After 16 straight days of weather that would have had religious Sydneysiders building arks, the last day of winter saw the sun emerge and the crowds come out on the northern beaches.
Brookvale Oval was packed for the Manly versus Penrith game and the almost 19,000 fans witnessed an extraordinary game that the Sea Eagles seemed to want to hand to the Panthers on a silver platter.
Manly found some late rhythm in an attack that had looked hitherto disjointed and uninterested, and pulled off a miraculous victory.
All this was played out in front of a heaving local crowd at a ground that is showing the scars of neglect and under-funding over the past decade or more. When I was a kid, Brookvale Oval was one of the showpiece grounds of the competition, rivalled perhaps only by the shiny new place with the game’s first electronic scoreboard, Penrith Park.
Recently, it was announced that funding for suburban grounds would not be continued, signalling a move by the NRL to consolidate their Sydney-based teams into playing out of the bigger, showpiece venues at Moore Park and Homebush. However, there did seem to be an even more recent backtrack on that stance, with the Federal Government promising long-awaited funds to Brookvale.
What works for the AFL does not necessarily work for rugby league. While Docklands and the MCG are well-served by a variety of public transport options, the stadiums at Homebush and Moore Park are currently not.
The MCG can empty a 90,000 crowd quickly and efficiently. You can be in the city centre in a matter of minutes, or take a leisurely 15 minute stroll. Getting out of the Olympic Stadium after a big match is like being herded through customs at Heathrow airport; a frustrating and time-consuming experience.
The SFS is similar, with no rail link and buses going east are irregular. It may all be a giant conspiracy theory to get patrons to walk up to Paddington or Surry Hills and plough some more money into the local pub and restaurant economies – because you’re not making it home for dinner.
The argument for centralising NRL clubs to play out of these stadiums is the facilities. No doubt the SFS is a more ‘comfortable’ watching experience than Brookvale or Leichhardt or Kogarah or Shark Park. But getting there is not comfortable and the costs to do so are climbing.
Sunday at Brookvale Oval was not about comfort, it was about atmosphere, it was about a local, tribal, shared experience that is impossible to duplicate at Sydney’s showpiece venues. When the Wests Tigers are travelling well, a full Leichhardt Oval rocks, and afterwards fans spill out onto the streets of gentrified Rozelle, head down to Norton Street for a meal and dissect the game they have just witnessed from the hill or the Latchem Robinson stand.
Taking the game away from suburban grounds also takes away the ‘special’ feeling attached to finals time. Come September, the privileged few compete at the city’s best stadiums.
This has changed with the advent of expansion and grounds like Lang Park or Melbourne’s AAMI Park, but rugby league’s suburban roots are much harder to untangle than the AFL’s. Sydney is geographically bigger, more chaotically served by trains and buses, and has grown into pockets where, for better or worse, rugby league fans live and support their local sides.
Rugby league needs to take the game to the people, not put the game where they think people will come.
Tom G
Guest
Thousands miss the start of a game at Allianz last night because they had a decent, not overwhelming crowd. Lots of reasons and excuses from SCG et al but this is just one example of the failings of this stadia strategy. It ignores the geographical realities of Sydney. Our infrastructure deficiencies in this city translate into chaotic mayhem if a group of people need to get anywhere if substantial enough to increase numbers from the norm eg a major sports event. Government, stupidly ignore this reality and the dopey NRL support them, supporting their argument with the Field of Dreams logic of build it and they will come(or maybe we've built it you will come) Look what happens when this is happens..., chaos! This is not an isolated incident , I've missed the star to countless games at Allianz due to crazy traffic despite allowing more than enough time to get there, park and get to a seat. Suburban grounds for all of their deficiencies, which agreed do need fixing, has to be a far better option than this nonsense. When the " where does the money come from" argument is put up it descends into the all too hard basket and yet for all of really obvious deficiencies of the of the two stadium policy are put forward, they are countered with platitudes such as " way of the future" " Melbourne has done it" "we need stadia consistent with the status of the game" blah blah blah. The bottom line is that economic rationalists are ignoring people's behaviour and they'll reap the consequences should they push ahead.
