Here is the proof that the National Rugby League is thinking about dollar signs and not tradition and the game’s heartland.
The numbers shows that while Melbourne’s AFL clubs are within walking distance of the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Sydney is its own beast and incomparable.
NSW Sports Minister Stuart Ayres believes NRL clubs can’t grow their fan-bases by playing the majority of their matches at suburban grounds and must shift matches to redeveloped venues such as Allianz Stadium, ANZ Stadium and Pirtek Stadium in Parramatta.
The NRL needs a guarantee from its clubs that 65 matches will be played at the revamped stadiums to ensure the state government funds the $1.6 billion worth of proposals.
Ayres has publicly stated that Sydney needs to catch up to cities like Melbourne who boast both the MCG and Etihad Stadium.
“Absolutely I understand how important tribalism and passion is,” Ayres said.
“I don’t think playing in larger venues removes that. In fact I think it gets every chance to enhance that.
“And this is about making sure we have stadiums that allow clubs in NSW to grow and thrive. If we honestly believe we can grow and have those clubs improve, grow their memberships, grow their fan-bases, grow their revenues bases, and do so in suburban grounds, I think the harsh reality tells us that’s not the case.”
But what fan-base will there be when a huge chunk of them live nowhere near these arenas – especially Allianz Stadium, which sits at the Moore Park precinct in Sydney’s CBD?
In Melbourne, excluding Geelong, the farthest team from the MCG is Essendon which is an 18km drive. Following them are the Western Bulldogs (Footscray), at just 9km.
Now here is the problem for the NRL and Sydney.
The NRL wants the Manly Sea Eagles (a hellish 30km drive to Allianz) and Cronulla Sharks fans (26km) to play matches at the former Sydney Football Stadium.
A large chunk of Wests Tigers’ fans live in Campbelltown and surrounding areas but if more matches were played at Allianz that would also mean a 120km roundtrip for each game.
Better yet, what about St George Illawarra?
The Dragons are based and train in Wollongong but if their South Coast fans want more footy they’ll have to do a 170km roundtrip.
The total distance between all of Melbourne’s AFL teams and the MCG is 55km.
When only including the Sharks, Sea Eagles, Tigers and Dragons – the distance combined is 201km.
Just to prove the size of Sydney and the great distance between its franchises, let’s look at the Penrith Panthers.
For Panthers fans, it’s an 80km drive from Penrith to Manly, 75km to Cronulla and 60km to Campbelltown Stadium. It’s a thirty minute drive just to go watch a derby match against the Parramatta Eels.
“Fans are crying out for quality stadiums and facilities to watch sport,” NRL CEO Todd Greenberg said.
“Let’s face it, rugby league in this city has been devoid of investment in our stadia. This is the one opportunity we will get in this generation to fix that. We need to propel ourselves forward for decades.
“History and heritage is important to the game and we are never going to lose that but we also need to look forward and consider what it might be like in the future.
“There will always be a hardcore element that enjoys suburban footy. This isn’t the end of suburban footy. There will always be games played at suburban venues.”
Come on, Todd.
Sure this isn’t the end of suburban footy.
It’s just the end of everything that made Sydney and rugby league the game it once was.
The Numbers
Melbourne
Essendon to MCG – 18km
Western Bulldogs to MCG – 9km
Hawthorn to MCG – 8km
St Kila to MCG – 6km
North Melbourne to MCG – 5km
Carlton to MCG – 3km
Richmond to MCG – 3k
Collingwood to MCG – 3km
Melbourne FC to MCG – 0km
Sydney
Wollongong to Allianz – 85km
Campbelltown to Allianz – 60km
Cronulla to Allianz – 30km
Manly to Allianz – 26km
Marco
Guest
My point is. Manly fans could vote with their feet and turn up. Same goes for other clubs. This new stadium plan is nearly a done deal. Get used to thursday nights unless nines ratings say otherwise.
SVB
Guest
It's around 12.5k. NRL is around 15k. What does that make overall NRL crowds? Slightly shocking.
Brendan
Guest
Overall Aleague crowds are shocking.
Cathar Treize
Roar Guru
so that's why we should not be refurbishing Allianz & putting money into making ANZ a rectangular field. The 36,000 & 38,000 crowds there for the NRL last weekend suggests the potential of such a move. This new stadium at Moore Park stinks of SCG Trust & its links with the movers & shakers of Sydney who just want to make money out of building another white elephant.
