Same old same old

[Father Ted]

South Sydney CEO calls for suburban footy to be axed

• by: Christian Nicolussi and Dean Ritchie
• From:The Daily Telegraph
• April 05, 201212:00AM

Suburban footy: Wests Tigers captain Robbie Farah celebrates a win with the Leichhardt Oval faithful. Picture: Gregg Porteous Source: The Australian


SOUTH Sydney chief executive Shane Richardson has called for all Sydney clubs to abandon their traditional home grounds for the city's two major stadiums.

Rather than see games continue at favourites like Leichhardt Oval, Brookvale, Parramatta Stadium, Centrebet Stadium, WIN Jubilee and Toyota Stadium, Richardson said it would be financially viable to play all games at ANZ and Allianz Stadiums.The AFL has the same system in which Melbourne teams play out of the MCG and Etihad Stadium.
In a move that is sure to anger league fans who have generational attachment to their local suburban ground - in some cases dating back decades - Richardson said a strong stadium policy was the only way to address the issue of match-day attendance. After six rounds, Richardson said match-day attendance had fallen 6 per cent on this time last year.


However, Rabbits officials are banking on more than 30,000 fans at Homebush tomorrow for their Good Friday clash with the Bulldogs.
"Personally I think we need two stadiums, but I am comfortable with three," Richardson said.

"I just think it's the way the game is going. What you're doing is like a salmon swimming against the tide, except the tide is Niagara Falls.
"You can swim against it for as long as you want, but until we have an across-the-board policy on this, everyone has to catch and kill their own. We're all trying to maximise the money we get out of the game.
"People say they love going to Leichhardt Oval, and while that's great for people who go to Leichhardt, we want new people to the game.
"They want to go to a stadium that is secure, where they have a seat, good toilet facilities, great public transport - that's how we get people coming to our game.
"Do you think there wasn't a backlash when we moved away from the SFS? Do you think there wasn't a backlash when we weren't able to play at Redfern Oval?
"Do you think there wasn't a backlash from the Collingwood fans (after the move from Victoria Park)?
"Do you think there wasn't a backlash from Wests Tigers when they moved games to (Allianz) away from Campbelltown?
"But why did they do it? To grow revenue. It's better than losing a club."
St George Illawarra recently received $30 million worth of upgrades to WIN Jubilee and WIN Wollongong, but chief executive Peter Doust agreed with Richardson such a move may be necessary in the future.
"We can't stick our heads in sand - economics are important," Doust said.
"It would (cause an uproar if we moved). Fans have celebrated and enjoyed the great passion of our home grounds but rugby league is a professional sport and a lot of fans respect quality amenities.
"We may not be able to continue upgrading our grounds so I can see some difficulties ahead."
Cronulla chairman Damian Irvine was not keen to vacate the Shire and said: "My feeling is it would be poorly received by our supporter base. I can see the merit financially but you just can't keep trying to grab the dollar."

 

[Hutty1986]

Cronulla have a supporter base?

 

[Drain the Dragon]

IMO if it happens it will be another reason to stay home and watch it on TV.
Who wants to sit in traffic for 2 hours to get to and from these grounds?

 

[Elias1983]

And f**k wit Doust agrees with this for the future...

Seriously it's time to move this jibberer on.

 

[Puff]

Doust is and always will be a walnut stamper. He adds nothing a steroid fed monkey couldn't add. And please don't tell me he got Bennett. FFS Bennett fell in his lap after three other teams screwed up and could have had him. Furthermore, we won in 2010 due to most decisions being taken out of his hands with Bennett ruling the roost IMO.

 

[Divine]

Fans in general dislike ANZ. It simply isn't a footy stadium. Build something like Suncorp and we'll talk.

 

[Reyter]

I'm no fan of Doust but "it may be necessary in the future" is hardly a ringing endorsement.

 

[gorilla]

St George Illawarra recently received $30 million worth of upgrades to WIN Jubilee and WIN Wollongong, but chief executive Peter Doust agreed with Richardson such a move may be necessary in the future.
"

Kogarah is a quality facility, despite the almost Taj-like service and F&B availability.

 

[Elias1983]

Why spend 30 million today and look to move in the future? continue to invest in both stadiums if you are that good in obtaining funds from the Govt keep improving them. Pretty soon teams will be asking to play at your venue from different codes!

We had a Sydney FC game there in the off season!

 

[blacklock]

matty johns made a good point on fox...if they want extra money to help fill the big stadiums...just charge gold coins for those upper tiers which are otherwise usually empty. youd get maybe a couple extra thousand and it looks better on the screen.

a cheap chair is better than an empty chair which is drawing zero revenue.

 

[dragondad]

I will only listen to Shane Richardson if he stops using 'the reality is'. He must be paid extra every time he utters those words.

