ANZ Stadium is just no good for NRL fans

I must say this site has a bit of credibility with Sean Fagan's comments and a great read roarer's enjoyed your comments

As an outsiders perspective - I don't live in Sydney but have travelled there a couple of times for football games, I agree that ANZ lacks a lot as a venue. I attended the first Indigenous All Stars game at Skilled Park last year and was so impressed by the stadium, the atmosphere, the services, the speed of getting in and out, the public transport and pretty much everything about it! Then I went to ANZ to watch ORIGIN (admittedly it was Game #3 last year) and was bitterly disappointed. Even with 50,000 people the stadium felt empty, I realised I'd get a better view of the game on TV and it just didn't feel... the same. I'd much rather go to a venue like Skilled Park (or Ausgrid in Newcastle) to watch Footy than a behemouth like ANZ - unless it was a really big game. The other thing - ANZ's olympic origins are also frustrating - why is the biggest rugby league stadium in NSW not even a Rugby League stadium!!!!

They were planning on upgrading it if Australia won the soccer World Cup (we all know how well that went). http://www.austadiums.com/news/news.php?id=417

I'm still sold on the idea of turning Wentworth Park into a venue for 30,000 fans. The place is within easy reach of 4 teams that could utilise the ground on at least 2 occassions over a weekend, and possibly as many as 4 times. Roosters, Tigers, Bunnies, and Dogs could all share a venue that is a maximium of 7km from their spiritual homes. The CBD is just around the corner and a small extension of the current light rail system would make access a breeze. There is plenty of parking on site, and the venue is easily accessible by cars, and buses. The Greyhound Association is attempting to sell or develop the site. What we don't need is another Westfield Shopping Centre or an apartment complex. Sydney is still growing and in 20 years there won't be a single spot in the CBD's vicinity to build such a venue on. The Clubs need to act on their own feet, without the NRL (though some assistance from the State Government would be appreciated), and join forces to purchase the land. Even a share scheme where members of the four clubs could invest in the site, and for it to be listed privately, would be better than any single owner. If the acquisition was given the green light at a State level, then Sydney City Council would have buckleys of halting any developement proposal.

Not only the cyclones and floods have affected NQ, but also the stadium rules getting ridiculous, and a new food vendor. It used to be Cowboys Leagues Club, and they would let junior clubs set up food stalls around the stadium. The new vendor doesn't do that, and their food is a lot worse as well (and more expensive). People don't want to go there anymore, which is a real shame.

Ken - you're wrong about having to walk across half the suburb to get to the ground at Kogarah. I recommend you get off at Carlton train station, and not Kogarah. You'll find that the 500 metre walk takes less than five minutes at a leisurely pace. Here's a link to a map for you. Regards, Dean http://maps.google.com.au/maps?hl=en&safe=off&biw=1280&bih=638&q=kogarah+jubilee+oval+map&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x6b12b9e3b0955085:0x6e13891e32e6d4a5,Jubilee+Oval,+Princes+Hwy,+Kogarah+NSW+2217&gl=au&ei=osUBTszjK4TGvQOpkc3_DQ&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=image&resnum=1&ved=0CBwQ8gEwAA

It's tyhe same reason no one sits on that side of the field also looking into the sun.

the decision to upgrade the showgrounds is an absolute absurd decision the afl paid staduim australia millions to reconfigure the ground to the todays configuration. the afl don't want gws to use it. the nrl should pay and lobby hard for staduim australia to be reconfigured again into a fully rectangle staduim cap 90,000 and play more games there

agree about the sydney crowds the tigers drew over 20,000 at leichardt and still have the bigger drawing games of the season against cb at campbelltown , eels at sfs, roosters leichardt and the dragons at scg. will end up averaging about 20,000 for the season. qld teams especially nth qld have been affected by the fallout from cyclone and floods

agree titus ANZ needs a major overhaul. I wish ANZ was like Wembley or something like Allianz arena. Obvouisly you need money, but chances are ANZs major overhaul could be years away. yes, the NRL have been slow in regards to the use of the big stadiums, however ANZs problem is there are too many seats that are far away from the action.

