Can suburban footy be saved from a slow death?

The "move all games to fancy, new, state-of-the-art, modern [post-modern] stadiums" is also old hat. Some people like fancy, state of the art, new, post-modern; some like local, accessible, historic, fun. Its a matter of opinion that new and "state-of-the-art" are somehow naturally the future, not a fact. Its just a matter of preference.

Pretty hard to improve crowds when the money does not start rolling in on 2018.$100m pa invested in grassroots by the NRL, and clubs will be given additional funding for promotional work. The Sharks will be upgrading once their development is concluded. Having a rectangular friendly ANZ with cover will certainly improve crowds as will the removal of Monday night football from 2017,As will an updated Parramatta stadium,an updated Nth Queensland stadium. The NRL sends out plenty of surveys to fans on matters such as improving game day experience,why don't fans turn up,are food costs a real problem,off field incidents are a deterrent.It is a nonsense to assume the NRL is doing nothing. it was also noted the Cowboys took 1 3/4 hrs to get from their hotel in the city to Belmore,due to the traffic,and Melburnians believe traffic problems should not be a problem Sydney to attend. Please AR the Dragons,South Sydney,Parramatta the biggest crowd drawers in Sydney for the NRL,are hardly doing things to encourage attendance.That is not the problem of the NRL.The Roosters and Dogs also have been dragging the chain.Other codes crowds are down in areas,it's not just an NRL issue.

That's not really a valid argument because the ratings suggest that people will watch these empty stadium matches.

Thursday night is huge IMO, especially for games outside the big cities where travel is more of a factor.

I fully agree with you there 'Justine' its embarrassing for the NRL to have games at the ANZ with crowds of those numbers and also exhibit it those games on TV. The NRL are kidding themselves if they think that exhibiting a game e.g. Souths vs the Sharks last Monday is a good thing for RL, get off the grass Mr Todd Greenberg and stop warring about the other things like 'Golden Points' and laughing at coaches. because the joke is on the NRL and Mr Todd Greenberg with crows like that in a stadium that even 30,000 looks like its empty.

Sorry for some grammar errors,eg- winner and loser was meant "winners and losers"

Henson Park 20/8/2016: Last weekend Jets vs Bears. One of the best games of footy all year if not best I seen. These 2 heritage clubs played a match that was in semi-final conditions as spots were on the line. Be great if these 2 teams could be brought back into the NRL. 2018 new $1.8 billion TV deal starts. Brian Canavan new head of football is doing a big "whole of game" review next year. Super league style war is brewing next year in club land about many things. -NRL expansion and consolidation -Under-20's footy -Player managers and players under-18 -junior grasroots footy -women's rugby league -structures of NSW Cup/QLD Cup -merger proposals of NSWRL/CRL There will be winners and loser. Richo did a platinum league proposal in 2015, it probably won;t happen all his recomendations but some will.

Suburban grounds are on the way out. Everyone get used to it. Yes they will die a slow death, but there are rarely full houses or near capacity attendances in these venues. So the NRL plans to make it more financially viable to play games in the new stadiums. They would know that some traditional fans will walk away but are betting on gaining some new ones that are attracted by the new facilities. This is the NRLs strategy. If it backfires the heat will be on them and the clubs for going along with the plan. Change is coming . The game will go on.

You are bloody joking mate, Leichardt Oval is the pits, a real dump. Those antiquated 50s style amenities. I had to line up for 40 minutes just to have a leak. No cover from the rain, just pathetic.

You're probably right in suggesting that I am overstating how much NRL clubs look to their past. But what of the fans? Judging solely by the comments and articles on The Roar, you'd be forgiven for thinking that half of the rugby league community still imagines it is 1973 or something. An 8,000 crowd number in Kogarah doesn't compare with the same crowd at ANZ or the SFS. For sure the atmosphere is radically different but the larger stadiums allow the club to generate more revenue through sponsorships and so on. Automatically, this boosts the coffers of the club and allows them the opportunity to work their way up the ladder of professionalism, generating a winning culture etc etc. As people have already pointed out, on field success is the major determinator of crowd figures. How a club can leverage the extra dollars sourced through the big stadiums into a winning on field culture is of course up to them. I don't think they should be decried by the fans for trying. St George-Illawarra and the Wests Tigers have made mountains out of molehills with their attempts to please everyone by pleasing nobody. A stable jersey design, home and away, and a stable stadium schedule is absolutely basic to developing an identity. I don't think they have done that all too well.

Baird is just an utter fool with no idea about anything. He would privatise his freaking Grandma. Look what he has done to Sydney. Keep him well away from making any decisions that would affect the NRL.

lol

Mate the NRL lobbied hard to get funding for new stadiums. The government isn't going to want to see too many suburban grounds still used. We can't have it all. The NRL is going to have to work out a way to attract bigger crowds to these new venues. It would appear that people simply do not want to turn up to games in Sydney. There is saturation media coverage.The code spends a fortune in marketing, they must have some ideas. But nothing is working. Why? Sick of hearing the same old excuses. At the moment it looks embarrassing on TV.

It was a COLD with pouring rain on a Monday Night Souths against the Sharks, and there was lucky to be 500 Sharks fans there in total. Let's face it Nobody ever turns up to the game on Mondays at ANY CLUBS game. That is why Monday Night is getting scrapped next year. SO I don't think you can use your comment on Souths as a comparison.

How can you say that? There are plenty of members in Private boxes and you can't see on your TV screens exactly how many are in the members! If you look across on the other side, sure it doesn't look many but at ANZ on Monday Night 95% of the Crowd were on the TV camera, Western side,and under cover. On the Eastern side, it looked like there were less than 500 fans there! At the Big grounds, it is an electronic barcode entry so the figures are accurate, unlike at the Suburban Grounds such as at Brookvale and Leichhardt where it is NOT,,, Well, the last time I went there at any rate!

And that could be two big Sydney teams playing.

"In 2016, the Raiders, Titans, Knights and Sharks play at Kogarah, with the Panthers (1.5 hour drive away), North Queensland, Melbourne and Brisbane handed games at Wollongong. The crowd of 5,662 against Brisbane this year says it all, with fans voting with their feet." Interstate team, weather that could've been described as "raining sideways", Thursday night, and the fact that Wollongong crowds have to travel a fair distance by car would've all combined to drop that number sharply. The Dragons got nigh on 13k in Wollongong the one time they played a game there that wasn't stupidly scheduled or mid-origin period -- this despite it being on the Easter show opening weekend.