David Gallop: State of the Game address

[League Freak™]

Dont get me wrong.....I dont want to see everyone playing at Telstra. I want to see places like Sharks Park and Penrith upgraded so they can have bring crowds without any problems.

But as you say...its can be a nightmare trying to get food or go to the toilets at some of these places.

Thats the next big step for the game in my opinion. Upgrading facilities. I think the days of grassy hills are gone. Now people want a seat, not a wet ar$e.

They want to be able to get to the toilets and not have to head off five minutes before halftime so they are near the front of the like.

When you compare some League stadiums to other sporting facilities that gets used very rarely.....you have to wonder what the state government has been doing over the last 20 years.

 

[legend]

The extraordinary growth of the game does present many new challenges (instead of problems) including the upgrade of many stadiums and grounds to cater for the growing number of fans flocking to the game.

Parra Stadium would be my first cab off the rank then Toyota Park, Campbelltown and Penrith. I believe many teams will start taking games to Telstra Stadium for their blockbusters as their home grounds will be obsolete (most already are) and will need to cater for crowds in excess of 25-30k on a regualr basis.

IMO, we will see one game a week at Telstra Stadium within five years.

 

[League Freak™]

The next upgrade to Parramatta Stadium as far as seating goes should hopefully turn it into a GREAT stadium for League.

If they put stands ontop of the North and South ends...I think it would do a great deal for the atmosphere fo the ground.


Another thing that needs looked at for most grounds is parking.

 

[The_Coach]

Dont get me wrong.....I dont want to see everyone playing at Telstra. I want to see places like Sharks Park and Penrith upgraded so they can have bring crowds without any problems.

But as you say...its can be a nightmare trying to get food or go to the toilets at some of these places.

Thats the next big step for the game in my opinion. Upgrading facilities. I think the days of grassy hills are gone. Now people want a seat, not a wet ar$e.

They want to be able to get to the toilets and not have to head off five minutes before halftime so they are near the front of the like.

When you compare some League stadiums to other sporting facilities that gets used very rarely.....you have to wonder what the state government has been doing over the last 20 years.

Exactly right.

The Telstra Dome is the best when it comes to facilities. It has the best design for a stadium i've ever seen.

 

[legend]

The AFL has reached critical mass IMO and have little to no room for further expansion whereas the NRL still has plenty of work to do in VIC, SA and WA before it reaches the same level. The NRL need to set aside a significant budget for WA and SA and perservere with a long term goal of having at least one NRL side playing out of Adelaide and Perth within ten years.

AFL will always be around but requires rationalisation in Melbourne but IMO, Union is the game on the slide and have lost significant ground since the 2003 World Cup and League is in a much stronger position today than it was in 2003.

 

[legend]

Agree with your points nospam49 and I'd love to see Parra Stadium with a 30k capacity with an underground carpark in what will become the second CBD over the next 20 years. Fitzy is working hard at upgrading the ends and said it will cost around ten million to get Parra Stadium upgraded to 25k and even then I think it will be a short term solution to a long term problem especially if the Eels enjoy a prolonged period of success.

Having said that, it's a nice problem to have.

 

[League Freak™]

Llegend....a couple of terrific points.

Where does the AFL go from here? Say they add a second Brisbane and Sydney club...then what? Its pretty limited.

As for union, I read a quote on another web site that say: "Can you imagine union having a better decade then it just had? Can you imagine League having a worse decade then it just had? Even so, union has fail to crack the main stream of Australian sport despite the best possible leg up it could ever have hoped for".

Thats says it all for me.



I was just reading an article that said fans of a Telegraph survey didnt like Telstra Stadium to much. I think the future for Telstra is to get more seating closer to the sideline. Maybe they can look at having sideline seating inset into the stadium floor and have a drop in playing surface around the egdes for AFL.

 

[Green Machine]

Agree with your points nospam49 and I'd love to see Parra Stadium with a 30k capacity with an underground carpark in what will become the second CBD over the next 20 years. Fitzy is working hard at upgrading the ends and said it will cost around ten million to get Parra Stadium upgraded to 25k and even then I think it will be a short term solution to a long term problem especially if the Eels enjoy a prolonged period of success.

Having said that, it's a nice problem to have.

How much money will Fitzy thrown in, or will it be the usual thing of state and federal governments providing the funding for upgrades at Parramatta Stadium,

 

[League Freak™]

If history has taught me anything its that sporting teams HATE throwing their own money into stadiums and they will do ANYTHING to get the government to pay up.

I think in the case of Parramatta....the fact that Sydney is heading west will help them alot.

 

[Green Machine]

I think Parramatta would be last on a Government (State or Federal) priority list for stadium improvements in Sydney. Considering, the stadium is currently all seater with grandstands on each side,

 

[legend]

The Eels don't own the Stadium, only the lease so why would a tenant fork out for an upgrade? IMO, it's in the best interest of the SCG Trust (the owner) to upgrade the stadium then up the rent to the Eels which they'd be more than jappy to pay if they had better facilities.

