My sincerest apologies everyone, although I didn’t want this to become a code war… What was I thinking!!

I guess few people agree with the idea of the codes organically merging, I guess time will tell. In the meantime let’s enjoy both codes for what they are.

The reason we are still discussing this is because we still haven’t resolved it… and no one is going home until we do…

JVGO if you’ve ever attended club or country rugby you would have noticed that the majority of those fans would prefer the hill as well 🙂

Dave I completely agree that Rugby is entertaining and I don’t believe League is better than Union (or visa versa). I just think that even though they have evolved away from each other, they are still similar enough to be able to work together.

The original title of the article was “the League/Union divide is pointless”. It is really a philosophical discussion than a practical one.
I guess the premise of the article is that the laws of the games of League and Union are always a work in progress, so why work against each other? Why don’t League and Union in this country work together in developing them by treating 15s, 13s and 7s as just variations of the game. In the end the benefits of pooled resources and a wider talent pool will only help both Codes in the long run.

“you have to just shut your mouth and accept that they need to pay for it somehow ”
Thanks JamesP and Dogz, I am aware of the economics of it all. I also know the threshold of ad saturation that drivers consumers away and makes advertising content redundant. I believe 9 has passed this threshold. Who wants their ad buried in the middle of 6 others? Consumers will have very little recall.

I believe the NRL can get a substantial increase in their media rights, but they need to work with the broadcasters to ensure they are smarter about it than just sticking more ads in. Its lazy and dilutes the product offering.

Crosscoder, its not advertising per se I have an issue with. I agree its a necessary ‘evil’ for the good of the code. Believe it or not I’m in advertising. Its the sheer volume of ads that 9 is subjecting us to. Its gone beyond reasonable. It irritates me so much its ruining some of the games for me.

I use to play a lot of Subbies and then I quit to travel. I returned to Rugby with some mates and joined club Rugby. I was unfit and my strength was not at game standard but I was one or two places off playing in a position that was occupied by a Super Rugby player. I knew I was no where near their standard, but if they’d be a few injuries I’d be running out with them… I sat back at training after being flattened by one of the Super Rugby players and though how absurd it was.

JK, it’s the ‘infamous’ top down approach, but I think it’s required. The West will be represented on the national stage and if they are not involved in the ACRC they have the opportunity to win their regional trophy, meaning players may stay in the region rather than being lost in 2nd/3rd grade at the ‘richer’ clubs. Local rivalry will develop further.

In addition, it’s critical to have a central administrating body, with a dedicated pool of funds, coordinating grassroots rugby in the region. The West will get the attention it deserves.

Very good point. They would continue in their existing competitions (Colin Caird, Henderson shield/cup etc) for the full home and away season. The area that needs finessing is who backs up for 1st grade when they are not playing within their state. I expect that a small squad of reserves from 2nd grade would travel with the 1sts and all the other grades would shuffle up. It may mean 4ths have to play two games… but most lower graders have to anyway!

Jeff Demps… now he is quick. Nice to see him on a 7s field. Some footage of his college games.

he also got extra perks from Monica in the Oval Office… but that hasn’t lead to a rush of guys choosing politics as a career…

what Bill does, doesn’t reflect what the rest of the US will do.

Not so sure about the underwater stadium. The Northern Hemisphere teams seem to play better in the wet

Fond memories of ES Marks. Use to enjoy running out there. Shame to see it go, but it certainly needs a good overhall. It would be a good HQ for FFA… but its only serviced by buses. Lets hope that the 6,000 spectators don’t drive. There is no parking! had my tyres slashed by an upset resident for parking in a no standing zone…

we’ll i’m on board with you. Looking forward to helping where i can

Mushi, just because its posted on The Roar doesn’t mean it will be implemented. Its fanciful. I dont seriously think they would build the stadia, but its nice to be discussing something other than which football code is better.

You are certainly in a positive mood today:
First you’re scared of terrorists
Then Sydney is being stalk by White elephants
and now a giant meteor is hurtling to the earth to kill us all.
You need not come out to any of the stadiums, I think you’re best off staying inside… 🙂

WCR and Ziggy,
Your suggestion to redevelop SFS and add a light rail, is a much more sensible solution… but it wasn’t going to get me much ‘airtime’ as an article. Also I think a 15,000 stadium out at Moore Park would a good addition to a redevelopment of the site.

If they ever did redevelop the SFS to expand capacity, it would be great if they could design it in a way that (within reason) they could reconfigure it so that it always appeared full.

The main premise behind the article was less about building stadia at Central, but more about bringing life to the ‘pre and post game’.

I like ANZ, I do think it is a World Class Stadium and its fantastic when its near capacity. I would attend 10+ games there a year. I look forward to when they bring more restaurants and bars to the area.

What is interesting from other posters is that despite the vitriol that has been dumped on Sydney’s sporting stadia, those who have posted seem to be quite happy with the current set up. It’s nice to see we live in the best city… and we still have the best stadia!

