from a home ground is a large part of the reason I follow them.
It is all part of the experience.
I have grown up watching them play there.
They move they may as well change their name.
Shithouse idea.
I would expect most fans would be dead against losing the home ground.

 

[Pete Cash]

Yes the dogs is an absurdly poor team to use as an example. As they are still playing in their traditional area. Of course BM probably doesn't know that as he is pretty confused about the situation that faces Sydney. Just compare the actual size of the city with Melbourne. Compare the density.

Campbelltown has two train lines that go into the city. The South Line goes directly to Lidcombe so its just a long and annoying train trip. So imagine that with the kiddies on a friday night. Thats going to be good for the game innit.