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The Game Future NRL Stadiums part II

Colk

First Grade
Messages
6,750
Yeh it’s a shame. Since their push for Victoria park failed their next option is to run a media campaign against the new solution be the looks of it, unfortunately some RL guys are eating it up.

It’d be nice to see some public support for the Suncorp solution by RL, RU & Football Admin and Media.

I’m more worried that if the Liberals get in they will back this white elephant stadium.

A rather interesting point of the article and people need to remember this (including those fumbler types) is that the only reason Brisbane received these Olympics is that they didn’t need to build any new stadiums.
 

Steel Saints

Juniors
Messages
1,049
Only people complaining about this are fumblers

The problem for Wheatley and others linked to Fumbleball, is deep down, they may not view the Gabba as a long term ground for the Lions due to the supposed "ageing" facilities from the review. They much prefer a new stadium at Victoria Park. However the price tag attached to a new stadium at Victoria Park is worth a staggering $3.4 billion.

Wheatley and friends can't exactly openly back the Victoria Park proposal because they will most likely receive a backlash from Queenslanders.
 

Wb1234

Immortal
Messages
33,554
The problem for Wheatley and others linked to Fumbleball, is deep down, they may not view the Gabba as a long term ground for the Lions due to the supposed "ageing" facilities from the review. They much prefer a new stadium at Victoria Park. However the price tag attached to a new stadium at Victoria Park is worth a staggering $3.4 billion.

Wheatley and friends can't exactly openly back the Victoria Park proposal because they will most likely receive a backlash from Queenslanders.
They were given 70 million to fund the ground at Springfield

upgrade that to 25k and it’s the perfect size for afl long term
 

The Great Dane

First Grade
Messages
7,957
Canberra Stadium stench prompts more ACT government procrastination | The Canberra Times

Another year, another embarrassing moment for Canberra Stadium and another endless debate prompting a politician to actively promote the prospect of zero progress on the broader issue surrounding the ACT's biggest venue.

That's what this week has delivered after a failed pipe from a sewer pit led to a foul "stench" flooding the tunnel under Canberra Stadium at the Raiders game on Saturday, again igniting discussion about the ageing venue not being fit-for-purpose.

The campaign to have a new or upgraded Canberra Stadium began in 2009, and in 2024 the ACT is no closer to boasting a modern venue to the same standard as other major cities.

Instead, Canberran advocates for a revitalised stadium like Raiders coach Ricky Stuart and Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham continue to go blue in the face as their pleas for progress on behalf of the ACT sporting community, keep falling on deaf ears.

The ACT government finally announced in June it plans to spend more than $500 million to build a new 30,000-seat stadium at Bruce by 2033, with the final location of the project to be finalised later this year, following the completion of an incredible seventh study.

However, according to Greens leader Shane Rattenbury, that plan again needs to be re-considered.

Rattenbury told ABC Canberra his party is currently reconsidering the stadium plans as part of their policy development process ahead of the ACT election in October.

"We've got a stadium. It's not in the best of shape, but we've actually got one and there's other things we desperately need. So I think it's an interesting question of where it sits," Rattenbury, who didn't go to the Raiders game, said on Monday.

By that same logic should the ACT not widen or improve certain roads because a road already exists? Should hospitals not be built or current facilities not receive upgrades? Is a light rail line to Woden needed when there are buses already available on that route?

"The conversation the community needs to have is there's a lot of infrastructure that this city needs - we need housing, we need hospitals, we need better public transport, we need a new convention centre. I think one of the interesting discussions is what order should we need to do them in, and what do people think is the most important priority," Rattenbury added.

Just because Canberra already has a stadium - a venue which last had a major upgrade in the lead-up to the 2000 Olympics with smaller ongoing maintenance and improvements since - does not mean it can or should stand as is for eternity.

Rattenbury's comments promise to once again kick the stadium issue down the road, which after 15 years of doing the same has only seen construction costs go up and make completing the project an even bigger undertaking for government.

The short-sightedness of the ACT government was highlighted further this week when Sport Minister Yvette Berry said the idea of a roof on a stadium was not needed because Canberrans like going out in the cold.