For those of you who are interested my next article is about building an Olympic swimming pool on top of the Harbour Bridge 😉 stay tuned…

So Bay, I can guess that this won’t be one of the agenda items for Grassroots Rugby Australia? 🙂

On most occasions the SFS will probably be fine. When the Waratahs are firing (let me stress ‘when’) the NSWRU want to shift games out to Homebush… but few of us want to travel out there each week.

Financially its pie in the sky, but wouldn’t it be nice to have an option to chose a stadium for a match that will be packed.

“the stupider your suggestion gets” thanks Bay 🙂
The SFS isn’t enough, that’s my point. I outlined above the structure to Mushi

For small games book Central stadium 2 (capacity 15,000)
For games approaching 30k-45k spectators boook the SFS
45k-70k spectators book Central Stadium 2 (capacity 70,000)
for blockbusters 90,000+ (Grand Finals and world Cup etc) book ANZ.

Bay, I didn’t propose it was built in Darling Harbour, the editors at the Roar did that. I am suggesting it is built over the train lines at Central Station. The SFS is still used. Currently its draw back is its capacity 45,000. It would be good to have a stadium with a larger capacity in the same area for larger matches.

By security, I presume this refers to terrorism. Fair point, admittedly I hadn’t thought of this. On reflection, it didn’t seem to be a concern for the developers of Sydney when they proposed putting the Convention Centre over the same land and currently every train line in Sydney runs under the CBD. Some of the those lines are only just below the surface.

With regards to SFS and ANZ, these won’t become tumble weed city. They have different sized capacity. I propose that stadia should be booked on the expected size of the crowd. A full stadium is what is crucial, not a half filled soulless echoing chasm.

For small games book Central stadium 2 (capacity 15,000)
For games approaching 30k-45k spectators boook the SFS
45k-70k spectators book Central Stadium 2 (capacity 70,000)
for blockbusters 90,000+ (Grand Finals and world Cup etc) book ANZ.

Crashy, how does this help? We all give Quade Cooper the benefit of the doubt, but happy to put the boot into League players. I’m beginning to see the hypocrisy that the Leaguies are upset about on this site.
Perhaps we should look at how we can help these young players like Friend and Cooper before they completely ruin their careers. Its not about bragging rights, its someone’s life.

Very good point! The editors at The Roar, improved the flow of my article, but omitted a crucial point… build 2 stadia and not at Darling Harbour, but over the top of Central Station. I had also posted an aerial photo of the Sydney Central Station with the two stadia superimposed to show that there is room for them to fit. I have pasted the missing part of the original post:

“In the photo insert you can see how large this space is and why I propose that 2 stadia are built. One large 70,000 plus seats stadium (or larger if required) and a 15,000 seat stadium. The large stadium can cater for State of Origin, Bledisloe Cup, and Socceroo matches. The smaller stadium for smaller NRL matches, A-League games and Shute Shield grand final. I would rather attend a South Sydney game at a packed 15,000 seat stadium than attend a 30,000 game at the 90,000 seat ANZ stadium. It’s about atmosphere, it makes the game that more exciting.
Just up the hill are the Sydney Cricket Ground (capacity 46,000) and the Sydney football stadium (45,000 capacity). The Moore Park, Central stadium precinct can become Sydney’s sporting crown jewel. Who will pay for it? Well that’s another matter, but at least there is an option to bring life to Sydney’s sporting events. Sydney must build Central Stadia.”

to see the area visit http://tiny.cc/N7xDN …. not quite the same as the original photo, but you get the idea. The stadia are postioned over the large space of train tracks and part of Prince Alfred Park

Sheek,
I grew up out in Sydney’s west playing RL at school. I remember the ’84 grand slam. I was 8 at the time, but I didn’t watch any of the games. I was at a mate’s house and his older brothers came running in jumping up and down saying the “Wallabies had won the grand slam” (this was in the days before the internet so we had to wait until the evening news!) I was jumping up and down too but I had no idea what the grand slam was, but by their reaction I knew it was special. In fact I didn’t really know what Union was, it was some strange game my dad had played.
I didn’t play union until I was 14, but this was the moment that stimulated my interest in the game (without compromising my love for RL).
Hopefully the Wallabies of ’09 can stimulate other kids to love Rugby as well.

Midfielder, completely agree if RL wasn’t in the northern states AFL would have probably taken those states as well. I can’t speak for any other Union followers but I hold no animosity towards RL (or AFL or football). In fact I enjoyed playing/watching them.

I think all this ‘my code is better than your code’ is utter Cr*p. Who gives a toss, enjoy the game for what it is, or watch something else if we don’t. It’s a strange situation where we cheer for our Code as well as our team.

I think most of the time, due to concerns about our code, we are trying to convince ourselves as much as others, that its the best code 🙂