Build more boutique venues, is the man serious? Why does Sydney need so many bloody stadiums? By my count there are currently ten venues for nine clubs, they can't all be top tier. The same number of AFL clubs in Melbourne share two! I get that geography and travel times are a factor but this seems ridiculous, why not something along the lines of: SFS - Easts, Souths, Manly WSS - Parra, Bulldogs, Tigers Penrtih, Cronulla and Dragons as per current arrangements, maybe some money could be thrown at those grounds to refurb/upgrade. Oh, and it's all well and good to say ANZ is the big event stadium but when 70% of the seats give a terrible view it's hardly a great spectator experience. I was at the front of the top level for last year's GF and it's miles from the action, hate to think what it's like up the back!
Problem is they would likely be 18-24months off start up construction and the govt wants projects that employ tradies now. I’d say manly and shared stadium for dragons and sharks (25k though not 20k) would be priorities
I can see Manly & Penrith getting a update Leichhardt has already been mentioned Canterbury setting at Liverpool would be smart Dragons already have Wollongong Souths at the SFS would work as the light rail now services their district
This is what they should be aiming for. Madejski stadium built for around the equivalent of $175million, 24k capacity all seater. https://www.footballgroundguide.com/leagues/england/championship/madejski-stadium-reading.html
I"ve always thought we missed a trick by not having teams based right in the regional hubs. We've just been slightly off-kilter Hurstville is better than Carlton Sutherland is better than Woolooware Bankstown is better than Belmore Chatswood is better than Brookvale CBD is better than Moore Park Strathfield/Burwood is better for any inner-west team over Lilyfield All of these places would have had a buzzing business environment and good transport links. Alas we should've moved on it decades ago. Eels and Panthers are in the right spot. Tigers too if they get Campelltown looking good.
My feeling is that the government desires year round patronage across multiple codes more than anything else when giving up cash for stadia. That would make only the campbelltown location make sense with wests, possibly some bulldogs games and the new A-league side as the tenants.
End of day Govt is not giving to a charity so they expect to see some ROI and ongoing revenue beyond maintenance costs. Reality is one tenant is highly unlikely to achieve that. Its why its highly unlikely you will see $200mill Govt stadiums built for Manly and Panthers sadly.
Cheaper 15 years ago, not sure how inflation and construction costs would chaneg Robina price if building today?
Why would you willingly move from a round cricket oval of 1st class quality to a stadium that cannot be used for 1st class cricket?
Actually I think V'Landys has a great chance of getting the boutique stadium concept up and running. He is exactly the type of person that is needed to do such things. All these ne'er-do-wells here and in the media that only criticise and complain and think that this can't be done and that can't be done. Well he has shut a lot of wankers up now hasn't he? Sure many can't wait for him to stumble on something he tries to do and then go to town on him with gusto. Like they know better and what was he thinking, and what a God complex and so on, and so forth. But for all the small and irrelevant losers that do, I just say go look up the "Man In The Arena" quote. My issue though is not his vision to build 4 new fit for purpose Stadia, which is what should have been the vision and aspiration over a quarter of a century ago, but their location. Which is equally as vital to get right as is the build itself. Penrith is fine. But the other 3 locations need to be assessed and researched thoroughly. If they get it wrong it will impact the regular attendance considerably. Also I think 20K is a little to small. 22-25K should be the minimum. For Manly it would be fantastic if we could build the new stadium at Chatswood Oval, but I don't fancy our chances. As another option though, Gore Hill Oval in St Leonards, right near the train station there. I don't know the area to well but it seems a great location next door to a hub and train line. Has anyone any other better locations for these new stadiums? This is our chance and opportunity to have a say maybe. Before everything is put in stone. If we make our collective voice heard and known, maybe someone like V'landys will listen. After all he is a man of the people.
Also this is the perfect type of build for these proposed stadiums. But location is equally as important as size and design. No point in bitching about it once it's all said and done. Look at how Greg Alexander lamented a couple of weeks ago on the tele of the great lost opportunity the game had when we didn't build a Stadium at darling harbour when it was possible a couple of decades ago. NOW IS THE TIME.
