Should we follow the AFL?

[Bib]

In the AFL in Melbourne most teams have left their traditonal home ground to either play at the MCG or Telstra dome. The exceptions are Carlton who play out of a decent ground and Geelong who are approx 50k's out fo Melbourne.

Do we think this is the way to go?

Should we have at the SFS

Souths, Roosters, Sharks, Manly and Dragons

At Telstra stadium

Tigers, Eels, Dogs, Panthers

Im a tigers fan and would be devestated tp leave leichhardt and Campbelltown, but is it time? I know clubs such as Penrith and Parramatta have modern grounds but is time?

There are problems such as when to fit all the games in as the afl has more interstate teams and can schedule it ok.

What do you think? i know this will make nospam49 happy, but at least you would know that you are going to a high quality ground and that you would be in comfort.

Thoughts?

 

[Eddie.]

WORST IDEA EVER.

Sorry mate...

But it is.

 

[Anonymous]

No thanks.

 

[Bib]

Think about it, youu could have double headers every week and fill the grounds!

 

[Man_of_Steel_1982]

No thanks.

Agreed.

 

[Chicken_Hunter]

the NRL had plans for this.. Or maybe it was superleague.. Anyway, it was scrapped.. Fans love their traditional grounds and it only adds to the game.. The best way to go about it would to just keep upgrading.

 

[Bib]

WORST IDEA EVER.

Sorry mate...

But it is.

Thanks eddie, but i guess the idea isnt as bad as a total sydney comp as suggested earlier today, just a opinion, and liike ar##h###s everybody has them

 

[Ilya]

I don't think it could be done in Sydney. Sydney is in fact a much larger city and the teams are spread out a lot moreso than in Melbourne. Eventually I think it will happen, but not with two stadiums, maybe 4 spread around the entire city, it's just more financially viable.

 

[Tidus_Raider]

At the moment not a good idea.

But in the future hopefully the game will be averaging more than 10-14k per round. Grounds like Leichardt, Penrith, shark park etc are going to need refurbishments or else they will be left behind.

We have to look to the future. A local derbey sush as Cronulla V St. George should attract more than the 16 000 or so it attracts everytime they play in Kogarah. They should be getting 20-25K to these games easy. Grounds like OKI Jubilee and Toyota Park cannot accomodate these types of crowds.

We need to look at the bigger picture. The AFL is averaging crowds of 30-40k per game. FFS the Brisbane Lions are getting more bums on seats than the Broncos. I am a big fan of tradition and all that. The game at Leichardt this week showcased RL in it's full glory. But we were celebrating the 80's.

We cant live in a comfort zone and say that the game will survive on crowds of 10 000. Hopefully in the future clubs like Cronulla, Wests Tigers, St. George, South Sydney etc will be able to attract crowds of 20k on a regular basis. This way they will be forced to move. Either that or refurbish there stadiums.

 

[DIEHARD]

Shit idea.

 

[Bengal]

I agree Tidus Raider

 

[JW]

In the AFL in Melbourne most teams have left their traditonal home ground to either play at the MCG or Telstra dome. The exceptions are Carlton who play out of a decent ground and Geelong who are approx 50k's out fo Melbourne.

Do we think this is the way to go?

Should we have at the SFS

Souths, Roosters, Sharks, Manly and Dragons

At Telstra stadium

Tigers, Eels, Dogs, Panthers

Im a tigers fan and would be devestated tp leave leichhardt and Campbelltown, but is it time? I know clubs such as Penrith and Parramatta have modern grounds but is time?

There are problems such as when to fit all the games in as the afl has more interstate teams and can schedule it ok.

What do you think? i know this will make nospam49 happy, but at least you would know that you are going to a high quality ground and that you would be in comfort.

Thoughts?

No IMO, at least not in the forseeable future anyway.

There might be some financial benifits of doing it, but one thing I love about Rugby League is the home ground advantage.