The reality is the opposite, as the patron experience at Bruce in colder months negatively impacts crowd numbers and the overall sporting experience. Anyone who has sat in the cheap seats high in the Meninga or Gregan-Larkham stands during a winter night's breeze would know that thermals, beanies and hand-warmers can only do so much.

While the rusted-on supporters will likely endure the worst conditions just to cheer on their Canberran teams, it is hardly appealing to the fair-weather fan, tourists or families.

Independent senator David Pocock shared his frustration with the ACT government's lack of vision on radio too, and praised Stuart for bringing the subject to the fore once again.

"Ricky Stuart nailed it when he said no-one's saying to put a stadium ahead of health or education funding, but surely as the capital city - a city of half a million people in a region of over a million people - we can have a stadium that isn't the worst in the country - we could actually have a plan to have a stadium," Pocock said.

"Frustratingly we heard for a long time that we weren't getting things in Canberra because of the coalition government. My frustration now is there are no plans. There's no plan that could actually be funded by a federal government.

"Bruce Stadium will come to the end of its life whether we like it or not. It's ageing infrastructure. Let's look forward at what sort of city we want to be."
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/st...more-act-government-procrastination/?cs=14274

There's nothing new in the article, the stadium's still no chance of happening and this article reaffirms that, I just think it's funny that even the journalists are tearing the politicians apart at this point.

For those that don't know Yvette Berry is the deputy chief minister of the ACT, and Shane Rattenbury is the leader of the Greens in the Labour/Greens coalition government and ACT Attorney-General.
In other words they're arguably two of the three most powerful people in ACT politics and for all intents and purposes they openly oppose a new stadium. The other most powerful person, Andrew Barr, only pretends to support a new stadium for the votes.

The only way Canberra gets a decent new rectangular stadium in the next 20 years is if the Raiders and NRL start playing hard ball. It isn't ideal, but they need to start discussing things like classifying Bruce as unsuitable to host finals and events at all, and maybe start looking at relocation options to put pressure on the government.
 

Vee

First Grade
Messages
5,595
I’m more worried that if the Liberals get in they will back this white elephant stadium.

A rather interesting point of the article and people need to remember this (including those fumbler types) is that the only reason Brisbane received these Olympics is that they didn’t need to build any new stadiums.
Wasn't Brisbane like last man standing?
 

Perth Red

Post Whore
Messages
69,520
A rather interesting point of the article and people need to remember this (including those fumbler types) is that the only reason Brisbane received these Olympics is that they didn’t need to build any new stadiums.
That wass BS though. They didnt have a suitable athletics stadium so how could they host the games without building or redesigning a stadium?
 

Perth Red

Post Whore
Messages
69,520
The problem for Wheatley and others linked to Fumbleball, is deep down, they may not view the Gabba as a long term ground for the Lions due to the supposed "ageing" facilities from the review. They much prefer a new stadium at Victoria Park. However the price tag attached to a new stadium at Victoria Park is worth a staggering $3.4 billion.

Wheatley and friends can't exactly openly back the Victoria Park proposal because they will most likely receive a backlash from Queenslanders.
I know we've been through some big inflation but Optus in 2016 cost $1.6bill with lots of transport and surrounding area development costs. How on earth could a stadium of similar size and quality cost double in 8-10 years?

By inflation calculators it should be under $2.2bill.
 

SpaceMonkey

Immortal
Messages
40,342
They were given 70 million to fund the ground at Springfield

upgrade that to 25k and it’s the perfect size for afl long term
I doubt they’ll want to move out to bumf**k nowhere though when they’ve got a central location currently. Between AFL and Cricket they should be able to keep the Gabba up to standard assuming it gets the slated 500m from the Olympic budget.
 

SpaceMonkey

Immortal
Messages
40,342
That wass BS though. They didnt have a suitable athletics stadium so how could they host the games without building or redesigning a stadium?
That’s the thing though…. unless thwyve already hosted a recent games, no city is likely to have a large athletics stadium because they’re just not utilised regularly enough these days to justify building them.
The idea of redeveloping QSAC to eventually be a 15 K capacity athletics facility is the right one both size and location wise (no athletics doesn’t get to have a central city stadium because it’s not hosting large scale events regularly enough, and Mt Gravatt is still mid suburbia, it’s not miles out). My only issue with it is how does a 15K capacity venue plus a bunch of temporary stands add up to 1.6B?
 

