https://wwos.nine.com.au/2018/03/26...nister-for-sport-stuart-ayres-sydney-stadiums
NSW Sport Minister weighs in on Sydney stadium stalemate
By Joe Frost
9 hours ago
The home of rugby league in Australia could be left behind and lose the game’s major showpiece events.
That was the message NSW Minister for Sport Stuart Ayres gave when speaking to Phil Gould on Nine’s
100% Footy on Monday night.
While the issue of whether to upgrade or rebuild Sydney’s stadiums has become a political hot potato, the Minister had a simple message as to why a complete overhaul was the only option: “The other cities have just gone past us.”
Parramatta Stadium is mid-way through its rebuild, while ANZ and Allianz Stadiums are set to be torn down and built anew, at a total cost of $2.3 billion.
But while that cheque will be largely footed by the taxpayer, the Minister insists it’s a necessary expense that’s been a long time coming.
“We opened Allianz back in 1988,” Minister Ayres said.
“Since then we’ve rebuilt the international convention centre, we’ve torn down the monorail, we’ve rebuilt half of Sydney, it’s time we rebuild that stadium as well.”
The more pressing issue, he said, was perhaps not that the venues were behind the times, but that the nation’s other capitals had facilities with which NSW could not compete.
“When it comes to the big, mega stadiums, the other cities have just gone past us,” he said.
“Adelaide has gone past ANZ, Perth has definitely gone past ANZ.
“What Melbourne has available to it in AAMI Park, Etihad and the MCG have all gone past ANZ.
“As much as it pains me to say it, we all know the experience at Suncorp is fantastic for rectangular sports.
"That just doesn’t exist at ANZ, so as Sports Minister, why would I continue to deal up second class venues for our fans?”
The major concern for Sydney NRL fans is that they stand to lose major matches if the venues are not updated.
“The NRL has made it really clear if we don’t turn ANZ into a rectangular stadium, they’ll take their premium product, the NRL Grand Final, on the road,” Minister Ayres said.
"That’s a real threat and I think we should hear that."
As for when footy fans can expect to be enjoying the new facilities, the Minister said Parramatta should be up and running by “late April-early May next year”, with new Allianz up by 2021-22 and ANZ ready to host Origin by the early 2020s.
And while Nine Sport reporter Neil Breen was sceptical the three rebuilds would go ahead – pointing out that Gladys Berejiklian’s government needed to win the March 2019 election to ensure the plan was pushed through in full – Cronulla skipper Paul Gallen gave what is likely most players’ opinion on the matter:
“The game was born here, I just feel like the grand final should stay here.”
