A couple of sketches put together in 10 minutes by Cox and Partners.
What a joke.
Just dump the place from the NRL altogether.
Massive increase in crowds this season has been due to the great game itself but also the better stadiums that the game is being played at more often.
While we are at it, dump Brookvale as well. That is as bad as Leichhardt.
Two horribly embarrassing grounds for the NRL.
As for Shark Park, I am speechless. It's barely good enough for NSW Cup.
I just can't believe people and even worse commentators can talk this up with a straight face. Where are the independent and logical thinking people in sports media that should be tearing this ridiculous proposal apart?
Like you said the 3 Sydney grounds that should never have NRL fixtures played at again are Shark Park, LO, and to a lesser extent Brooky, but I would also include Kogarah Oval in that group too.
How come no one ever brings up spending that $50-100m on Wollongong Stadium and building a massive rap around stand on the beach end connecting to the two end stands? Then committing the Illawarra Dragons to playing all but maybe 1 or 2 games there and for their Sydney fans playing those 1 or 2 home games at Allianz.
I would force the hand of all Sydney clubs with an edict. If you can't play in a minimum 20K covered all seater stadium within 2 years or have a signed contract approval for building to start with in 2 years, then the NRL will mandate where your home games are played. Failing to comply to this directive the NRL will withhold $2m dollars from your NRL grant money and every following season the NRL will withhold a further $1m up to a total of $5m.
This is the only way to drag these selfish myopic clubs and administrators into the 21 century and do it quickly. If they can't get the financing and approval to fit the stadium criteria and don't feel like they would be all that successful playing in stadiums that aren't in their very back yard and their crowds are adversely affected then they can apply to relocate and the NRL should be falling over themselves to help them in this with money inducements and offer them a choice of cities between Adelaide or Perth. I wouldn't offer Brisbane 3 or Christchurch because I feel the fans of these areas wouldn't take so readily to a former Sydney club moving in and would be much more accepting of a brand new franchise like the Dolphins have proven to be. First in gets to chose the city, either Perth or Adelaide.
Sounds harsh? No, just how a strong and professional sporting code should be doing business, not stagnating due to the inadequacies of the lesser clubs that will always remain that way due to guaranteed money grants unless pushed. Grow or die.
