If Brooky wasnt an option....

[Hello, I'm The Doctor]

Hypothetical question for all you Manly supporters and North Sydney resident:

If Brooky Oval was condemned or something happened that meant Manly couldnt play there anymore, where would be the next best place to build a stadium for the Eagles??

A lot of people would say play at SFS or ANZ but that defeats the purpose of a Northern Suburbs team and is just a generally bad suggestion, so....

If the team HAD to be moved, in your opinion where would the next best place be to build??

(PS: im seriously not trolling, i just dont know Northern Sydney very well and im interested)

 

[Dutchy]

Moore Park.

Manly Oval and NSO wouldn't fit requirements.

 

[Hello, I'm The Doctor]

Well, put it this way....

If the Sea Eagles were offered a brand new stadium (quality somewhere between Gosford Stadium and Skilled Park), but to have it build they had to move to Chatswood or St Leonards (for public transport and better North Shore access), would you support it???

Or do you prefer a rundown Brookvale Oval?

 

[reanimate]

I'll copy my post over from the other thread and add some pictures:

In terms of other possible stadium sites, there's a few, but they all have their issues. Rat Park in Narrabeen is one potential site, and could be shared with its current tenant, the Shute Shield Warringah Rats team (until they die/go broke, that is). The site has plenty of room for a stadium and a good amount of parking could be built in the existing car parks at the front of the site, but I think if any new potential Sea Eagles/Union/soccer stadium were to be funded by the government and/or NRL, they'd insist that the stadium is also easily accessible from the North Shore. Rat Park is on the verge of being too far away from the North Shore to be attractive for a quick trip to a game.

Like paulmac said, there's an absolute stack of land at St Ives Showground that could be turned into an amazing stadium with huge amounts of parking. It's also right on the border of the Northern Beaches and the North Shore. The problem with that site is that there's effectively no public transport that takes people there (from either the NS or the NB), if you were to run regular, easily accessible bus lines that go past there, it'd be great.

Manly Oval itself is unfortunately a no go. It'd be an amazing, scenic location for a stadium, but I don't think there's enough land to build a big, full-sized stadium with heaps of seating on the site. It's also really congested, but there is a huge amount of public transport available.

Chatswood is another option. It's very easily accessible- there's huge amounts of public transport available, but the streets around Chatswood Oval itself are so tiny and narrow that the amount of traffic a game would generate would deadlock almost the entire area. Chatswood itself already gets really congested, I'm not sure how it'd cope with, say, a high drawing NRL game on a Friday night while people are returning from/leaving work, leaving school/getting home from school etc.

While Brookvale at the moment is rundown and not to the standard it should be, the site itself is pretty good, as it's easily accessible from the main bus lines, and is a short trip from much of the North Shore.

 

[Hello, I'm The Doctor]

I just loving the idea of Chatswood since i heard it.

It doesnt look like that ground would have enough space though, but there would have to be some land nearby up for urban renewal. I mean, come on, this is Sydney; the city of poor planning decisions. I dont believe that there is no bigass block of warehouses or something in this area that needs repurposing.

 

[firechild]

Traffic around the Chatswood ground would be a nightmare. f**king stupid idea. Rat Park would make the most sense since there is heaps of space, good roads in and already a ground there.

 

[Patorick]

My preferences if Brookie gets liberalized:
1. SCG
2. SFS
3. Daylight
4. Grahame Park

 

[Dogs Of War]

Traffic around the Chatswood ground would be a nightmare. f**king stupid idea. Rat Park would make the most sense since there is heaps of space, good roads in and already a ground there.

But not as good for visiting fans comign from anywhere else in Sydney. Not everybody owns a car.

 

[Hello, I'm The Doctor]

Traffic around the Chatswood ground would be a nightmare. f**king stupid idea. Rat Park would make the most sense since there is heaps of space, good roads in and already a ground there.

Public transport in the area really makes up for that though.

If you were to drive to a game there, it would be easy to park one or two stations down the line and ride up from there.

 

[reanimate]

I just loving the idea of Chatswood since i heard it.

It doesnt look like that ground would have enough space though, but there would have to be some land nearby up for urban renewal. I mean, come on, this is Sydney; the city of poor planning decisions. I dont believe that there is no bigass block of warehouses or something in this area that needs repurposing.

Hmmm, there's not much available around Chatswood. Maybe in the more industrial part of Chatswood, but that's a fair way away from the rail line.

Traffic around the Chatswood ground would be a nightmare. f**king stupid idea. Rat Park would make the most sense since there is heaps of space, good roads in and already a ground there.