I agree that ANZ looks ridiculous on tv when anything under 20 000 makes it look like the place is empty. i don't care how much ANZ offer clubs to play at this ground, for all common sence this shouldn't be. Infact i think the NRL shouldn't allow the Bunnies to play at this white elephant as it isn't in the clubs right region, it lacks atmosphere and for marketing/ commercial reasons looks farcial on TV. They should 100% be using the far better, more suitably located SFS, Sydney's best Rugby League stadium. As a fanatical tigers fan its really bothers me that St George have recieved a total of around $50 million to upgrade both Kogragh and Win while the far more popular and emotional Leichhardt Oval has only recieved very basic funding of around $5 million dollars, how on earth is this fair. Campbelltown has recieved around $20 million so fair enough. Wests Tigers have arguably the largest fan base in Sydney, and in recent seasons have continued to sell out Leichhardt Oval on a regular basis against out of town teams and still draw excellent crowds even on a monday night, over 18 000 recently against Newcastle. I beleive some sort of money and effort needs to be made to get Leichhardt Oval upgraded with increased capacity to 25 000 plus. Leichhardt council and the NRL really sell tigers fans short when we regularly turn up in numbers at this great ground but little to nothing is done. The same could be said about Brookvale Oval.

The NRL Sydney people would find something wrong with it. Maybe wrong coloured seats as a way to avoid rocking up.

Why don't you fill Homebush with fans like the AFL does at the MCG? NRL is a big game(supposedly) so it is just a matter of making it attractive enough for people to get out there. Maybe drop ticket prices, include public transport costs. You can forget the government building any stadiums when they need to do so much in other areas. Alternatively, NRL clubs move to these small venues and pay for the upgrades themselves.

Wentworth Park - Great idea. Light rail to the ground. Great parking. Close to the City. Cracking idea.

Why can't people be happy with a multi-purpose stadium? Yes, it's not great for league, but having somewhere for all football codes, cricket, athletics, etc is a great benefit.

I always thought the SFS should be Suncorp and Suncorp should be Sydneys major Rugby League/Union/Soccer ground. Apart from SOO I always thought Brisbane needed nothing bigger then what the 43000 seater SFS is as it would sell-out for Union internationals plus it would look good with the Broncos avg being 30000 plus and the Reds with 20000 plus. Same in Sydney instead of having ANZ and the SFS a 53000 ground would of been ideal you would get sell-outs for State of Origin and most Union internationals plus 20000-30000 Bulldog fans would look better on TV in a 50000 seater. And any QLD fans lost to a smaller Brisbane stadium for SOO would end up watching it on TV at home or in a Bar and the same goes for grand finals in Sydney but thats what the NRL/TV people want with more people watching it on TV.

Alot of great ideas. However, as previsely said, ANZ needs to be made into a truely rectangle stadium. (I really doubt this will ever happen though) Also, the bunnies and roosters should play out of the sfs, it makes sense its close to their areas.With a central boutique stadium, I don't agree, as much as the sfs is a 40,000 seater, I think this is Sydneys " boutique" stadium (it's still a great atmosphere with 30 000) I think its more inportant to make the suburban stadiums more attractive. Like peviously said parramatta should be redeveloped into a 25 000 seater, same as Penrith park and of coarse Brockvale oval. ( each for there own clubs). These stadiums and all NRL stadiums need more undercover area too.Tigers current arrangment seems to be working between C'town and Leichhardt. Bulldogs at ANZ is working well too. Of coarse big games at ANZ, with both teams agreeing. Sydney doesnt need to look around for another stadium to redevelope, they need to work on the ones they have.

Send the dogs out bush and build one at Wentworth Park

You could put the cameras on the other side for night games. But for day games, you'd get too much sun glare - it's why the TV cameras at every ground that runs north to south are always on the western side of the ground; and in grounds with one main grandstand why that stand is always on the western side.

@ Dean - Surry Hills. The NSWRU actually purchased Harold Park (aka The Epping Ground) in 1906 - mirroring the recent decision of the RFU to invest its own purpose built ground, they wanted to make Harold Park Australian rugby's version of Twickenham. But the plan failed - the public refused to go there, citing its distance from the CBD & transport.