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I know the discussion on the state and location of Sydney’s many NRL stadiums has been fleshed out numerous times on The Roar, but I have some suggestions.
In comparisons with Melbourne and Brisbane, Sydney’s geography and transport system are thrown up as excuses for Sydney’s smaller stadiums and smaller crowds.
With the NRL bigwigs now discussing stadiums, I thought it may be a good time to throw up my suggestion for games in Sydney.
Brisbane and Melbourne’s stadiums work because they are located close to the city centre, a place where going to the footy is not the only thing that occurs. People meet at bars, go for dinner, don’t need to go home after work and the like.
Sydney is geographically different to Melbourne and Sydney’s city centre is not as easy to get to for many.
However, that does not mean they don’t love their sport and here are my solutions to get bigger sporting crowds in Australia’s biggest city.
I suggest Sydney has two main rectangular stadiums built for rugby league, which would also service rugby and football matches. Both should be state-of-the-art and purpose built, each with a 60,000 capacity. One must be close to the CBD and one must be in Parramatta.
The CBD stadium could be an upgraded Sydney Football Stadium stadium, or preferably a brand new location closer to existing trains and bars, perhaps around Central Station. The western Sydney Stadium would be located where the existing Parramatta Stadium is.
Easts, Souths, Cronulla, Manly and St. George Illawarra would be based at the CBD stadium. Penrith, Parramatta and the Bulldogs would be based at the Western Sydney Stadium. The Wests Tigers would be based at both.
All Sydney derby games would be played out of these two main stadiums, with the home team determining which stadium the game is played. Both stadiums are close to good public transport and centrally located, meaning that both clubs’ supporters can attend the game. Realistically, this means the game should pull around 40-60k (20-30k per club).
There should be at least one game at each stadium per week.
Each club’s suburban ground would still be used for home games against non-Sydney teams and should draw up to 20k.
Homebush Stadium would be only used for State of Origin, grand finals and double headers (which there should be more of).
This provides a simplified and focused approach to holding games, and creates opportunities to have a the game as part of a larger event – dinner, game, drinks, train, home.
Roarers, I’m interested to know your thoughts – but I’m sick of hearing that Manly fans don’t travel – they must work close to the CBD.
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