End nears for suburban NRL grounds

[smithie]

End nears for suburban NRL grounds

STRUGGLING NRL clubs have been dealt a severe blow by the State Government today with the release of a stadium strategy that rules out upgrades of traditional old suburban grounds.

STRUGGLING NRL clubs have been dealt a severe blow by the State Government today with the release of a stadium strategy that rules out upgrades of traditional old suburban grounds.

Instead Sports Minister Graham Annesley has announced money will be spent to upgrade facilities at Sydney’s major stadiums and government-run venues like Hunter Stadium and Parramatta Stadium.

The government is adopting a similar policy to their Victorian counterparts to enable the state to compete with Melbourne for major events.

Melbourne based AFL clubs gave up their home grounds years ago to use the MCG or Etihad Stadium. The A-League and the NRL use AAMI.

Hopes of upgrading Brookvale Oval, Leichhardt Oval, Penrith or Cronulla – the venues most in need of a cash injection – have been dashed.

"There’s no point spending money on having seven or eight 30,000-seat stadiums across the suburbs," said a government source.

Rather than rebuild the suburban venues, the government is more open to plans to put a roof over ANZ Stadium or Allianz Stadium.

ANZ Stadium comes back under the control of the government in 2032 when the current lease expires.

Manly, in particular, have been lobbying the state and federal governments for years to fund an upgrade of Brookvale Oval.
The government will also announce an agreement with the Parramatta Eels to play another five seasons at Parramatta Stadium.

Annesley will meet with the NRL clubs, other codes, and stadium officials today to reveal the strategy.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...rban-nrl-grounds/story-e6frexnr-1226524122584

 

[KiamaSaint]

Cue the "relocate sharks/sea eagles", "merge panthers/eels" posts.

 

[carcharias]

why is cronulla mentioned?

for starters the southern stand is finished and a massive f**k off development approved...with 10 mil wiped from the debt last friday.

 

[IanG]

why is cronulla mentioned?

for starters the southern stand is finished and a massive f**k off development approved...with 10 mil wiped from the debt last friday.

That's what I wanna know too. It's my understanding that Cronulla are the only club in the NRL that own their ground

 

[WayneBennett]

Its cause Cronulla arent very good at anything

 

[betcats]

Its cause Cronulla arent very good at anything

lol qft.

 

[BunniesMan]

I said it for months. Souths and Dogs and to a lesser extent the Tigers have led the way. This is the way of the future. 10 years from now every Sydney team except maybe Parra will be playing from a major Sydney stadium.

So many suburban stadiums are just an inefficent use of resources.

 

[Fire]

I said it for months. Souths and Dogs and to a lesser extent the Tigers have led the way. This is the way of the future. 10 years from now every Sydney team except maybe Parra will be playing from a major Sydney stadium.

So many suburban stadiums are just an inefficent use of resources.

lol, shut up dickhead.

 

[Chicken_Hunter]

Good. Suburban grounds are a blight on the game and make us look amateur on the world stage. A professional sport should use state of the art stadiums, not run down ugly pieces of dog turd.

 

[Silent Knight]

I like the idea of constructing roofs over our major stadiums. A lot more casual fans (especially families) would consider going to the game if they could be guaranteed a comfortable seat without being subject to the elements in the middle of winter.

3 steps towards getting better crowds: (1) A roof over the stadium, (2) cheap and reliable public transport and (3) affordable club membership packages.

 

[Diesel]

Say in 10 years time the non-owned Govt grounds are not upto NRL standard we could be looking at relocations.

So the Sharks sold the area around their home ground for a massive development and now if they want to stay there they have to pay for it out of their own money?

Penrith IMO are the only Sydney team that should have their stadium, similar to Geelong.

I guess the Dragons will have to decide what to do with WIN Stadium, either move there permanently and play blockbusters in Sydney?

 

[BranVan3000]

Good. Suburban grounds are a blight on the game and make us look amateur on the world stage. A professional sport should use state of the art stadiums, not run down ugly pieces of dog turd.