 

[Father Ted]

Fans angry at stadiums plan


SAM HALL
06 Apr, 2012 04:00 AM
St George Illawarra supporters have condemned a proposal to abandon the NRL’s historic suburban grounds, including Kogarah’s WIN Jubilee Oval and potentially WIN Stadium, in favour of larger capacity stadiums.

The State Government has commissioned a report into a stadium policy across all codes, because of the high cost of constant sportsground upgrades and regular requests for funding.
In an attempt to ensure clubs are more financially viable, the report will consider the option of Sydney clubs playing more games out of two or three stadiums, including ANZ Stadium and Allianz Stadium.
The proposal could potentially spell an end to Leichhardt Oval, Campbelltown Stadium, WIN Jubilee Oval, Parramatta Stadium, Toyota Stadium and Brookvale Oval as a result.
Wollongong’s WIN Stadium is also understood to have been factored into the report, which is being put together by auditor KPMG and is due to be released in coming months.
Kogarah councillor Lachlan McLean, who headed the Return to Kogarah group when St George Illawarra lost its Kogarah games to Sydney between 2000 and 2002, argued the concept would stunt the game’s growth.
‘‘When St George Illawarra weren’t playing at Kogarah, I think the community lost a lot of its identity and I think the team lost out too because it didn’t have its home ground advantage,’’ he said.
‘‘I think they’re going in the wrong direction. It might seem like an easy way to get cash now but in the long term the NRL will suffer.
‘‘Over $60 million has been spent on both these stadiums [WIN Jubilee and WIN Stadium] since the Return 2 Kogarah campaign, so the talk is very disappointing.’’
Dragons chief executive Peter Doust didn’t return the Mercury’s calls yesterday, but told a Sydney newspaper he envisaged problems ahead if funding for suburban grounds dried up.
‘‘We can’t stick our heads in the sand - economics are important,’’ he said.‘‘It would [cause an uproar if we moved]. Fans have celebrated and enjoyed the great passion of our home grounds but rugby league is a professional sport and a lot of fans respect quality amenities
http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/news/local/news/general/fans-angry-at-stadiums-plan/2513874.aspx

 

[Father Ted]

Know-it-all Richo's fast losing friends at Souths

Adrian Proszenko

April 8, 2012

• Read later

Sunday Sin Bin

Running out of friends at Redfern ... Shane Richardson, right. Photo: Simon Alekna

Shane Richardson has been freely dispensing advice and telling other clubs how to conduct their business, but he should be more focused on issues closer to home - such as keeping his job. We're getting very strong mail that the South Sydney CEO has fallen out with key powerbrokers at Redfern and that this season is likely to be his last at the club. ''They are making plans and I can tell you that he will be gone by the end of the year,'' a Rabbitohs insider said. ''The board and the football club are drifting away from him because he doesn't have a role to play.'' While there is obvious merit in taking blockbuster games to big stadiums, Richardson's call for all Sydney clubs to abandon traditional grounds was largely panned




Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...s-at-souths-20120407-1wi65.html#ixzz1rMr0zct2

 

[Ausguy]

Cronulla have a supporter base?

That came around to bite you didnt it.

 

[dougieswim]

Doust is and always will be a walnut stamper. He adds nothing a steroid fed monkey couldn't add. And please don't tell me he got Bennett. FFS Bennett fell in his lap after three other teams screwed up and could have had him. Furthermore, we won in 2010 due to most decisions being taken out of his hands with Bennett ruling the roost IMO.

Couldn't agree more.... Doust is a drunk that only wants to know the internationals and no one else in the club. We are going to be cleaning out the cupboard soon with our old players, I'd start with him too.

and....

Souths are only whinging cos they have no home ground anymore. Last time I checked ANZ was in the west of Sydney not in the South. Who would join as a member, other then loyalty, to travel to grounds that aren't yours for a home game. The clubs couldn't sell premium memberships and hence would lose money. I'm a member of ANZ and when the bulldogs play there, their members get the bottom members area but I wouldn't call it premium and hardly the atmosphere you get at Kogarah.

 

[Father Ted]

Keep league games in ‘our house’


EDITORIAL
09 Apr, 2012 09:48 AM
The National Rugby League has spent a motza promoting the game through its ‘‘This Is Our House’’ advertising campaign.
The campaign, featuring the code’s best players and the iconic rocker Bon Jovi, has been a tearaway success with the league reporting increased interest and more bums on seats.
For the diehard league fans ‘‘our house’’ means just that, it’s their home ground, usually in suburban Sydney or here in Wollongong, where they go with their families to watch their team play.
It’s a rugby league tradition and has been for decades.
So why is it that some people within the game are now trying to tear the house down and move games away to bigger stadiums?
Even more disappointing for St George Illawarra fans is that chief executive Peter Doust appears to be among those in favour of the move, despite the fact many millions of taxpayers’ dollars have gone into the club’s home grounds at Kogarah and Wollongong.
We agree that finals games should be played at the much bigger ANZ and Allianz stadiums, but please don’t take our home matches way.
That would be a scandal. Rugby league is not just about dollars, it’s about tradition and respect for the fans.

http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/...l/keep-league-games-in-our-house/2514842.aspx

 

[Fire]

One of the six Kogarah home games are played at the SFS (the ANZAC game), and we usually sell that out. 15% of the home games from the St. George side of the merger is enough in my opinion.

