The Game Future NRL Stadiums part II

[Bring back John Fifita]

Look mate, I agree with you and it would be a dream, but I just can't see it happening. I'd love for this to happen and to have an English styled stadium in the middle of high density suburbia that has just one tenant used minimally throughout a season. Australia is a different beast. We have neither the population density, the passion, nor travelling fan support, nor the $$ to support such a proposal.
We are a different beast here in Oz. We have to be realistic here.

Sure, spend $150-200 million on a Belmore upgrade. That won't happen for starters.
Add to that a station on the Metro. They are notoriously expensive.
I'm not being negative. Just realistic, so don't boo-hoo me.
Can we not discuss more solid proposals instead? And, who knows what they will be tbh?

Mate absolutely - agree with that highlighted in Bold. Hence the IF in my other post.

But if they did - build the stand on the station. Also... have a huge white marble snarling bulldogs head at the eastern tunnel entry... the train would arrive into its mouth. And the have a huge while marble bulldogs backside at the western end... no prizes for guessing what the tunnel entry/exit is here...

It would be awesome. The most iconic stadium on the planet!

But as for Liverpool.... I’m on the fence. Its a decent “micro-city” It’s not true bulldogs heartland..

 

[unforgiven]

Yeh forgot that the Trust are running them now

Yeah sorry mate, I posted that before seeing that had already been addressed.

 

[Suitman]

But as for Liverpool.... I’m on the fence. Its a decent “micro-city” It’s not true bulldogs heartland..

I agree with this as well. I've never actually understood the love for Liverpool.
It's no man's land for RL tbh. Doesn't suit the Dogs, nor the Tige-Pies, despite what people say.

 

[horrie hastings]

It’s also a drawback of the existing ground as there’s no room for fans at the northern end. Why redevelop a ground where you can only use 3 sides for fans... to me that’s far more ridiculous and a waste of money. Integrate the station in the base of a stand of sorts. The only thing I don’t know is the geometry of it all, if it could physically be possible. But I think it could work.

Well basically you can only really use 2 sides with Belmore anyway, both ends with the in goals you have a train line at one end and the other end is residential so basically it is really only 2 sides that could be used without substantial costs being added.
It's funny at Belmore I always liked sitting behind the in goal at the railway end, I remember Mike Eden side stepping a sloppy Canterbury defence to score right in front of us back in 1983 and also Garry Warneke side stepping a very tight Parramatta defence in 1982 only to drop the ball a millimetre off the ground right in front of us which would have levelled the game with a few minutes to go.
I would love to see Belmore redeveloped because I love seeing clubs playing at their traditional and spiritual grounds but with Belmore you can basically only use the the 2 sides unless you want to add substantial cost to make behind the in goals usable.

 

[horrie hastings]

I agree with this as well. I've never actually understood the love for Liverpool.
It's no man's land for RL tbh. Doesn't suit the Dogs, nor the Tige-Pies, despite what people say.

Many years when we used to go and visit friends at Casula back in the late 60s and early 70s the area seemed to have a big contingent of Parramatta supporters. You are right though, it is a no mans land that doesn't seem to fit into any Rugby League clubs area.

 

[blue bags]

Im all for belmore sports ground updates, forget liverpool, waste of money really
bulldogs would love it, fans would love it
other tenants , could be Aleague, new club MacArthur rams could play a few games there
rabbits could play there, tigers, better than ANZ
super rugby
nsw cup

 

[jim_57]

It's probably all been said before but I'm interested to know what Tiger's fans think is the best play for them. Off the top of my head they've played at Leichardt, Campbelltown, Bankwest, SFS & ANZ all at some point in recent years.

Surely at some stage they have to lock down a main venue 8+ games or just go with a 6/6 split. Would their best hope be biting the bullet and commiting 8-10 games to Campbelltown if they could get it developed? If not 8-10 Bankwest?

I know it's complicated but when does the club decide they need to pick a main home ground and stick with it?


On that note surely someone on here has showed up to the wrong venue for a Tiger's game..

 

[Mr Angry]

Bulldogs so shyte now, just taken under the wing the ashfield wests.

Bring in Perth.

 

[Perth Red]

Except all the grounds will be run by the same body.

this could be problematic for clubs as there is no longer competitive tensions that leads to better rental deals for clubs. It also means the sms will be keen to have all their stadiums used to help cover upkeep meaning they will want at least two clubs using anz still. For all the talk of Sydney stadium strategies at this point we only have one club that is significantly benefitted and that’s the eels. Little has changed for the rest.

 

[unforgiven]

It's probably all been said before but I'm interested to know what Tiger's fans think is the best play for them. Off the top of my head they've played at Leichardt, Campbelltown, Bankwest, SFS & ANZ all at some point in recent years.