Yeah, that's the big problem with Chatswood as a site. While it isn't far from the Northern Beaches, driving to the ground would be effectively impossible (which would be the preferred transport method of most NB residents going to Chatswood), as the streets around Chatswood Oval are already really tiny/pokey, it wouldn't cope with the traffic and parking demands an NRL game would generate. I worked in Chatswood for a while and the streets in Chatswood in general are already full-to-the-brim with people who park there for work. I mostly caught the bus, but on the odd occasion I drove, I'd have to park really far away and walk a long way to work.

But not as good for visiting fans comign from anywhere else in Sydney. Not everybody owns a car.

That's the problem with Rat Park as a site, it's that extra 15+ minutes up the Beaches that would begin to make the trip unappealing for away fans/Manly fans who live outside the Beaches. Otherwise, it'd be great, there's a stack of land and more parking could easily be built.

Public transport in the area really makes up for that though.

If you were to drive to a game there, it would be easy to park one or two stations down the line and ride up from there.

Northern Beaches residents could drive to Gordon and get the train from there, but the problem is there isn't that much in the way of parking at Gordon either (near the train station, anyway). Not sure about the Pymble or Turramurra stops. That's also not really that viable for people south of Collaroy. There'd need to be way, way more L60 buses run to make Chatswood a viable stadium site. It'd be better if it was split up into two routes too, with a more direct route from the North half of the NB that went straight along Wakehurst Pkwy to Chatswood, and another route that could collect people from the southern half of the NB and then take them up Warringah Rd.

 

[reanimate]

I thought of a few more sites that could be used. Instead of only considering sites that already have some sort of existing stadium/oval, if you could get any sort of sporting field and redevelop it into a stadium, then Miller Reserve or Nolan Reserve in North Manly/Manly Vale could be fantastic sites. There's a stack of land, especially at Miller Reserve, near (Nolan) or on the main road (Miller again), very accessible by bus, they're near Warringah Mall, so there's shops and other facilities nearby etc.

In terms of North Shore access, they're right near Allambie Rd, which goes straight up to Frenchs Forest and onto the North Shore to places like Chatswood (the route the 280 takes), and they're also >20 minutes on the main bus line from Mosman/Cremorne/Neutral Bay.
You'd have to kick the local soccer club off the fields (at Miller), but that'd be more than ok in my books. Give them a smaller training field out the back to play on, or something to that effect.

 

[firechild]

But not as good for visiting fans comign from anywhere else in Sydney. Not everybody owns a car.

Stiff sh*t. I think it is more important to make sure Manly fans can get to Manly games than worry about away fans who don't drive. Rat Park is on Pittwater Rd so is not all that much harder to get to than Brookie. Away fans would be catching a bus from Wynyard or Central as it is, many of those buses go up to Warriewood/Narrabeen.

 

[MEE.]

Wonder if a stadium could be developed if the tennis courts and bowling club on either side of Manly Oval were bought. Pie in the sky stuff.

Is the hospital at french's forest still going ahead? If infrastructure is being thrown that way it wouldn't be a bad shout either.

 

[Bulldog Force]

Rat Park!

http://www.pittwater.nsw.gov.au/recreation/sporting_facilities/pittwater_rugby_park

 

[undertaker]

From a non-Sea Eagles supporter's perspective, if something were to happen to your crapshack of a ground to the point where no more NRL matches were allowed to be played there, Rat Park in Narrabeen is by far your team's best bet for hosting home matches. It's still in the Northern Beaches precinct, only 11km further north from Brookvale Oval via Pittwater Road, hence making it convenient for Sea Eagles supporters living in the precinct to still get to the games. Also, fans in the city who normally catch the bus from Central or Wynyard don't have to alter their bus route and can still get there. Having the Western grandstand already there is an added bonus. The major redevelopment that needs to be done is a car park (which there is an abundance of land), and add corporate facilities. Given that the only other tenant playing there is the Warringah amateur rugby side and a local soccer team, it may be hard to get the funding that grounds like Hunter Stadium have had. Also, another thing I like is the location. I've always been a fan of grounds like the ones in Wollongong and Gosford that are near the water.

SFS would only work for Sunday arvo matches. I don't see Sea Eagles supporters regularly travelling to SFS if the matches were on Friday night, Saturday night or Monday night, as the traffic around Moore Park would be an issue for Friday and Monday night matches, and Sea Eagles fans made a stink the last time they hosted a Saturday night final at the SFS about kids getting back home too late etc.

North Sydney Oval is not really up to standard, not to mention it's an oval an not a rectangular field. Great to play NRL matches there for the heritage/nostalgic value, but like the SCG, wouldn't think it's a good idea playing regular matches there.

