The Game Future NRL Stadiums part II

[jim_57]

yeah spot on there.



not really. I can’t think of any reason it’d be dramatically cheaper, probably a bit more expensive.

The other thing is the difference in where sport is played- traditionally the provincial rugby setup in NZ meant you’d regularly get big games in places like Rotorua, Napier or New Plymouth, whereas in Aus a lot of the regional towns never see big sports events unless an NRL side takes a game “to the bush”.

Yeh last paragraph pretty much nails it, no such events really exist in places like Mackay or Wagga just the odd NRL game or trial which won’t be enough to secure funding for an upgrade.

Sunshine Coast getting an upgrade to 16/20k with no full time tenant will probably be the first such instance in Australia. Cairns wanted a 20k stadium too but that seemed wishful thinking.

 

[siv]

Yeh last paragraph pretty much nails it, no such events really exist in places like Mackay or Wagga just the odd NRL game or trial which won’t be enough to secure funding for an upgrade.

Sunshine Coast getting an upgrade to 16/20k with no full time tenant will probably be the first such instance in Australia. Cairns wanted a 20k stadium too but that seemed wishful thinking.

It should be as simple as

You need a 5k covered grandstand, with 4 change rooms, X # of toilets and Y food outlets and 12.5k+ ground capacity say with good size hill as a minimum to hold a NRL match, with lighting in a rectangular stadium with a warm up field

 

[SpaceMonkey]

It should be as simple as

You need a 5k covered grandstand, with 4 change rooms, X # of toilets and Y food outlets and 12.5k+ ground capacity say with good size hill as a minimum to hold a NRL match, with lighting in a rectangular stadium with a warm up field

That’s pretty silly for one off games in regional centres. They’re not about forcing those places to get better facilities.

 

[shewi6]

That’s pretty silly for one off games in regional centres. They’re not about forcing those places to get better facilities.

That's fine and probably reasonable, but if they can't reach these fairly low standards then they shouldn't be getting competition games.

These grounds should be utilised for the pre-season games and with them now being televised they should still give local council/tourism boards incentive to buy the games.

 

[jim_57]

It should be as simple as

You need a 5k covered grandstand, with 4 change rooms, X # of toilets and Y food outlets and 12.5k+ ground capacity say with good size hill as a minimum to hold a NRL match, with lighting in a rectangular stadium with a warm up field

I don’t think it needs to be that complicated, if these towns are paying for a game so long as they pass some basic requirements they shouldn’t be denied a game.

Having some decent 15k+ stadiums in rural cities like NZ has would be great but probably unlikely to happen due to reasons touched on already. Sunshine Coast Stadium will be the first but they are hardly “bush” and that is part of Olympic funding.

 

[t-ba]

That's fine and probably reasonable, but if they can't reach these fairly low standards then they shouldn't be getting competition games.

These grounds should be utilised for the pre-season games and with them now being televised they should still give local council/tourism boards incentive to buy the games.

Why?

They're paying for it.

If it makes business sense for a club why would you deny them that source of revenue?

 

[SpaceMonkey]

That's fine and probably reasonable, but if they can't reach these fairly low standards then they shouldn't be getting competition games.

These grounds should be utilised for the pre-season games and with them now being televised they should still give local council/tourism boards incentive to buy the games.

Yeah possibly. I thi k there’s a heirachy of what’s acceptable though.

Regular pre-season/trials

I don’t think it needs to be that complicated, if these towns are paying for a game so long as they pass some basic requirements they shouldn’t be denied a game.

Having some decent 15k+ stadiums in rural cities like NZ has would be great but probably unlikely to happen due to reasons touched on already. Sunshine Coast Stadium will be the first but they are hardly “bush” and that is part of Olympic funding.

If they’re paying for games sure there should be criteria. But I don’t think that’s how all these games work, in some cases the NRL/clubs take game to the bush as a goodwill or development/outreach thing, not to make $$.

 

[shewi6]

Why?

They're paying for it.

If it makes business sense for a club why would you deny them that source of revenue?

Because it makes the competition look amateur and lets the club take the easy way out.
I understand why they do it but doesn't mean i agree with it.
Especially now that some clubs have to take high profile games to small grounds that we should be building into regular 20k+ event games (wests vs souths in 10k stadium) because the people that bought the game want value for money.

Anyway I'm not totally against a few games here and there but the game in Bundaberg on the weekend was really the one i didn't like with its 5k capacity.

I guess these games probably aren't meant to be massive money spinners for the council that buys them, but i can't see that particular ground being sustainable for them.

Also NRL clubs wouldn't take these games there for the good of the game, only for the financial incentives.

 

[jim_57]

Yeah possibly. I thi k there’s a heirachy of what’s acceptable though.

Regular pre-season/trials

If they’re paying for games sure there should be criteria. But I don’t think that’s how all these games work, in some cases the NRL/clubs take game to the bush as a goodwill or development/outreach thing, not to make $$.

Honestly not sure, I thought most if not all paid for the game but could be wrong.

As for goodwill/outreach a country round would be a great idea in my opinion, group 8/9 of these regional games together using existing agreements wherever possible. Market it and pump it up in the media as “the NRL gives back to the bush” for the week. Only towns under 200k population with no full time NRL team.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Honestly not sure, I thought most if not all paid for the game but could be wrong.