Wb1234

Immortal
Messages
33,554
I doubt they’ll want to move out to bumf**k nowhere though when they’ve got a central location currently. Between AFL and Cricket they should be able to keep the Gabba up to standard assuming it gets the slated 500m from the Olympic budget.
The afl were talking about growing into western coridoor as they were struggling in Brisbane city itself

wouldn’t take much to get it to 30k which is a perfect size for them
 

Canard

Immortal
Messages
35,600
I know we've been through some big inflation but Optus in 2016 cost $1.6bill with lots of transport and surrounding area development costs. How on earth could a stadium of similar size and quality cost double in 8-10 years?

By inflation calculators it should be under $2.2bill.
Its probably the worst time in Australian history to be adding yet another "big build" infrastructure project into the mix.

Labour is scarce, the supply chain is f**ked and every big corporate is clipping their government ticket.

 

jim_57

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
4,602
That’s the thing though…. unless thwyve already hosted a recent games, no city is likely to have a large athletics stadium because they’re just not utilised regularly enough these days to justify building them.
The idea of redeveloping QSAC to eventually be a 15 K capacity athletics facility is the right one both size and location wise (no athletics doesn’t get to have a central city stadium because it’s not hosting large scale events regularly enough, and Mt Gravatt is still mid suburbia, it’s not miles out). My only issue with it is how does a 15K capacity venue plus a bunch of temporary stands add up to 1.6B?

Yeh that’s my main question mark over the plan, Optus stadium cost that much not all that long ago. If they could trim that down and redirect more funding to Suncorp & the Gabba it would make more sense.

It is hard to keep track of but I think that may have been what the “review” team priced it at, since they were obviously gunning for the Victoria Park idea it may have been an inflated figure to make their idea look better. Not sure if Miles has confirmed that would be the price they’re looking at.
 

jim_57

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
4,602
Here’s A better breakdown of what the whole picture looks like now, more info than the city in crisis frothing from most media articles. Cairns & Sunshine Coast upgrades accepted, Toowoomba rejected.


Following the release of the independent venue review and subsequent announcements by the Queensland Premier, Austadiums looks at what it means for Queensland’s stadiums.

The report released on Monday included 90 findings with 30 recommendations on Queensland’s sports infrastructure, while the Premier Steven Miles followed up with some interesting calls – some of which go against the recommendations handed down in the tax-payer funded report.

It’s worth noting the decisions aren’t final, meaning anything could happen between now and 2032. A State Election is scheduled for October 2024 in Queensland, with the Olympic stadium debate set to play a significant factor in voting.

Below are potential outcomes for some of Queensland’s existing and proposed stadiums following the release of the report and decisions from the current Premier Steven Miles.

The Gabba

The Gabba will no longer be demolished and rebuilt for the Olympics, meaning it won’t host the track and field events. Some of the remaining funding will to be used for a "more modest enhancement of the existing facility" in consultation with AFL, Cricket Australia, and other stakeholders. It remains to be seen what this stadium upgrade entails. The Gabba currently lacks the facilities other similar stadiums already have, while its useable capacity of 37,000 is at the lower end of Australia’s other tier one AFL and cricket stadiums. The report listed the Gabba as a “very, very bad stadium” where back-of-house facilities were cramped and substandard and people with a disability had limited access. The long-term future of this iconic venue appears somewhat cloudy at this point in time.

Suncorp Stadium

Brisbane’s largest stadium will receive funding to be upgraded ahead of the Olympics, while specifics are unknown at the moment, this could include boosting its 52,000 capacity. Under the Premier’s plan, the rectangular Suncorp Stadiumwill host the opening and closing ceremonies and football during the Olympics.

Suncorp Stadium


QSAC

The Queensland Premier has declared the State will rebuild the Queensland Sport & Athletic Centreat Nathan, despite the independent venue review declaring this would be a waste of money. The home of the 1982 Commonwealth Games is past its shelf life, so the existing stadium will be demolished, replaced by a new 8,000-seat permanent western grandstand, with an additional 6,000 permanent seats located around the athletics track. New temporary stands would boost its capacity to 30,000-40,000 for the Olympics where it would serve as the main stadium, before reverting back to a 14,000-capacity venue in legacy mode post-Games.

