That’s what I mean. It seems a dumb decision to build the new modern Western Stand on a site where we knew it was near impossible or prohibitively expensive to develop the other sideline beyond a grassed hill and can only expand capacity further by demolishing a stand at one end. Better to build the Western Stand on a new site that has plenty of room and no expensive obstacles to future upgrades in addition to all the usual things we want in a modern venue location - optimal transport links, access to restaurants and pubs etc. Leigh.
I’ve only been down there twice but from memory it must be only 5km from Canberra central to the Epic Centre if 5km stops people from going, they have issues
it’s about 7km from city center. But no one said distance alone was the issue. Although, from southern Canberra it’s over 30km away. the point is, there is the chance for a once in a lifetime major investment for a city stadium. With major transport intrastructure all leading to the stadium, hotels, pubs, restraunts all nearby, nice views for tv from the drone shots, a tourist attraction. the alternative is a cow paddock, on the absolute outskirts, with nothing but countryside and a highway nearby. Yes, there is a tram line. But so far, it hardly services anyone ( see pic). Most people will drive and leave straight after- no different to the current stadium. Whilst the scale is obviously much different, and so I know the analogy has many flaws, but to compare to Sydney, it would be like if we had one choice for a new stadium, that would be our one and only stadium. One option was in Darling Harbour/Barangaroo. The other option Badgerys Creek. It’s a no brainer. But 100% they’ll pick EPIC.
Put it this way they build it at Civic, I would make it a regular go to. They build it at EPIC, wouldn't bother ever going. I live in Sydney. I would travel to a great stadium that is in the hub of a city and offers all the city comforts, amenities and the buzz that a perfectly placed stadium like that generates not to mention the crowds. I am planning my trip to Townsville soon and can't wait. I have never been to Townsville and would never think of going if not for this great new perfectly located attraction. You only need two things to make a stadium successful. Built for purpose and strategic location. In fact I would argue LOCATION is the priority over all other concerns. And for location to be strategically perfect, that obviously also includes public transport.
[QUOTE="Saint Doc, post: 13999725, member: 5921") it’s about 7km from city center. But no one said distance alone was the issue. Although, from southern Canberra it’s over 30km away. Whilst the scale is obviously much different, and so I know the analogy has many flaws, but to compare to Sydney, it would be like if we had one choice for a new stadium, that would be our one and only stadium. One option was in Darling Harbour/Barangaroo. The other option Badgerys Creek. It’s a no brainer. But 100% they’ll pick EPIC.[/QUOTE] But that’s about an hours drive on a good day and about 80km not 15 and 6km as in Canberra
Can’t see the harm in playing at North Sydney oval. Beautiful ground that is still in pretty good shape.
yeh 13k (if it’s not raining) at a local park. It’s the future of professional sport I tell you lol. Vlandys has got dis.
Anti RL stupidity more like. But yeh playing professional sport at amateur parks is a great way to grow the game.
At an amateur park that has hosted women’s origin matches, international events (unlike your chosen sport) and successful domestic 50 and 20 over cricket matches all in the space of a few short years Your hate of league isn’t fooling anybody
Perth Red's just trying to cover Perth's embarrassing crowd over the weekend. After months of talking up Perth's RL love and how the 9's will be so great over there, I can understand why now he's calling out everyone else who has achieved the same crowd. I mean, how can we expect Perth to draw that size crowd every week when they can't even for 1 weekend - and most were probably from other states lol! Give any team in Perth a RL game the same day as the AFL and you can guarantee that they'd be less people there then at a Titans home game on a friday night
My thoughts on Perth are that they deserve a RL team as mush as anyone and I would love to see it happen. But due to the entrenched AFL thing, I would lobby the State Gov and tell them, we will bring in a RL team pronto when and only when you build a Parra Style Stadium or better in a top location. Transport amenities, bars, restaurants, hotels, city hubs stuff. Period. Throw the ball back into the hands of the WARL and their Gov. If they want it bad enough then it will happen. If they don't, well it would never have worked anyway. People are spoilt now, especially now that Perth basically has the best stadium in the country for that other sport. You need to have a viable, competitive, enticing alternative. That ground that they played the 9's in over the weekend is ok, but hardly enticing to the non faithful. Build a jewel and just like Parra Stadium and the new Cowboys Stadium from next month, the crowds will follow. Aussies have spoken. Second class venues are so last century. I have the world on my iphone. I don't need second rate, poor atmosphere, amateur run sports entertainment anymore. Give me big loud crazy wild, bag for my buck excitement stuff only now. Life's to short. Remember Perth people don't have any loyalty to RL. If you can't give them the above then they will go get their fix from where they can get it. Peace out.
When in Townsville, you should check out Magnetic Island. The bus tours are excellent and some include a pass to use the regular bus service for the day whilst you are there. Wait till they take you to feed the rock wallabies and they literally eat out of your hand.
The vast majority of the population doesn't live in Civic, so it's not a 15min 6km drive, for example, for me to get to EPIC it's roughly a 30min drive. But the distance and the drive isn't the problem anyway, it's EPIC's remoteness from everything else that is the problem. There's nothing at EPIC, no restaurants, no pubs, no hotels or places to stay, nothing, except a race track across the road, a Maccas and petrol station, and an industrial district up the road. It's also hard to get to it using public transport unless you are one of the roughly 5% of the population that lives along the tram line. It's been shown time and time again that if you build stadiums in a city centre that is central and easy to get to (especially by public transport), that not only are the events better attended, but it's also significantly better for the local economy because it's easier for people to make a day/trip of it. In other words if it's built in Civic more people will attend events at the stadium on average, they'll spend more money, and they won't only spend it at the stadium. More people from out of town will attend as well, because they'll be able to fly in, catch a cab/Uber into town, and then stay at a nice hotel within walking distance of the stadium, restaurants, bars, shopping centres, and other local tourist attractions. It's the difference between going to Homebush and going to Melbourne, and a huge reason why attendance at sports games is so much higher in Melbourne.
Hmm the bloke that hates Rugby League wants it to grow nationally and internationally, but the people that truly love Rugby League want it to stay confined to pissant little suburbs famous for race riots out the back of Sydney Makes sense