As for goodwill/outreach a country round would be a great idea in my opinion, group 8/9 of these regional games together using existing agreements wherever possible. Market it and pump it up in the media as “the NRL gives back to the bush” for the week. Only towns under 200k population with no full time NRL team.

How many places with 200K population wouldnt have an NRL standard stadium anyway? I don’t think there’s any even above 150K apart from the Sunshine Coast, except for in AFL areas.

 

[The Great Dane]

Pocock is making noise about a City Stafium for Canberra again. First time I’ve seen the below rendering from his website



View attachment 77578

A 25k stadium won't fit on the site and Pocock doesn't have any power in the ACT government at all, let alone enough to get it over the line. 25k is too small anyway considering the rate that the city is growing, and isn't big enough to be competitive as a host for the sort of larger events that we miss out on at the moment.

His plans and renders seem to include extensive development in Commonwealth Park and on other NCA land as well, such as the pool(?) in front of the Archbishop's house in the above picture, most of which you can rule out straight away. There's no way that the NCA will allow that level of development within the Parliamentary Triangle, especially in places directly bordering the lake like Commonwealth Park. You'd also stir up all the NIMBYs in Canberra, and a probably a bunch of other people nationally as well, if you even attempted that level of development in the Triangle.

Don't get me wrong, it's great that he's the lone voice pushing back against plans for Bruce or EPIC, but this plan is a total non-starter. The only people that look at this and think it's realistic are deluded footy fans who are totally out of touch with the broader community, and Pocock will need to form his own party and at least oust the Greens to form a coalition government with Labour before he/his party has anywhere near the pull necessary within local politics to even begin working on making any of his larger ideas a reality.

 

[jim_57]

How many places with 200K population wouldnt have an NRL standard stadium anyway? I don’t think there’s any even above 150K apart from the Sunshine Coast, except for in AFL areas.

200k would be mainly just a divider. Somewhere like Sunshine Coast or Central Coast doesn’t exactly say “country” when they are 1 hour out of the capitals and have populations of 300k+. I would have said 150k or even 100k but that would exclude Cairns & Darwin.

Panthers - Bathurst
Tigers - Tamworth
Souths - Cairns
Bulldogs - Bundaberg
Sharks - Coffs Harbour
Eels - Darwin
Warriors - Napier
Sea Eagles - Mudgee

That’s an example of a round they could have had this year using existing arrangements. That also leaves out Raiders - Wagga.

 

[siv]

That’s pretty silly for one off games in regional centres. They’re not about forcing those places to get better facilities.

But there are not one of games anymore

We keep coming back

Many venues have very poor grandstands, like 500 capacity eg Cairns

Lets work to deliver something back to the local community. By getting a good stand setup and expanding hills into the corners, means country towns can stage bigger events

And I see it as a path to say a NSW Cup regional team once NRL RG is in place

You dont need 25k stadiums in these location but a 12.5k capacity with good facilities and room for a regional CoE in time will grow the game

The population in these locations continues to grow so why not the facilities too

 

[Wb1234]

 

[SpaceMonkey]

But there are not one of games anymore

We keep coming back

Many venues have very poor grandstands, like 500 capacity eg Cairns

Lets work to deliver something back to the local community. By getting a good stand setup and expanding hills into the corners, means country towns can stage bigger events

And I see it as a path to say a NSW Cup regional team once NRL RG is in place

You dont need 25k stadiums in these location but a 12.5k capacity with good facilities and room for a regional CoE in time will grow the game

The population in these locations continues to grow so why not the facilities too

again it depends which places you’re talking about. Somewhere like Cairns absolutely, it’s a significant regional centre with a fairly large population that can expect to host regular events. But somewhere like Mudgee for example is going to be a tall order to expect to built a proper stadium.

 

[siv]

again it depends which places you’re talking about. Somewhere like Cairns absolutely, it’s a significant regional centre with a fairly large population that can expect to host regular events. But somewhere like Mudgee for example is going to be a tall order to expect to built a proper stadium.

Mudgee just needs a grandstand extension and bigger grass hill

But I wouldn't consider Mudgee as the major centre as it is off the main transport links

Bathurst or Dubbo would be the correct location for a NSW Western Division regional team

But it is correct sort of setup for a town based team

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Mudgee just needs a grandstand extension and bigger grass hill

But I wouldn't consider Mudgee as the major centre as it is off the main transport links

Bathurst or Dubbo would be the correct location for a NSW Western Division regional team

But it is correct sort of setup for a town based team

Mudgee still hosts occasional “bush” NRL games and trials though. Demanding they build 5K covered grandstands etc is just going to mean they never get to host those games again.

 

[mongoose]

i'm not familiar with canberra much anymore but looks like it could be feasible. Build the stadium where the pool is and tunnel Parkes way under it.

i like how theres a nature strip 20m wide between the roads along Parkes way, so canberra lol

 

[The Great Dane]

i'm not familiar with canberra much anymore but looks like it could be feasible. Build the stadium where the pool is and tunnel Parkes way under it.

i like how theres a nature strip 20m wide between the roads along Parkes way, so canberra lol

I am familiar with Canberra and it’s not feasible.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

I am familiar with Canberra and it’s not feasible.

There’s technically feasible and there’s practically feasible… I’m guessing this is the former