Surely at some stage they have to lock down a main venue 8+ games or just go with a 6/6 split. Would their best hope be biting the bullet and commiting 8-10 games to Campbelltown if they could get it developed? If not 8-10 Bankwest?

I know it's complicated but when does the club decide they need to pick a main home ground and stick with it?


On that note surely someone on here has showed up to the wrong venue for a Tiger's game..

Mate that is a complicated question, there are a large number of Tigers fan who would like to see one venue, but where is the issue. The club is now mostly owned by Wests Ashfield, so I doubt they are keen on having the majority of games played so far away from the inner West as Campbelltown. This conversation has come up a lot on one of the Wests Tigers forums and it appears that the most popular venue if the club was to choose one would be ANZ.

 

[Quidgybo]

The Tigers, perhaps more so than most clubs, need to be looking at where they build their long term future, not just where today’s fans want them to play.

If you’re Wests Ashfield you need to be saying to yourself - OK, we’ve got this big asset (The Wests Tigers NRL team) that is worth $10m to $30m on paper currently and almost breaks even. Over the next 30 years, the costs of keeping up with the other teams is likely to double? quadruple? Where can we capture a market likely to grow enough by then that the NRL team can draw consistent crowds of say ~30,000 and make enough money from that and all their other income sources to be competitive in the NRL and be a consistently profitable asset to Wests Ashfield?

Game venue proximity and flow thru to the Leagues club at Ashfield is probably a very small consideration next to the costs of running an NRL team, especially 30 years in the future. If the NRL team isn’t covering its costs off the back of its own operations, there won’t be much Wests Ashfield can do but sell the asset.

Leigh

 

[Perth Red]

The Tigers, perhaps more so than most clubs, need to be looking at where they build their long term future, not just where today’s fans want them to play.

If you’re Wests Ashfield you need to be saying to yourself - OK, we’ve got this big asset (The Wests Tigers NRL team) that is worth $10m to $30m on paper currently and almost breaks even. Over the next 30 years, the costs of keeping up with the other teams is likely to double? quadruple? Where can we capture a market likely to grow enough by then that the NRL team can draw consistent crowds of say ~30,000 and make enough money from that and all their other income sources to be competitive in the NRL and be a consistently profitable asset to Wests Ashfield?

Game venue proximity and flow thru to the Leagues club at Ashfield is probably a very small consideration next to the costs of running an NRL team, especially 30 years in the future. If the NRL team isn’t covering its costs off the back of its own operations, there won’t be much Wests Ashfield can do but sell the asset.

Leigh

If the clubs haven’t had the wake up call this year that tv and leagues clubs aren’t going to be the golden goose forever they never will. The best untapped revenue source at the moment is fans. We need to shift our thinking that tv and pokie players are the games customers and engage And build the the fanbase as the main source of revenue into the future.

 

[Bring back John Fifita]

I agree with this as well. I've never actually understood the love for Liverpool.
It's no man's land for RL tbh. Doesn't suit the Dogs, nor the Tige-Pies, despite what people say.

I’ve driven past Concord oval so many times and thought why couldn’t they redevelop that as a proper stadium to suit both the dogs and tigers.

It’s the one piece of land I can see that could house these two clubs in without bastardising their roots and heartlands.

It’s merely a training paddock and hosts club rugby these days. It could be so much more.

However the access for cars/public transport is the main issue I see that would need to be overcome. But if that can be worked out, you’ve got a stadium begging to be built with use at least 26 weeks a year (aside from the odd Leichhardt game I assume) in the areas of these 2 great clubs.

I don’t know how this would be received by tigers fans who prefer Campbelltown games. And it is a region that deserved a league presence.

I like to look at the opportunities and then how obstacles can be overcome, rather than the obstacle first and why things can’t be done.

 

[gallagher]

The Tigers, perhaps more so than most clubs, need to be looking at where they build their long term future, not just where today’s fans want them to play.

If you’re Wests Ashfield you need to be saying to yourself - OK, we’ve got this big asset (The Wests Tigers NRL team) that is worth $10m to $30m on paper currently and almost breaks even. Over the next 30 years, the costs of keeping up with the other teams is likely to double? quadruple? Where can we capture a market likely to grow enough by then that the NRL team can draw consistent crowds of say ~30,000 and make enough money from that and all their other income sources to be competitive in the NRL and be a consistently profitable asset to Wests Ashfield?

Game venue proximity and flow thru to the Leagues club at Ashfield is probably a very small consideration next to the costs of running an NRL team, especially 30 years in the future. If the NRL team isn’t covering its costs off the back of its own operations, there won’t be much Wests Ashfield can do but sell the asset.