Fix the scrums
Guest
If there is a demand then build it. Forget about Melbourne Afl for a moment and look at Perth. Their current 40000 seat stadium isn't big enough to hold the fans, so they are building a 60000 seat stadium. Now that makes sense. There doesn't seem to be this sort of demand to warrant a totally new stadium to replace Allianz.
Cathar Treize
Roar Guru
what it says is people are just as much against Thursday nites as they are Monday nites. No other footy code in this country has a rough draw. What are crowds like for A league on a Thursday Marco? How are their TV ratings?
GWSingapore
Guest
Precisely. The author does not understand Melbourne at all. The teams have historical local names but draw their supporters from across the metropolitan area. For example, think of the Mel Cats. One reason the MCG and Docklands do so well is train and light rail links that are right next to the stadia.
Agent11
Guest
isn't the whole debate here that NRL clubs playing traditionally out of suburban grounds is hurting the games growth? In saying that i agree with the jerseys, that new Broncos jersey against the Cowboys was a shocker
SVB
Guest
Pretty sure if you live in the west they do. Direct line if you live in Blacktown or Penrith. For south west line just get off at Granville, and one or two stops to Parramatta. North west people have lots of buses (as do south west from Liverpool/Fairfield). For inner west areas like Burwood, Strathfield or Ashfield it is a direct line (just catch western line from Central). This is where most people come from who will support teams playing out of Parramatta. Sounds pretty convenient and central to me. Or were you talking about people from Manly and Cronulla getting to Parramatta?
Ken
Guest
Yep, that's the one. Suburban grounds definitely have a nice nostalgia feel but it's the game that will be left in the past if we insist on keeping them. They are small, expensive for the teams involved and, in this age where supporters are widespread, difficult for the majority to get to. The current big stadia available are not perfect, and probably never will be - you can't locate them everywhere, but the teams that are embracing them are growing and on better financial terms than the ones that are not.
Ken
Guest
It is poorly organised for transport. But it is also pretty big, about 50% larger than Melbourne for example, more relevantly it also has some fairly massive landscape features that get in the way of efficient transport.
Alex L
Roar Rookie
Sydney isn't especially big, what it is, is terribly badly organised with the central hub nowhere near the geographic centre.
Alex L
Roar Rookie
Except for the part where half the trains go nowhere near Parramatta...
Marco
Guest
Yep, Manly supporters are so passionate about keeping their team at brookvale. Last night only 9500 turned up to watch them play sydneys most popular team, souths. This is less than most a-league games. How many of these fans would travel to a new stadium at moore park? The problems facing league in sydney are deeper than stadiums. AFL teams seem to draw fans from all over , so it is no use comparing the two competitions.
turbodewd
Guest
Tradition in rugby league?! We don't have much...most NRL teams change their jersey every 2 yrs and wear about 5 jerseys per year. They are covered in ads. There is no respect nor tradition in that. Contrast that to the AFL or NFL - those guys have real tradition and respect their jerseys. They rarely change. Show me a classroom of schoolkids with crayons - ask them to draw the Essendon jersey and the Broncos or Titans jersey. Nuff said.
SVB
Guest
I think the point of the article is that Penrith fans only real come from Penrith, Cronulla fans from the Shire, Manly fans from Manly etc. It would be a bit like the AFL having a team from the Mornington Peninsula (who's supporters all came from the region itself), and getting them to play out of the MCG. How many would show up regularly for home games?
SVB
Guest
That's a bit like asking why are the MCG, Docklands and AAMI Park all so close together? The whole point is to create one central hub with multiple stadiums and good transport options where people can go to. Parramatta/Olympic Park is that. Also for 4 NRL teams and one A-league team plus several events and representative fixtures, two stadiums is pretty much right. One stadium only would be an overload on the stadium itself.
Christo the Daddyo
Guest
I note the article ignores the fact that teams who move games to major stadia invariably increase their crowds. Don't you just hate those inconvenient truths...
M
Guest
Must take it to Barcelona! http://www.the42.ie/top-14-final-barcelona-no-2689462-Mar2016/
SpongeBob
Guest
Exactly, you need to double back in Sydney, takes a lot longer. Not that I'd advocate building whole new train lines just for easier access to stadiums.