Stadia

Incompetence and flip flopping of the kind you can only expect from a NSW state government.

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This would be a good thing.

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Was a waste of money anyway. It’s only 20 years old. Too bad Allianz is now reduced to a pile of dirt.

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I get it though, it was purpose built as an Olympic stadium, not purpose built for rugby league or any other sport. Needs a revamp.

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No it wouldnt - both the original and the proposed replacement projects are an utter waste of resources. The NRL need to get their heads out of the sand.

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Good that the AFL has real assets to finance against. They put their money to good use, unlike others who effectively piss it against the wall then cry poor.

It’s historic though that the AFL have always had a financial interest in stadia which makes it even more surprising that the NRL/ARLC haven’t followed suit.

I recall that the VFL/AFL owned or had a substantial investment in VFL Park (aka Waverley Park). When it was sold/demolished (or whatever happened) the plan always was for the AFL to eventually take full ownership of Docklands Stadium after the super funds recouped their initial investment in the construction costs.

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The $35 million upgrade of The Gabba in Brisbane have got underway. It is well overdue. It should be completed in October in time for the Twenty20 Cricket World Cup assuming it has not been postponed.
https://www.ausleisure.com.au/news/work-underway-on-upgrades-at-brisbanes-gabba/

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Looks like the Ken Rosewall Arena (Sydney’s main tennis court) will host their first Netball mach on next Saturday (1 August) between Giants and Fever.

There was a redevelopment of the arena late last year - so that they can have netball at the arena (with special flooring), and to have the extra capacity (of 10,500), as the nearby Netball Court (Quay Centre) was small - at 4,500.

Hasn’t the NSW Government learned from its botched redevelopment of Sydney Football Stadium? Yesterday NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro said his government would support construction of more boutique stadiums like Bankwest in Parramatta. I think Penrith and Kogarah are fine as they are, Brookvale can be redeveloped. The one that’s needed is Liverpool for the Bulldogs and the Tigers.

The NRL had previously targeted as many as four new stadiums, with seating capacity of up to 20,000 and a cost of between $150 million and $200m each, following the government’s abandoning of the $800m redevelopment of ANZ Stadium as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Brookvale Oval, Penrith and Kogarah are locations being discussed for rebuilds while a new venue at Liverpool that could play host to Canterbury, Wests Tigers and possibly South Sydney is also among the options.

They have far too many rectangular stadiums in NSW… Do you see Victoria having a dozen ‘professional’ AFL grounds?

A waste of money… should have just followed through with the ANZ redevelopment if they want to put money into stadia

The problem in Sydney is that the teams are all spread out (not inner city teams like the AFL has in Melbourne) and that fans won’t travel to larger venues for home and away season matches.

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Easier for the NRL to justify significantly lower attendance than the AFL if games are played in boutique stadiums that can only hold 15,000 people as opposed to bigger stadiums like ANZ or Allianz / Sydney Football Stadium.

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This whole idea about upgrading or building new stadiums in the city just gives me the shits. How about giving regional facilities funding to upgrades. Grassroots is where rugby league talent is from so having great facility’s in the regional areas is a good starting step. But unlikely when the nrl will throw money the goverments way to get what they want.

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No, but the circumstances are different - the AFL own one of them for starters and have been able to get the Melbourne based teams to centralise across the two in use. The NRL havent been able to do this because the clubs hold too much power in the game.

Too bad so sad, travelling to one of three quality facilities that already exist isnt a big ask.

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There remains multiple professional grade Australian rules venues in Melbourne aside from the MCG and Docklands: the old suburban venues are used for AFLW matches, probably for similar reasons to the NRL using smaller capacity venues.

Are you comparing AFLW to NRL?

In terms of average crowd sizes he isn’t far off!

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Well this is one year where the NRL will get bigger crowds in Sydney than what the AFL will in Melbourne :stuck_out_tongue:

Sorry couldn’t resist!

But seriously, smaller suburban venues are much better suited to smaller crowds in that they don’t look so empty and you get a more boutique atmosphere and local feeling.