$45m to build ground for Greater Western Sydney
Peter Lalor From: The Australian May 18, 2010 12:00AM
THE division of NSW's AFL notional tribes will soon be complete, with the state government set to announce it will subsidise a redevelopment of the Sydney Showground, a move that will free the Swans from the code's commitment to the adjacent ANZ Stadium.
The Australian understands the AFL, the state government and the new Greater Western Sydney club will make an announcement next week.
Under the agreed terms, the government will put in an estimated $45 million to convert the showground into an AFL stadium for the GWS, which is due to enter the competition in 2012.
The showground is part of the Homebush Olympic precinct which also contains ANZ Stadium, but the two venues are run by separate bodies.
GWS and the AFL are reluctant to schedule anything but blockbuster matches at ANZ for fear the small crowds in an 81,000-seat venue will be bad publicity for the start-up club.
The new showground stadium will seat about 30,000 fans.
GWS will play nine matches at the showground and will take over the three matches the AFL is contractually obliged to play at ANZ Stadium as part of the arrangement that effectively divides Sydney in two.
The Swans have played three games a year at ANZ as part of the deal, but this has never sat well with its eastern suburbs members, and the matches have struggled to attract fans.
The showground is 26km to the east of the GWS practice facilities at Blacktown Olympic Park, but still 20km west of the Swans' home base at the SCG.
It is understood the AFL is keen to tap into Sydney's Hills District, which is closer to ANZ than Bankstown and contains a demographic identified by the code as a potential fan base.
The AFL convinced Blacktown council and the state government to invest $30m on the practice facility for the GWS, which has only a 10,000-seat stadium and is unsuitable for games.
GWS chief executive Dale Holmes has promised an announcement on a home ground before the end of the year. The AFL has dealt with three NSW premiers in trying to have the showground converted into a base for its western Sydney push.
The project appeared to suffer a terminal blow in November when then-premier Nathan Rees announced he was abandoning plans to inject money into the redevelopment.
"We're not about to give that sort of money to the AFL for a stadium next to an existing stadium," he said.
"I'd much rather spend the money on hospitals and schools."
Rees buckled after a campaign by the Daily Telegraph and rugby league fans against taxpayer money being spent on a "foreign" code.
The AFL has boasted it has a $200m war chest to support the GWS project, which is in rugby league heartland.
League bosses have rallied against any state government investment in a rival code.