Parra Stadium is now 20 years old and has reduced in crowd capacity so they are due an upgrade IMO as I believe it's the best suburban ground by far.

 

[League Freak™]

On the Panthers forum I got bagged because apparently Penrith's Football Stadium is better the Parra's. :roll:

 

[Green Machine]

Llegend....a couple of terrific points.

Where does the AFL go from here? Say they add a second Brisbane and Sydney club...then what? Its pretty limited.

Blacktown Olympic Park is the number spot the AFL is aiming at.

As for union, I read a quote on another web site that say: "Can you imagine union having a better decade then it just had? Can you imagine League having a worse decade then it just had? Even so, union has fail to crack the main stream of Australian sport despite the best possible leg up it could ever have hoped for".

Thats says it all for me.



I was just reading an article that said fans of a Telegraph survey didnt like Telstra Stadium to much. I think the future for Telstra is to get more seating closer to the sideline. Maybe they can look at having sideline seating inset into the stadium floor and have a drop in playing surface around the egdes for AFL.

Nothing can be done to improve Telstra Stadium for League, Soccer or Union. Once Bob Carr fell in love with the Swans, and allowed them in the door of Telstra Stadium, the stadium configuration was ruined for ever. The bottom tier seats on level 1 & 2 are retractable on the sidelines. So, they come in and out. The big problem for these seats is they are not sloped back enough, causing poor viewing compared to Parramatta or Aussie Stadium. Telstra Stadium’s biggest problems are the distance of seats on level 4 & 6 from the playing field. This can not be fixed. Level 6 are nose bleed seats and you might as well stay home and watch the game on TV if you have tickets in this section. Telstra Stadium should have been built in stages (temporary stands on one side) like City of Manchester Stadium for the last Commonwealth Games or the Atlanta Stadium for the 1992 Olympic Games that was converted to purpose built Baseball Stadium

 

[Cockadoodledoo]

Attributing the closeness of the competition to the salary cap is stretching it a bit though. I'd say that injuries have played a much bigger part.

and the referee's..

 

[Cockadoodledoo]

dreaming. As long as melbourne exists so will AFL
AFL is massive down there.....they even have their own channel!

So true..

 

[Green Machine]

The Eels don't own the Stadium, only the lease so why would a tenant fork out for an upgrade? IMO, it's in the best interest of the SCG Trust (the owner) to upgrade the stadium then up the rent to the Eels which they'd be more than jappy to pay if they had better facilities.

Parra Stadium is now 20 years old and has reduced in crowd capacity so they are due an upgrade IMO as I believe it's the best suburban ground by far.

Considering the State Government provided the funding to concrete the ends and install plastic seats last year, it is not that long ago that Parramatta Stadium got an upgrade. If Dennis offered the government $10m for a new upper tier at one end, I don’t think they would knock him back. The other problem for Parramatta stadium to get more funding is they are now the only tenet. Even 20 years on, Parramatta is still the best Rugby League ground in Sydney and a lot more worse of grounds in Sydney

 

[League Freak™]

As someone that lives a stones throw from Blacktown I can tell you.....it will take 50 years for the AFL to have an impact of any kind out here.

Still, they are trying.

 

[Everlovin' Antichrist]

AFL in Western Sydney?

May as well pour money into the black hole of Calcutta.

 

[Green Machine]

As someone that lives a stones throw from Blacktown I can tell you.....it will take 50 years for the AFL to have an impact of any kind out here.

Still, they are trying.

I don’t think that will stop them (whether it is successful or not). The AFL is banking on population shift from the Southern States to NSW and Sydney in particular. The State Government are going to build them a stadium inside BOP. Western Sydney is a growth market that the AFL has identified that they need to be in. They are going to keep coming,

 

[Everlovin' Antichrist]

If AFL are truly targetting Western Sydney, they are in massive strife.

The interest in AFL is so close to zero here it's laughable. Notwithstanding that, the Swans average 15k per week, do they think those 30k people will go to one game a fortnight to see someone other than the Swans?

Swans games ratings are sh*t, and non-Swans games get rolled by test patterns, so how can they think there's enough interest to fill a stadium once a fortnight in what is quite possibly the nadir for AFL interest in the whole country?

They are obviously desperate and know that they have nowhere else to go whilst being stuck with 3 or 4 Melbourne Clubs who spend 1/2 their existence surviving on handouts. I think it's their intention to move the Western Bulldogs to Western Sydney and they'll just have to do it and pump millions into advertising just to get a 5 figure crowd regularly.

Putting an NRL side on the Gold Coast screwed them.

Good.