Also, if Doust wants to talk about 'economics', how much money does St George Leagues Club make before and after the five Kogarah games.

We then move onto the Illawarra side of the merger. There is no way Wollongong will let you take six home games off them, especially with the new grandstand.

As for Doust, I agree with what someone said above. The best three years under him is when Bennett took the shot-calling decisions out of his hands.

 

[Father Ted]

One-time foes united on plan for two stadiums to cover all codes

April 11, 2012

• Read later
• Comments 3

"I've looked at sport around the world and it's inevitable we are moving to shared facilities where the one stadium can host multiple events in different sporting codes" ... Sports Minister, Graham Annesley. Photo: Ryan Osland

In a ''back to the future'' strategy, two long-term rugby league administrators have combined to rationalise the use of NSW government-controlled stadiums, possibly leading to the return of the long-abandoned Sydney ''match of the day''.
The former National Rugby League director of football operations and now Sports Minister, Graham Annesley, has appointed former league supremo John Quayle chairman of a new statutory body called Venues NSW.
Annesley, by negotiating the legislation through the State Parliament late last year and appointing Quayle to the position in February, has shown he is still a step ahead of the NRL club chief executives and chairmen he once administered.
Advertisement: Story continues below
Bosses of clubs such as the Rabbitohs, Bulldogs, Dragons and Roosters have recently raised the prospect of a heavily-promoted weekly rugby league match being played at one of Sydney's two major grounds, Allianz Stadium or ANZ Stadium.
Venues NSW has been empowered to take control of government-owned stadiums and entertainment centres in Newcastle, Wollongong and Parramatta away from local trusts where they compete against each other for resources and events.
The new statutory body will not embrace the Sydney Cricket Ground Trust that also controls Allianz Stadium, nor will it have any immediate influence over ANZ Stadium. However, the legislation does allow Venues NSW to ultimately take control of all NSW government-owned stadiums.
Annesley admitted a two-stadium policy for major rugby league, rugby union and soccer matches in Sydney was a long-term possibility.
''Sometime these things come in small steps,'' the minister said. ''The SCG is an iconic venue and controlled by a trust. It's not on the current agenda for Venues NSW to take it under its umbrella but the legislation does allow us to add venues.
''Homebush is owned by a private consortium but does come back to government ownership in approximately 2031.
''The three we've put together for now - Newcastle, Wollongong and Parramatta - are very similar venues and we believe we will achieve economies of scale, superior bargaining powers and stop, say, Newcastle and Wollongong bidding against each other for events where the only winners are the promoters.''
Annesley, who is the member for Miranda, was guarded on the long-term possibility of all existing suburban rugby league stadiums, such as the Sharks' Toyota Stadium, being closed and all games played at Allianz and ANZ.
This is the situation in Melbourne where all AFL games are played at either the MCG or Etihad Stadium, with famous old suburban grounds, such as Essendon's Windy Hill, now used as training venues.
''It's paying dividends for the AFL,'' he said, in reference to big crowds and superior facilities. ''But how long does it take to make the change? I understand there was initial resistance in Melbourne.''
Typically, Quayle was more direct, fully endorsing the AFL model.
After resigning as ARL chief executive in 1996, he was in charge of venues at the Sydney Olympics and then advised Athens, London and Rio de Janeiro on the modelling of their facilities for the 2004, 2012 and 2016 Olympics respectively.
He was a consultant much in demand for the Pan American Games and Asian Games in the Middle East.
''I've looked at sport around the world and it's inevitable we are moving to shared facilities where the one stadium can host multiple events in different sporting codes,'' he said. ''The AFL model is the best. Queensland, with Suncorp for the rugby codes and soccer and Ballymore for AFL and cricket, is also very good.''
Asked if he supported a new stadium in Sydney's west to cater for the latest A-League franchise, he said he would prefer to close in Parramatta Stadium with stands at either end and cater for another 10,000 fans.
Too much money had been spent by past governments reacting to emotional cries to renovate Belmore, Kogarah and Leichhardt, he said.
He will head a board of eight, embracing the chairs of the Illawarra (Wollongong), Hunter (Newcastle) and western Sydney (Parramatta) local venue centres, as well as state government appointees, including former Magpie great, John Dorahy.
''What we will be doing is designed for the next 20 years, not next year,'' Quayle said.
''No longer should we take emotion into decision making and invest in facilities which may operate only in the short term.''
Annesley and Quayle, opponents in the 1995-97 Super League war when Annesley was a referee in the rival competition, have obviously discarded any emotional shackles from that era to work together for the future of their state.




Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...r-all-codes-20120410-1wn4f.html#ixzz1rh8dhl3t