Albion Park

With the proposed Brisbane Indoor Sports Centrerecommended not to proceed in the report, the existing venue it was to be built on, Albion Park Paceway, appears to have been saved. The home of harness racing in Queensland needs a big upgrade to keep its facilities up to scratch and that may now happen – offset by a housing development on its expansive land. Olympic basketball could instead be played at an upgraded Brisbane Entertainment Centre (Boondal) or Zillmere, although no final decision has been made yet.

Sunshine Coast Stadium

The review supports the redevelopment of Sunshine Coast Stadium and the construction of the proposed indoor sports stadium adjacent to the venue. Under the plan, the stadium would receive a major upgrade to seat 20,000 for Olympic football matches – including 8,500 temporary seats. The report says the current western grandstand was built on a tight budget and not designed to be expanded, and rebuilding the stand is considered to provide better integrated facilities and flood immunity at a lower cost, compared to extending the current stand. The new indoor facility within the Kawana Sports Precinct will host Olympic basketball with temporary grandstand seating for 6,000 spectators.

The Kawana Sports Precinct including new indoor sports centre


Barlow Park, Cairns

The report supports the upgrade of Barlow Park in Cairns, noting it will have a strong legacy outcome and benefit, leveraging existing venues and providing capacity for a growing city. The proposal is to increase permanent seating to 5,000, with temporary grandstand seating for 15,000 in place for the stadium to host Olympic football.

Toowoomba Sports Ground

The review recommended against upgrading the Toowoomba Sports Ground (known commercially as Clive Berghofer Stadium). A major redevelopment of the regional rectangular venue costing upwards of $80 million had been proposed, for it to host football at the Olympics, however that now appears unlikely to proceed.

Proposed Brisbane Live Arena

The report supports the construction of the long-proposed Brisbane Arena (or ‘Brisbane Live’ as the project has been referred to) and the Premier has confirmed the project will proceed. However the review panel has suggested the 17,000-capacity arena be built on the Roma Street carpark and maintenance depot development site instead of the Roma Street over-rail site option.
 

Desert Qlder

First Grade
Messages
9,381
The AFL have had a major strategic blow with Miles' announcement. They are now using every resource available to them to discredit the decision-making process.

Mainly their media allies and wannabe social media influencers. Gerard Whately ffs.

Unfortunately, the NSW media are not renowned for their strategic analysis capability and so are joining in the pile-on because 'Queenslanders'.

We'll be on our own in the face of this southern blizzard of bullshit. In the end, the Games will be just fine and we'll end up with the best footy stadium in the country.
 

Vlad59

Bench
Messages
4,048
The AFL have had a major strategic blow with Miles' announcement. They are now using every resource available to them to discredit the decision-making process.

Mainly their media allies and wannabe social media influencers. Gerard Whately ffs.

Unfortunately, the NSW media are not renowned for their strategic analysis capability and so are joining in the pile-on because 'Queenslanders'.

We'll be on our own in the face of this southern blizzard of bullshit. In the end, the Games will be just fine and we'll end up with the best footy stadium in the country.
Whately is your standard afl flog. He’s got no knowledge of anything north of Victoria and has minimal to no influence on anything. Let them whinge and moan. Our lads just need to step back and watch at this time. The afl is getting badly burned this year and they know it. I’m sure Vlandys and co are enjoying this and scheming away in the background. We’ll be fine.
 

Perth Red

Post Whore
Messages
69,520
That’s the thing though…. unless thwyve already hosted a recent games, no city is likely to have a large athletics stadium because they’re just not utilised regularly enough these days to justify building them.
The idea of redeveloping QSAC to eventually be a 15 K capacity athletics facility is the right one both size and location wise (no athletics doesn’t get to have a central city stadium because it’s not hosting large scale events regularly enough, and Mt Gravatt is still mid suburbia, it’s not miles out). My only issue with it is how does a 15K capacity venue plus a bunch of temporary stands add up to 1.6B?
Is it, they're talking of spending $1.6bilion for a mostly temp stadium. Hows that good legacy funding?
 

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