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Having all games at 2 venues in Sydney will never happen. The logistics would just be a mess.

blazza18 wrote:Having all games at 2 venues in Sydney will never happen. The logistics would just be a mess.

How is that any different to the AFL playing all matches in Melbourne at two venues?

Did the NRL miss a free kick this week? Should the Storm have played at home last Friday night? There was no AFL in Melbourne and there were thousands of British & Irish Lions fans in town. Ok not all Lions fans would like NRL but I reckon a fair proportion would have gone. The fact we played Monday night meant it wasn't going to happen. In terms of the Origin boys not much difference between a two day break and a three day break.

Instead we play at home this Friday when the Pies play the Blues at the G.

Scooter wrote:

blazza18 wrote:Having all games at 2 venues in Sydney will never happen. The logistics would just be a mess.

How is that any different to the AFL playing all matches in Melbourne at two venues?

I'm glad the NRL still has suburban grounds, it's something they can say they have over the AFL - a true home ground advantage for clubs. Apart from Canterbury and Souths, every other club in Sydney play at suburban grounds (Easts play at Allianz Stadium aka Sydney Football Stadium, but have played there and the predecessor to it in the Sydney Sports Ground for over 100 years, while the Tigpies only play a handful of games there a year while the rest are at Leichhardt and Campbelltown). Sure some grounds need a lot of work done to them, but it's better to watch a packed game at a suburban ground than watch a game where there are 20k-50k in a 100k stadium or 20k-30k in a 50k-55k stadium on a regular basis.

The AFL having 9 Melbourne clubs playing out of 2 stadiums (with Geelong also regularly playing home games in Melbourne) is embarrassing. Seriously, what other sport in the world would allow this to happen?

I like the suburban ground concept and believe they should keep it for as long as they can.

It does need to be regulated though by the NRL.
1) The playing fields need to be up to scratch to prevent unnecessary injury to players. Leichardt the other night was unacceptable in 2013. If the Tigers can't afford to maintain 2 grounds then sell one.
2) As the crowds get bigger the stadiums need to get bigger too. 30,000 capacity should be minimum standard for next 10yrs say
3) When fans and members, and away team supporters, miss out on entry that is just bullshit. Like St.George qualifying final a few years ago.
If crowd expectancy exceeds ground capacity then it must be rescheduled to a larger stadium.

I don`t like sub standard suburban grounds.The individual clubs can`t afford to upgrade them and make them better for the players and supporters. I used to go to the suburban VFL/AFL grounds but I thought they definitely needed up grading. Toilets were bad and not enough of them,standing on grass/mud not good in winter. Call me soft but I do love watching footy sitting in comfort and keeping dry..

Scooter wrote:

blazza18 wrote:Having all games at 2 venues in Sydney will never happen. The logistics would just be a mess.

How is that any different to the AFL playing all matches in Melbourne at two venues?

Public transport.
Both major Melbourne grounds are centrally located and directly adjacent to major transport hubs - (Rail, bus and tram) and close to major highways. SFS is a pain to get to by PT and Homebush is worse - and forget about driving. The logistics at the old VFL Park were better.

Did the NRL miss a free kick this week? Should the Storm have played at home last Friday night? There was no AFL in Melbourne and there were thousands of British & Irish Lions fans in town ... Instead we play at home this Friday when the Pies play the Blues at the G.

Yes.

TC fair point regarding public transport.

Also, look at the Melbourne clubs:
Melbourne, St Kilda, North Melbourne, Collingwood, Richmond, Carlton, Essendon and Hawthorn.
While the fanbases these days are less locally parochial than Sydney League teams, their traditional homes are all close to the city centre - Melbourne and Essendon are the furthest away at about 10 km each. Penrith to Homebush is about 50km , Manly is 30km in the other direction. And Melbourne public transport smashes Sydney all ends up

I'm all for the point of difference of keeping suburban grounds, but that game at Leichhart changed my mind.

I've no problem with the players getting seriously wet feet- being pushed out over the line etc - they don't need to be princesses, but I have decided that I do.

The tickets were pricy over $40 (being sold for $20 in the lead up to the game) to be sitting in the rain with no option to upgrade to the stands, even though there were empty seats. The one 'big screen' was behind us therefore we couldn't see it. There was no scoreboard or clock facing us (that I could see through the rain). There is no public transport or taxi rank. The crowd of $5,000 was understandable, but underlines the reason why the smaller grounds are not viable.

If they want to continue to using these smaller grounds, please do it at the start of the season and have it as an afternoon game so then everyone can reminisce about how good suburban grounds are on a sunny afternoon, not sit like a drowned rat on a mid-winter night.

stormsally wrote:I'm all for the point of difference of keeping suburban grounds, but that game at Leichhart changed my mind.

I'm all for local grounds, but Leichardt is a hole. The old Olympic Park was a far better venue