Parramatta to NOT move Dragons blockbuster to Homebush

[Mark Rudd]

If you cant get 50k to this game, both ya stinkin clubs should be kicked out.


Great positive attitude being displayed here at LU as usual...

 

[The Colonel]

wont get any more than 35k

More than they would get at Parramatta and almost double the crowd at Kogarah. Is that such a bad thing???

 

[bazza]

It will be great if they can top 35k - any less will be disappointing.

The only downside I see is that it slightly de-values membership if all the big games are going to be moved. If the big games continually sell out, then it should encourage more ticketed members and make membership more valuable.

If all the big games are moved, people can just wait till that happens and then get a ticket

 

[[FKN-SIK]]

Osbourne > Douche

 

[ozjet1]

We did used to play the match of the round at the SCG a while back for about 60 years. Didnt hurt tribalism too much. Perhaps if you had an adult IQ, you would have known that ;-)

compare like for like.

one game a week vs every match involving Sydney based clubs every weekend? that's the way it's heading, is being advocated by many people associated with the game led by the game's fuhrer - the DT. and of course, if the DT says we should all be sh*tting out a peanut, most people in this city will agree. they have their own agenda.

clubs start abandoning their home grounds and reduce the number of available facilities to play at, then the Olympic (read AFL) and SCG Trusts will take advantage of it. ANZ have been offering financial carrots to get teams to move game-days there. that wont last forever, and at some stage, they want to recoup. what better time than when there are no other options.

If the sport can get it's sh*t together as a governing body and competition admininstator, it would have leverage to lobby government for stadium improvements. it's still a basket case.

 

[ozjet1]

More than they would get at Parramatta and almost double the crowd at Kogarah. Is that such a bad thing???

depends if the net financial gain for 35k at homebush is better than 22k at parra.

 

[The Colonel]

depends if the net financial gain for 35k at homebush is better than 22k at parra.

Ground only holds 20,000 at Parra now. As for financial gain..... well, you could guess that they certainly aren't moving to lose money.

 

[Doug2234]

Parra is a great ground to watch footy but i dont mind the move.

 

[The Observer]

if this becomes the norm and every team starts playing matches out of centralised stadia, then tribalism in rugby league will die.

it begins with one or two games here and there, then it becomes a regular thing in seasons to come to the point where 8 teams will play out of 2 stadia. teams will lose their district identity and just carry the name of it rather than represent it. it happened in the AFL and now it's just a generic & homogenous piece of crap. there's no real distinction between one melbourne team and another apart from their match day colours, and the players that fill them.

What constitutes 'tribalism' can be subjective - one person's opinion and experience can differ from another's. AFL fans would claim that their game is more tribal, and would claim that their larger club attendance figures, larger member bases, and other factors would prove that. They might claim that fans chant more at their games, or something else. In AFL, they developed their suburban homes into good training grounds, like Souths have done in RL, and they retain a link to their original community.

At least Homebush is close to the Parramatta area.

 

[sharko]

Parra need every red cent they can get this year, they have been trading like geniuss the last decade and need to put some money in their coffers quick smart... to move this game will get them a hell of a lot more revenue than if they stayed at Parra Stadium for the night!

 

[The Colonel]

Parra need every red cent they can get this year, they have been trading like geniuss the last decade and need to put some money in their coffers quick smart... to move this game will get them a hell of a lot more revenue than if they stayed at Parra Stadium for the night!

Ironic coming from a Sharks fan...

 

[Evenflow]

Risk disassociating yourself from your base, risk losing your identity. and the two teams on the ground represent nothing.

What a load of sh*t. Tell 80k+ people at a Collingwood v Essendon/Carlton/Richmond game that the 2 teams don't represent anything. Dont ge me wrong i love a good suburban ground game but the FACT is that AFL crowds have literally sky rocketed since the implication of their system and i wouldn't doubt for a second that the supporters of their clubs love their team one bit less because they no longer play out of their suburban grounds. That's blatantly obvious given their crowd number explosion.

Parra are to be congratulated for this move. I'm sure a few traditionalists who can't stop living in the past will whinge, but it's moves like this that'll help ensure their survival given pokies grants are getting cut to the sh*thouse every years and when it's never been more important to find new revenue streams.

I'm no fan at all of the club but in this instance well done Parra.

 

[Slackboy72]

I think they could get 15 cats and 14 pigeons at ANZ and it would still make a better profit than any other ground.

And that is the crux of it. Osbourne doesn't really care how many come to the game. The guaranteed $80k-$100k from the stadium into Parra's coffers will do nicely. And good on him. If Parra fans are happy with that then that's their choice. But if Doust did that to me after I bought a season ticket to Kogarah (which I have) then I would be pissed.

 

[petetheileet]

And that is the crux of it. Osbourne doesn't really care how many come to the game. The guaranteed $80k-$100k from the stadium into Parra's coffers will do nicely. And good on him. If Parra fans are happy with that then that's their choice. But if Doust did that to me after I bought a season ticket to Kogarah (which I have) then I would be pissed.

^^ True words spoken ^^

 

[Danish]

Peter Doust is the CEO of the Dragons, not the NRL. He made a decision based on what he (and the board) thought would be the best for the Dragons. I would agree that playing a vital home game at home is a good decision for the club.

And it worked a treat....

 

[babyg]

A very rough calculation. If the NRL had 1 blockbuster game each week that attracted 40,000 then the crowd averages would rise to 19,000. An extra 30,000 would move it to just under 18,000. That's not including Brisbane games cause they already get that, so I'm really talking a Sydney blockbuster.

 

[Willow]

This is Parra's decision to make, no one else's.

Just as playing at Kogarah was Saints' decision to make.

The situations are quite different though, but that doesn't change the fact that it is the club's decision. Not for the media or opposition supporters to dictate.

Hope it's a good crowd.

 

[jpaciocco91]

Hope theres a big crowd....40-000-60,000.

 

[1 Eyed TEZZA]

I dont mind too much. Id love it at Parra, but if the atmosphere is anything like the Prelim final last year, then Id be more then happy to have it at ANZ.

 

[bobmar28]

Excellent decision, for the club and the code. Go Eels.