Should The NRL Offer Money To Sydney Clubs To Relocate?

[adamkungl]

There is a decent push to move to one stadium amongst the fan base, even one of the central stadiums, just not BW. I really want BW but most want ANZ!

That's very odd to me. BW has far superior views and atmosphere. I think the opening day flogging is messing with your heads haha
Either way you're sharing with another team whether it's Eels or Dogs and Souths.

 

[unforgiven]

Campbelltown to me is best especially after upgrades to ground.

Who is paying for these mythical upgrades?

 

[unforgiven]

That's very odd to me. BW has far superior views and atmosphere. I think the opening day flogging is messing with your heads haha
Either way you're sharing with another team whether it's Eels or Dogs and Souths.

Believe me, I agree with you, but I am about the only one. I hate ANZ but that is what the vast majority want!

 

[Pommy]

Who is paying for these mythical upgrades?

I don’t know if it’s mythical it was all part of the bid for them to get an A league franchise which they got.
I’m not sure who la paying but I assume if your making a big based on that their has to be some proof of funds.

 

[adamkungl]

Believe me, I agree with you, but I am about the only one. I hate ANZ but that is what the vast majority want!

Need a big finals win there to get people on board

 

[unforgiven]

Need a big finals win there to get people on board

Making the finals would be a start lol

 

[Diesel]

Cronulla is going to be interesting with a move to Kogarah over the next few seasons. They’re not playing at Shark Park while the development is going on and will have to pay hireage fees for a new ground, the LC is closing for renos so that’ll have some effect on their bottom line. They’re practically going to be a nomad team. Not a good time while the NRL is wanting one team to move out of Sydney.
Cronulla always seems to find a way out of their troubles and this will no doubt be the same, but their timing is terrible if something goes wrong like what happened to Norths

 

[greenBV4]

Cronulla always seems to find a way out of their troubles then gets straight into a new one

fixed it for you

 

[flippikat]

(Re: whether a fulltime team based in Campbelltown is a viable proposition)
I dunno. It might be possible but it requires total buy-in from the club not 4 games a year.
Personally I think there's a bigger, better future in semi-centralised modern stadiums than the outskirts of suburban Sydney, which is why I think Manly, St George, Cronulla should consider their options.

(Re:Tigers fans showing up to their Bankwest Stadium games)

Mixed results so far

12.5k v Raiders
9.8k v Souths (Thursday)
13.9k v Roosters
24.1k v Eels

Keep in mind these are all mid-Origin period, which is always a dud time for crowds.
Would any have got more through the gate at Leichhardt or Campbeltown? Probably not.

Again, I think a stronger buy-in from the club is key here. If the club throws its weight behind Bankwest I have no doubt Tigers could be the premier team representing all Western Sydney and start a major modern rivalry with the Eels.

On your first point, the reason why I mention Campbelltown is that A-league clearly see that it's a viable location to base a team in their code.. even to the point of getting the local council on-board for upgrades. In the past when this has come up, the Tigers have been linked to it (naturally, given the Magpies moved there in the mid 1980s), but it could be a location for the Bulldogs - How about Campbelltown Stadium housing the Bulls in summer and Bulldogs in winter?

This links into your second point.. IF the Tigers take up full time residency at Bankwest, the inner-west becomes awfully crowded between the Bulldogs, Eels & Tigers (with Souths dabbling in that area by playing out of ANZ Stadium).. what chance that a Tigers move to Bankwest (setting up an 'inner west rivalry' with Parra ) means a Bulldogs move to Campbelltown?

 

[franklin2323]

Who is paying for these mythical upgrades?

Wasn't that why the soccer team got in?

 

[franklin2323]

I don’t know if it’s mythical it was all part of the bid for them to get an A league franchise which they got.
I’m not sure who la paying but I assume if your making a big based on that their has to be some proof of funds.

Exactly. Adding even 10 WT games to it will help

 

[Diesel]

On your first point, the reason why I mention Campbelltown is that A-league clearly see that it's a viable location to base a team in their code.. even to the point of getting the local council on-board for upgrades. In the past when this has come up, the Tigers have been linked to it (naturally, given the Magpies moved there in the mid 1980s), but it could be a location for the Bulldogs - How about Campbelltown Stadium housing the Bulls in summer and Bulldogs in winter?

This links into your second point.. IF the Tigers take up full time residency at Bankwest, the inner-west becomes awfully crowded between the Bulldogs, Eels & Tigers (with Souths dabbling in that area by playing out of ANZ Stadium).. what chance that a Tigers move to Bankwest (setting up an 'inner west rivalry' with Parra ) means a Bulldogs move to Campbelltown?

In hindsight the Wests Tigers is a terrible merger. I get why the two clubs couldn’t stand alone and the other options for Balmain & Western Suburbs were takeovers but they’re spreading themselves too thin amongst 3 home grounds & 4 games (usually the least appealing) at Campbelltown is an area under utilised

 

[flippikat]

In hindsight the Wests Tigers is a terrible merger. I get why the two clubs couldn’t stand alone and the other options for Balmain & Western Suburbs were takeovers but they’re spreading themselves too thin amongst 3 home grounds & 4 games (usually the least appealing) at Campbelltown is an area under utilised

Yep, and late 1997-99 was missed opportunity after missed opportunity.. the NRL partners (ARL & News) were so keen to make the peace settlement work, they overlooked or just plain disregarded decisions that would have enriched the game in the long run.. just to satisfy the terms of the peace settlement.

The NRL *should* had had better oversight of the formation of joint ventures, just as how the frontier teams of Perth and Adelaide (and a 2nd Brisbane team) should have been safeguarded.

You just get the feeling that so long as the arbitrary "agreed competition size" was reached, it didn't matter who merged with who, or how many 1-city teams got canned.

Ideally the NRL would have put weight on the Bulldogs to make a merger with Wests more even-handed. Likewise with Parra and Balmain.. AND got all the merged teams to have one base, one home ground.

 

[siv]

Maybe we should bring back the Bears and leave Camobelltown to the dogs

Then we would have a true inner city 4 team rivalry

 

[flippikat]

Maybe we should bring back the Bears and leave Camobelltown to the dogs

Then we would have a true inner city 4 team rivalry

For me, it all hinges on what the Tigers do. If anyone has "first dibs" on a move to Campbelltown, it's them.

Right now I'd say the chances are 70/30 that they'll move to Bankwest, which would put Campbelltown up for grabs for anyone that wants that part of Sydney as a base.. probably Bulldogs, as I can't see any other club besides the Bulldogs or Tigers moving to Campbelltown.

Maybe the Sharks if the redevelopment of Shark Park goes completely awry and damn near bankrupts them so they have to sell assets and move (think North Sydney's late 1990s woes with the Gosford construction, only much much worse).. but that's an extremely unlikely scenario.