Every time you see fagball on TV its either at the Telstra Dome or the MCG.

Boring :sleeper: .

Home grounds give fans a place to call their own, a place to identify with their club.

I'd rather see small, gradual improvments made to current facilities over the years as attendances increase then to just shove half the Sydney clubs to the SFS and the other half to Homebush.

Eventually, some Sydney clubs may be forced to move out to a better place, for various reasons, but I think in the meantime we should do all we can to keep Sydney clubs playing at "home".

We can talk crowds, dollars, logistics all we like, but I'm sure I'm not alone in saying that fans having a place to call their own, their patch of turf, their territory, is a great thing that exists in our game.

Cheers.

 

[chemicalbrother]

In the AFL in Melbourne most teams have left their traditonal home ground to either play at the MCG or Telstra dome. The exceptions are Carlton who play out of a decent ground and Geelong who are approx 50k's out fo Melbourne.

Do we think this is the way to go?

Should we have at the SFS

Souths, Roosters, Sharks, Manly and Dragons

At Telstra stadium

Tigers, Eels, Dogs, Panthers

Im a tigers fan and would be devestated tp leave leichhardt and Campbelltown, but is it time? I know clubs such as Penrith and Parramatta have modern grounds but is time?

There are problems such as when to fit all the games in as the afl has more interstate teams and can schedule it ok.

What do you think? i know this will make nospam49 happy, but at least you would know that you are going to a high quality ground and that you would be in comfort.

Thoughts?

I am all agianst it because

1) No Passion agianst any team if played at one ground (ie. played at the Suburban Grounds Cross town rivals and everything).
2) Memberships going down because of changing of the Venue (ie. Hawthorn and St kilda moveing from Waverly to Telstra Stadium)
I can list about 10 or 12 reason.

I for one (although was a Essendon Supporter) converted to NRL because of point 2.

I am glad that i have because i have converted so many people who now like Rugby league.

AFL shafted Us (The people around Waverly. Thank you Mr Wayne "No good for nothing SA nice person" Jackson) and i will never go to a AFL game for a while

 

[hotsnow]

oh NO
Oki and WIN are so much better than the SFS.

 

[Razor]

Penrith is a lot further than 50k from Sydney

 

[Front-Rower]

Penrith is a lot further than 50k from Sydney

Penrith is a suburb of Sydney, am I not correct????

but it ain't really that much outside of 50kms outside of the CBD, maybe 60kms at tops.

 

[Anonymous]

I think fans identify with their tradtional home ground, a place to call their own (hence why so many Souths fans want to leave the SFS maybe?).

If you see the footage of the old AFL clubs playing out of their old suburban grounds in the 80's with packed houses, it's a sight to behold, however, old outmoded grounds left them behind.

Also it's not just Melbourne where this happens, both Adelaide teams share AAMI and bith Perth teams share Subiaco.

I see a future where all NRL clubs have upgraded thier grounds to hold at least 25-30,000 and where crouds are at near capacity each week.

Well, I can dream can't I....

 

[Bib]

From what i can tell, as fans we are only thinking about us, not the clubs, administrators or the league. I think the almighty $$$ should dictate what happens, and that clubs should consider this.

Re Penrith, a trip down the M4 certainly isnt evena 50km trip, wtf have u been smoking razor? Penrith playing out of Homebush wouldnt be too bad

 

[Tidus_Raider]

I would prefer are renovated Penrith Stadium (i.e Grandstands at both ends of the grounds) instead of them moving to Homebush.

 

[Ilya]

Like i said before, it wouldn't be neccessary to consolidate into only two grounds. It would be better to build stadiums a little smaller than the SFS (much like what the dogs wanted to do with the Oasis project) and have about two or three teams share them, leave Stadium Australia out of regular season games. With 4 or 5 stadiums in sydney where games get played, instead of the current 11 (joint venture clubs), home ground advantage could easily be maintained, and local derby's would stay local derby's.