Leigh

I havnt seen any decision by Wests in the last 20 years to suggest they look any further ahead than the following week.

 

[Bulldog2020]

Perhaps V'Landys can do a deal for a new stadium to be built at Canterbury Racecourse with some shared back of house facilities like at Leeds

 

[TheRam]

Many years when we used to go and visit friends at Casula back in the late 60s and early 70s the area seemed to have a big contingent of Parramatta supporters. You are right though, it is a no mans land that doesn't seem to fit into any Rugby League clubs area.

This is exactly why I think the Stadium should be built in Liverpool. It is mainly an untapped garden resource that if tended to correctly should bare the greatest of fruits for them. They should be thinking long term in regards to future aspirations and working towards creating that model into a reality.

Building a stadium in the heart of the Liverpool district will reinvigorate and energize the whole, primarily neglected area. It would give that part part of Sydney a focal point that they have never had in their entire existence. Major sport does that in one full swoop. A high profile club like the Dogs can do that.

They should embrace it totally and whole heartedly. Even change their name to the Liverpool-Canterbury Bulldogs to show the entire district that they are serious and are in boots and all. It would give the kids of the area something to do and look forward to on a weekend especially during those miserable winter months and they wouldn't need to leave their backyard to do it.

Over time, 10-20 years it will be the team for the majority of that city/district. Kids would have grown up as Dogs supporters that may never have taken an interest or just followed RL casually due to their parents, as what is happening more and more now. But a stadium of your very own in your backyard changes things dramatically and the knock-on affect of support will increase from generation to generation. In this new frontier so to speak, a redeveloped ground like Belmore, which has limited opportunities and an already rusted on fan base environment, could never grow and achieve the potential levels of success that the Liverpool City district can.

I say for the Dogs, it's Liverpool or Bust.

 

[Babyface O'reilly]

I’ve driven past Concord oval so many times and thought why couldn’t they redevelop that as a proper stadium to suit both the dogs and tigers.

It’s the one piece of land I can see that could house these two clubs in without bastardising their roots and heartlands.

It’s merely a training paddock and hosts club rugby these days. It could be so much more.

However the access for cars/public transport is the main issue I see that would need to be overcome. But if that can be worked out, you’ve got a stadium begging to be built with use at least 26 weeks a year (aside from the odd Leichhardt game I assume) in the areas of these 2 great clubs.

I don’t know how this would be received by tigers fans who prefer Campbelltown games. And it is a region that deserved a league presence.

I like to look at the opportunities and then how obstacles can be overcome, rather than the obstacle first and why things can’t be done.

A Tigers fan on here said they’re building their centre of excellence (or something along those lines) there. Like you, I thought Concord would’ve been great for Souths (not too far from traditional base and new market out west) Tigers and even Dogs which is not too far from their heartland as well.

 

[Jamberoo]

Well now would be the time to do it if they are going to put in a train station because that line is being upgraded to the Metro line so perfect time to do it while they are working on it instead of causing further disruptions after the metro work is completed.
With a Belmore upgrade now, i'm not certain what the current grandstand is like for comfort and corporate facilities but it has been around for a while so i think it would need a few dollars spent on it if they don't pull it down and rebuild it, would also put a stand where the hill is as they have the scope to do it there then i would put a smaller stand out over the railway end and leave the residential end as is. Belmore Station is less than 10 minutes walk away so i doubt whether they would put a station in at the ground as it would add to the cost significantly .

You are complicating things. It is 500m, or a six minute walk from Belmore Station to the Western Stand at Belmore. Just put a walking track and gate along the train line. A new station will add tens and tens of millions and it not required. Keep it simple. Can Sydneysiders not walk for 5 - 10 minutes?

 

[horrie hastings]

You are complicating things. It is 500m, or a six minute walk from Belmore Station to the Western Stand at Belmore. Just put a walking track and gate along the train line. A new station will add tens and tens of millions and it not required. Keep it simple. Can Sydneysiders not walk for 5 - 10 minutes?

I was replying to John Fifitas post about a railway station at Belmore Oval as he mentioned it, i dont think it realistically is a good idea, i only said if they were going to do it, do it now as the line is being worked on for the Metro instead of later once the work is completed. Read the last couple of lines of my post where i say

" Belmore Station is less than 10 minutes walk away so i doubt whether they would put a station in at the ground as it would add to the cost significantly" .

 

[T-Boon]

Good conversation about the west.

What about the North?

Brookvale is a bad place for the Northern team/stadium. The Sea Eagles should change their name (to Sydney or Northern Districts or Norths) and move a stack of their games to North Sydney Oval and try to get North Sydney Oval or the number 2 oval there turned into a good rectangular stadium.

The thing about the North is currently we are handing it to other codes. We should fix is ASAP.