The Link
Guest
Wrote this on another thread, but the economics are unavoidable, the current state cannot persist. Gus Gould said it the best, if games are still being played at suburban grounds in their current state in 20 years time, NRL clubs will go broke. Either that or pay the players less, but that’s not happening. Centralisation in Sydney (in particular) into large modern stadiums for most games based on economics alone is inevitable. Some games at upgraded suburban grounds may still be possible, particularly for out of town teams, but will need upgrades to the likes of Brookvale, Leichardt, Cronulla and Kogarah to make them economically feasible. Can’t see that happening for all of them, perhaps Brookie has the best shot with the current PM and NSW Premier being local members.
fishes
Guest
If you want a big crowd in a big stadium people need to be able to get there... Basic logic please...
apaway
Roar Guru
Actually, Glenn Innes, the EPL comparison is not bad. While the two competitions are a long way apart in terms of attendance and number of teams, many of the EPL clubs play out of smaller "boutique" sized stadiums. Queens Park Rangers, Hull City, West Brom, Swansea, Leicester City and Crystal Palace play at grounds with nowhere near the capacity of the SFS.
Tom G
Guest
A fantastic point. Unfortunately those who don't learn from history go on to make the same mistakes
Tom G
Guest
I couldn't agree more Brooky Oval has been overlooked by all sides of politics at every level. To even reference what it has received relative to other facilities is a joke. Grounds like Belmore, Redfern have received greater funding and they are basically training paddocks. However even with this being the case there needs to be a far better option than the NRL abandoning the area which seems to be the only suggestion. I'm sure if you asked anyone having to put up with what is there or schlepping out to Homebush they would agree to put up with it in a heartbeat. The point about no transport to the ground and parking shortages is hilarious. Firstly the transport is as bad going away from the area as it is to it, so how then are more locals going to get to games if they move them? Parking at the SFS is and always has been appalling and ANZ whilst abundant enough provides gridlock leaving the area if there is anything like a crowd.
Glenn Innes
Guest
I am a big fan of the old tory philosophy of "muddlimg through".often in life there is no perfect answer and what you have is as good as it gets and when it comes to the issue of stadiums for NRL games that may well be where we are.
Glenn Innes
Guest
I would love to see the Sydney cliubs playing out of well appointed boutique stadiums holding around 25k,I think that would be great,essentially like the EPL minus the Mega clubs like Man U who have the cash to build their own vast stadiums and the supporter base to consistently fill them. Sadly we live in tight fiscal times and a few million here or there, is all that is likely to come via the tax payer.Rugby League will do what it does best when it comes to these kind of issues and that is muddle through, half pregnant between suburban grounds and mega stadiums and that is probably the right mix.
apaway
Roar Guru
Thank you Glen Innes, the defence rests!
apaway
Roar Guru
And what's a Tony Abbott promise worth these days...?
AR
Guest
Yep...it's a pity.
AR
Guest
That's right apaway, but Brookvale received $4M from the Council and $6M from NSW in 2008' plus the $10M from Tony last year, so its not like it has completely gone without.
Glenn Innes
Guest
Apaway - And have you ever wondered why the League abandoned the SCG match othe day,.quite simply because the crowds were crap, greater metro Sydney had sprawled so much that the SCG was an anachronism. Even back then the games core support was shifting out west. Sydney geography, combined with the fact most clubs do represent a distinct geographic area means the Melbourne trick of playing out of two big stadiums just ain't gonna work.
apaway
Roar Guru
AR I think the development of suburban grounds has been conducted along purely political motivations. Kogarah, WIN Stadium in Wollongong, Campbelltown, Penrith, Cronulla and Parramatta have (I believe) benefitted from government funded upgrades. Brookvale, in one of the safest Federal seats in the country, gets nothing because nothing needs to be promised to get people to change their vote. Now that Tony Abbott is the local member, it'll probably be another promise he gets to break.
apaway
Roar Guru
Ironically enough, years ago rugby league played their "Match of the Round" on Saturday at the SCG. Maybe 1970s league was more prescient than we thought!
apaway
Roar Guru
AR There are about 1 billion reasons why that won't happen...:)
apaway
Roar Guru
Epiquin The wider question is: would those crowd numbers have been better if all Manly's games (and let's not just use the Sea Eagles as an example, insert Tigers, Sharks, Dragons into the equation) were played at either the SFS or Homebush? And if not, why not?
marco
Guest
Ok , theres foxtel. But FTA is what really counts. There arent many thursday night games. $20 for GA tickets is cheap. The family deals this year have been unbelievably good value. These are factors to consider but arent the real problem .
apaway
Roar Guru
Alex That's not the only argument. It's a compellingly large one but I'd like to think I mentioned Sydney's size, growth (or sprawl) and geography as factors, as well as the unique tribalism that exists with using suburban grounds.
Josh
Guest
Yeah in Melbourne they'd get that. This is Sydney and how did those 'giants' (lol) go ?