Manly Oval, same as the first two reasons for North Sydney Oval. Although it's in a prime location not far from the Manly Ferry Wharf, congestion would be a massive problem in the area where Manly Oval is located.

 

[TheRam]

The Chatswood site seems to be the only one worth looking into as it is the only one with RAIL transport. As I have said a bazillion times, if there isn't rail transport within 300 metres of a stadium, then the stadiums will be a hit and miss affair.

We live in the 21st century, people want total convenience. Anything that makes a game seem difficult of attend, will eventually put off thousands in the dead of winter. Families or non-diehard supporters will not go. End of story.

If you want to fill it every home game. make it easy to get to, warm and undercover and then you have a real chance to be able to compel all fans to get off their couch and make the trip. Otherwise good luck. Crowds will never have a chance to grow beyond at best 15-17 000 a season and that would be for a winning team, if you have a middle to crap team, watch it drop to around 10 000, and that's for a team that has potentially all of the north of Sydney to persuade into following them. That to me is a total bloody joke.

 

[roofromoz]

Wonder if a stadium could be developed if the tennis courts and bowling club on either side of Manly Oval were bought. Pie in the sky stuff.

Yes, but an even bigger obstacle is that Sydney Road runs along the southern edges, which is the major traffic artery between Manly and Spit Bridge. Sure, there could be a Gabba style grandstand that has the road running underneath it, but would that be a financially viable option? Clearance heights would need to be considered for buses and larger trucks.

I don't think you could close down Sydney Road in that part, unless you do a one way system centring on West Esplanade (westbound) and Raglan Street (eastbound). As locations go, it would be perfect, on the edge of the Manly CBD. But I am not sure how feasible that option would be either.

 

[reanimate]

From a non-Sea Eagles supporter's perspective, if something were to happen to your crapshack of a ground to the point where no more NRL matches were allowed to be played there, Rat Park in Narrabeen is by far your team's best bet for hosting home matches. It's still in the Northern Beaches precinct, only 11km further north from Brookvale Oval via Pittwater Road, hence making it convenient for Sea Eagles supporters living in the precinct to still get to the games. Also, fans in the city who normally catch the bus from Central or Wynyard don't have to alter their bus route and can still get there. Having the Western grandstand already there is an added bonus. The major redevelopment that needs to be done is a car park (which there is an abundance of land), and add corporate facilities. Given that the only other tenant playing there is the Warringah amateur rugby side and a local soccer team, it may be hard to get the funding that grounds like Hunter Stadium have had. Also, another thing I like is the location. I've always been a fan of grounds like the ones in Wollongong and Gosford that are near the water.

That's the great thing about the Rat Park site, there's a stack of land that could be used to build heaps of parking and facilities.

The Chatswood site seems to be the only one worth looking into as it is the only one with RAIL transport. As I have said a bazillion times, if there isn't rail transport within 300 metres of a stadium, then the stadiums will be a hit and miss affair.

We live in the 21st century, people want total convenience. Anything that makes a game seem difficult of attend, will eventually put off thousands in the dead of winter. Families or non-diehard supporters will not go. End of story.

If you want to fill it every home game. make it easy to get to, warm and undercover and then you have a real chance to be able to compel all fans to get off their couch and make the trip. Otherwise good luck. Crowds will never have a chance to grow beyond at best 15-17 000 a season and that would be for a winning team, if you have a middle to crap team, watch it drop to around 10 000, and that's for a team that has potentially all of the north of Sydney to persuade into following them. That to me is a total bloody joke.

The thing with Chatswood is that it gets that congested it would put people off going. The amount of people who are passing through the area, or leaving work, returning home from school or work etc on a Friday evening turn it into a madhouse at times, add the traffic and people attending an NRL game and you'd create absolute chaos. It could work through, if attractive public transport options from the Northern Beaches were put in place for evening games.

But yes, it is a joke that the north hasn't been given more attention, the area needs fixing badly.

Yes, but an even bigger obstacle is that Sydney Road runs along the southern edges, which is the major traffic artery between Manly and Spit Bridge. Sure, there could be a Gabba style grandstand that has the road running underneath it, but would that be a financially viable option? Clearance heights would need to be considered for buses and larger trucks.

I don't think you could close down Sydney Road in that part, unless you do a one way system centring on West Esplanade (westbound) and Raglan Street (eastbound). As locations go, it would be perfect, on the edge of the Manly CBD. But I am not sure how feasible that option would be either.

That'd be amazing if it could be made to work somehow. It's a pipe dream, but a great one nonetheless. People would come just for the day/night out in the area.