Richardson calls for suburban footy to be axed

[franklin2323]

I'm bloody certain they wouldn't.Nothing can replace the atmosphere at Toyota last weekend.

We are the same distance. Free direct buses from the Leagues club may help a bit but it's still the time.

Sunday for example. I can leave at 1230 & make NYC. I will also be home by 530. For away trips the misses & the baby come or it's a bitch to get the extra couple of hours away.

Have to cram more in during the morning. Doing that for 12 weeks becomes a hassell.

 

[BunniesMan]

Quayle and Annesley have said "emotions" like that won't affect their future decisions.

Economics will be put ahead of "atmosphere".

 

[DC_fan]

We are assuming that fans live in the district of the club they support. I am a Souths fan, live a fair distance from Redfern and never lived anywhere near there.

I catch the train to ANZ Stadium along with 100's if not 1,000's of other Rabbitohs fans who like me do not live near Redfern. I am a season ticket holder. If Souths played at Redfern or the SFS it would be difficult for me to attend some games, especially those played on a Friday or Monday night. Therefore I would most likely not be a season ticket holder. I wonder how many other Souths fans would be in the same position if the team was playing anywhere else other then ANZ.

just because you live in a certain area of Sydney does not mean you follow the local team.

 

[Loudstrat]

If Souths played at Redfern or the SFS it would be difficult for me to attend some games, especially those played on a Friday or Monday night.

Answers your point about all clubs moving to ANZ when half of them live further away than their home ground..........

 

[BunniesMan]

Answers your point about all clubs moving to ANZ when half of them live further away than their home ground..........

Yes but playing closer to the centre of the city means the average distance from your fans to the stadium is less than if you play in a far flung corner of the city.

Penrith, Manly, Easts and Cronulla have a very concentrated fanbase.

The bigger Sydney clubs have managed to grow beyond that and have fans spread out all over Sydney. This includes Souths, Parra, Wests, Canterbury and St George.

There is a reason Penrith has limited crowds and members. The population of Penrith is mostly transplants from other parts of the city and in that district there are as many fans of the big clubs as there are Penrith fans.

 

[Loudstrat]

Firstly the SFS aint in the centre of the metro area.

Secondly - that would be true if all the Sharks fans lived at Windsor, all the Manly fans lived at Campbelltown and all the Penrith fans lived at Palm Beach.

Regardless of the spread, the greatest concentration of a teams fans is around it's epicentre. The proof is the suburban ground system. There is not a suburban ground that I am aware of that hasnt jagged over 18k at some time in the past two years.

Simple. Put a dot on the map halfway between ANZ and Brookie. Do another one halfway between ANZ and Leichardt, and ditto to Kogarah, Endeavour, Campbelltown and Parra. Join the dots. The area OUTSIDE that line is disadvanaged. Guess which side of the line most people live.

 

[PARRA_FAN]

I wish people (not here, but in the media) would stop comparing this situation to the AFL in Melbourne.

"Oh but AFL plays all their games at Etihad and MCG"

Its a silly argument cause 1. We're not Melbourne 2. We're not the AFL.

Keep the suburban footy, dont scrap it altogether.

I also ask this, the other night I watched a couple of English Super League games, and their grounds looked pretty good, St Helens and Warrington home grounds. I know we're very different to the UK super league, but if we had grounds like this in the NRL, would people rather go to these grounds or still prefer the likes of Brookvale, Campbelltown, Leichhardt, Toyota and Kogarah.

 

[Loudstrat]

If the ground is packed then all seaters are great. If half full grass is great. The problem with seats is access - kids want to move around and it's a pain in the butt for patrons if they do so.

I agree that copying AFL is stupid. A sure sign of mental geniusation.

 

[Collingwood Storm]

A big plus of centralised stadiums is the ability for clubs to sell membership packages which include reserved seats/general admission for away games. It could attract new members but also increase revenue from current members who upgrade to the local away games.

e.g. Collingwood have a 17-game premium reserved seat membership for $740 which has been maxed out at 8,000 due to a limit on the number of GF tix clubs get allocated as well as a 'home' 11-game premium reserved seat membership for $560

 

[Perth Red]

but but but AFL is bad and we would be stupid to do anything they do, haven't you been listening?

 

[CC_Roosters]

The comparisons with the afl are getting boring, its even at the point on the radio today a caller phoned up saying the afl matchday program is superior to the nrl one. wow seriously how do you work that out and who cares.

 

[Loudstrat]

but but but AFL is bad and we would be stupid to do anything they do, haven't you been listening?

Well you bloodyt havent. You are the biggest AFL lover on here. There is nothing you love about Rugby League and nothing you think we do better.

Those of us who love RL are f*cking sick of trolls like you.

 

[Perth Red]

blah blah blah.