Yeah 10k people in an 80k stadium for a Manly game will make us look real professional

 

[Diesel]

Yeah 10k people in an 80k stadium for a Manly game will make us look real professional

With the 5 year strategy in place to increase crowds, entry will be more price friendly so teams playing infront of 10K will be a thing of the past

 

[carcharias]

I wouldn't go to home bush to watch my team play... f**k that.

Rugby league is not soccer in Europe BTW.

 

[Panfas]

I agree with this, to a certain point. It is almost not plausable to ask the likes of Penrith to move their games to homebush. It is simply too far for the travel, when you consider most of our fans come from west of Ropes creek (Penrith, Hawkesbury, Blue Mtns etc). We even have fans travelling from Lithgow to every home game. We should be considered a regional club, not a Sydney club (yes, same as Geelong as mentioned earlier). Anything more than 50kms from the city centre should not be considered part of the city, in this regard.

And just for comparison (taken from Google Maps)
Geelong > Melbourne CBD - 76.5 km, 1 hour 2 mins
Penrith > Sydney CBD - 57.4 km, 50 mins
Wollongong > Sydney CBD - 86.6 km, 1 hour 20 mins
Campbelltown > Sydney CBD - 57.6 km, 48 mins

The Tigpies could also be considered a regional club IF they base themselves out of Campbelltown full time. Otherwise it is ANZ/Allianz for them.

The venues in Sydney should include
Allianz Stadium
ANZ Stadium
Parramatta Stadium

The regional venues in NSW to include
WIN Stadium Wollongong - Catering for the south coast
Hunter Stadium - Catering for the Hunter/Lake Mac
Centrebet Stadium - Catering the Nepean/Hawkesbury/Blue Mtns
Central Coast Stadium - Catering for the Central Coast
Campbelltown Stadium (potential) - Catering south west (C'town, Picton etc)

 

[BunniesMan]

No. Penrith is Sydney. Campbelltown is Sydney. It's all f**ken Sydney. The state government is cutting services like hospitals and police and other things. Do you really think they'll spend money on overlapping services in multiple stadiums that are just suburbs from each other?

Every game will be played from 3 Sydney stadiums 10 years from now. People will get used to it and we'll all move on.

 

[gUt]

Good. Suburban grounds are a blight on the game and make us look amateur on the world stage. A professional sport should use state of the art stadiums, not run down ugly pieces of dog turd.

At least those grounds were usually full. Tens of thousands of empty seats is the worst look of all.

 

[Yosemite Sam]

Every game will be played from 3 Sydney stadiums 10 years from now. People will get used to it and we'll all move on.

No they won't. While all Sydney clashes may well end up at the larger stadiums, suburban grounds should still be kept for matches against interstate teams. The way the Tigers use their stadiums at the moment will probably be the model for other clubs.

Anyway, doesn't Cronulla's development include an upgrade of their stadium? If so they will be fine to stay put. The only real problem is Manly and Brookvale oval.

 

[Dragon_Taylor6]

Say in 10 years time the non-owned Govt grounds are not upto NRL standard we could be looking at relocations.

So the Sharks sold the area around their home ground for a massive development and now if they want to stay there they have to pay for it out of their own money?

Penrith IMO are the only Sydney team that should have their stadium, similar to Geelong.

I guess the Dragons will have to decide what to do with WIN Stadium, either move there permanently and play blockbusters in Sydney?

The problem with this is that the Dragons get bigger crowds in Sydney. So I can't see them playing all games at the Gong.

 

[Fire]

No. Penrith is Sydney. Campbelltown is Sydney. It's all f**ken Sydney. The state government is cutting services like hospitals and police and other things. Do you really think they'll spend money on overlapping services in multiple stadiums that are just suburbs from each other?

Every game will be played from 3 Sydney stadiums 10 years from now. People will get used to it and we'll all move on.

You're a f**king genius lol