 

[firechild]

Sydney is roughly 35% larger than Melbourne. The Sydney clubs cover the extremities of the Sydney metro area (Palm Beach, Penrith, Campbelltown and the Shire) which is far too big an area to be serviced by 2 stadiums. Penrith also includes a large number of supporters through the Blue Mountains. For some of those people a home game at Penrith is 30min from home, a home game at Homebush is well over an hour. You can bet that people with kids don't want to be getting home from a home game after 11pm on a Saturday night. Similarly people from the Northern Beaches don't want to be catching 3 buses to get home from a home game. The idea is just stupid but people outside Sydney (and those from clubs already playing out of ANZ or the SFS) will contiue to support it because it will take away the advantage that these clubs get by playing in front of a packed home stadium.

 

[Sans Souci Sainter]

Sydney is roughly 35% larger than Melbourne. The Sydney clubs cover the extremities of the Sydney metro area (Palm Beach, Penrith, Campbelltown and the Shire) which is far too big an area to be serviced by 2 stadiums. Penrith also includes a large number of supporters through the Blue Mountains. For some of those people a home game at Penrith is 30min from home, a home game at Homebush is well over an hour. You can bet that people with kids don't want to be getting home from a home game after 11pm on a Saturday night. Similarly people from the Northern Beaches don't want to be catching 3 buses to get home from a home game. The idea is just stupid but people outside Sydney (and those from clubs already playing out of ANZ or the SFS) will contiue to support it because it will take away the advantage that these clubs get by playing in front of a packed home stadium.

Pretty much.

 

[WireMan]

If the ground is packed then all seaters are great. If half full grass is great. The problem with seats is access - kids want to move around and it's a pain in the butt for patrons if they do so.

I agree that copying AFL is stupid. A sure sign of mental geniusation.

Neither Warrington or Saints grounds are all seater and IMO are the best kind of small suburban ground. Cheap, comfortable and great views for crowds.


If you put a roof on all your suburban grounds then they will be fine. The weather is the biggest excuse for poor crowds on here.

Plus the atmosphere is better if the noise is trapped in the ground.

Not sure why you would move the the likes of Manly, Penrith or Cronulla to the SFS or ANZ.

Unless it was stage one of relocating or merging them.

 

[flippikat]

Neither Warrington or Saints grounds are all seater and IMO are the best kind of small suburban ground. Cheap, comfortable and great views for crowds.


If you put a roof on all your suburban grounds then they will be fine. The weather is the biggest excuse for poor crowds on here.

Plus the atmosphere is better if the noise is trapped in the ground.

I think you've hit on a good point there - the suburban grounds don't have the same degree of cover that you get at a big stadium.

Just watching the Dragons v Knights game tonight, if it was raining it sure wouldn't be much fun standing on a hill with no cover and a ground getting muddier by the minute.

 

[anjado]

Souths should move back to the SFS really that is there home it is South Sydney. The only problem with suburban grounds are facilities and capacities. Homebush is horrible for any crowd under about 45,000, i honestly think it is a worse look for the game to be played at Homebush with 30,000 people than a game being played at a suburban stadium and drawing 20,000.

All that needs to be done is provide more shelter at suburban grounds and make the capacity larger.

Brookvale - 30,000
Campbelltown - 27,000
Kograh - 30,000
Leichardt - 27,000
Parramatta - 30,000
Penrith - 30,000


There are only 6 suburban grounds currently in use if we can upgrade capacity and facilities a bit we will get better crowds everywhere. The Melbourne system will not work they have a better transport system than us and all there teams are from the Melbourne metropolitan area similar to how rugby league was in 1908.

 

[Loudstrat]

Neither Warrington or Saints grounds are all seater and IMO are the best kind of small suburban ground. Cheap, comfortable and great views for crowds.


If you put a roof on all your suburban grounds then they will be fine. The weather is the biggest excuse for poor crowds on here.

Plus the atmosphere is better if the noise is trapped in the ground.

Not sure why you would move the the likes of Manly, Penrith or Cronulla to the SFS or ANZ.

Unless it was stage one of relocating or merging them.

All good points. Especially the intriguing suggestion of culling clubs by stealth.

I notice PR never denied my allegation either. Just showed a pic of him looking for his Fremantle season tickets.

 

[Perth Red]

like I'd waste my time, the picture I posted of you says it all!

Corporate facilities play a big part in the discussion as well. I was staggered when I heard how much income comes from sales of corporate packages at stadiums (it was in a discussion about the redevelopment of nib and the clubs wanting a corporate East stand first and the Govt wanting a fans focused West stand building). Big companies want very high quality corporate facilities to wine and dine their current and potential customers and the big modern grounds have these in abundance compared to the suburban grounds.

At the end of the day it should be a commercial decision made by each club and influenced by the impact on the fanbase. If clubs feel it is sustainable to be playing in 20k suburban grounds with ltd facilities and where crowds will drop under 10k when it rains then that is their decision, but don't start bleating about not having enough money to run a club if they make that choice.