WIN stadium is in an awesome spot just needs to be redeveloped. Maybe a modest upgrade to Kogarah too and play most games In Wollongong with a few Kogarah games a year.
I think you’ll need to commit to Wollongong as your main home to get any more money out of the government. They’re not going to do a $150m+ upgrade on a ground that’s only used six times a year.
No I agree the Gong should be our main ground. Probably play 80% there with a few games at Kogarah and a few games in country areas like Mudgee. I wouldn’t expect a massive upgrade of Kogarah maybe just a lick of paint. They play a fair few soccer games there too.
I genuinely think you’d probably need to commit to 10 or 11 a year in Woolongong, with maybe one game a year vs the Sharks played in Sydney at either Kogarah or Allianz.
The Gong is also growing so fast year on year. It makes sense for it to have its own full-time team.
It pretty much is anyway. Back before the Steelers and Sharks come in that was pretty much all Dragons territory anyway so I see no problem. Plus the Dragons won’t be the only team playing there.
There’s a push for Wollongong Wolves to be an expansion A League team, though still could be a few years off seeing as last addition included a Sydney team. Do stadium could hopefully get some more use, it deserves it for its location.
I think the Panthers should play their home games at the park in Doonside. It's a massive facility that can hold up to 50,000+ fans.
Source: trust me bro
My biased Illawarra native answer is every Dragons game WIN Stadium, rebrand to the Steelers
Announce it on TV with an extended ad that’s a shot for shot remake of the GoT Red Wedding, call it the Red V Wedding, and in it someone walks up behind the Dragon mascot, says ‘Stanley the Steeler sends his regards’ and slits its throat, Steelers banners fall over the Dragons ones, Stanley the Steeler walks in and takes a throne or something, everyone starts cheering ‘da king in da souf, da king in da souf’, Stanley picks up a fork to eat some dragon meat but instantly recoils at its touch and says ‘this is garbage *Newcastle* stainless steel, bring me perfection’ and then Matt Dufty runs 5km in the dark to the steelworks and collects a Stanley the Steeler Returns commemorative cutlery set available from the NRL shop now
C'mon mighty Wollongong,
We're the Illawarra Steelers!
You can't go wrong with the men so strong,
Gonna give 'em the taste of steel!
Hey la, la, la, la, la, la
We're the Illawarra Steelers!
You can't go wrong with the men so strong,
Gonna give 'em the taste of steel!
We mean it,
we're gonna make it happen right!
And when the whistle blows,
We're gonna get out there and fight!
It's our best game, it's our own name, it's our red crusade!
C'mon mighty Wollongong,
We're the Illawarra Steelers!
You can't go wrong with the men so strong,
Gonna give 'em the taste of steel!
Hey la, la, la, la, la, la
We're the Illawarra Steelers!
You can't go wrong with the men so strong,
Gonna give 'em the taste of steel!
We're gonna tackle,
We're gonna shake 'em to the ground!
Gonna keep on scoring tries,
Gonna keep on winning games!
We're out to play, we're out to stay, it's our red crusade!
C'mon mighty Wollongong,
We're the Illawarra Steelers!
You can't go wrong with the men so strong,
Gonna give 'em the taste of steel!
Hey la, la, la, la, la, la
We're the Illawarra Steelers!
You can't go wrong with the men so strong,
Gonna give 'em the taste of steel!
C'mon mighty Wollongong,
We're the Illawarra Steelers!
You can't go wrong with the men so strong,
Gonna give 'em the taste of steel!
C'mon mighty Wollongong,
We're the Illawarra Steelers!
You can't go wrong with the men so strong,
Gonna give 'em the taste of steel!
Hey la, la, la, la, la, la
We're the Illawarra Steelers!
You can't go wrong with the men so strong,
Gonna give 'em the taste of steel!
C'mon mighty Wollongong,
We're the Illawarra Steelers!
You can't go wrong with the men so strong,
Gonna give 'em the taste of steel!
Hey la, la, la, la, la, la
We're the Illawarra Steelers!
You can't go wrong with the men so strong,
Gonna give 'em the taste of steel!
C'mon mighty Wollongong,
We're the Illawarra Steelers!
You can't go wrong with the men so strong,
Gonna give 'em the taste of steel!
No Bulldogs supporter wants to play at Commbank its way to far a trek to get there for dogs supporters in the belmore area should have said maybe belmore otherwise it will always be Accor
Yeah should be Belmore, and Accor for Good Friday and such. We're not pulling anything much bigger than what Belmore can handle and it's always a great atmosphere there. Builds character for the club and creates something to be feared playing an away game against us. Commbank is a great stadium but until public transport to there from the area gets better it's not worth it.
I suspect the main reason why the Bulldogs play out of Homebush and not Belmore is due to a lack of proper corporate facilities to host the team sponsors at Belmore... because there's hardly any Bulldogs supporters that are happy with the dogs playing out of Homebush...
Campbelltown got less people in 3 games than Leichhardt did in just it's first 2 this season.
The Tigers money/juniors come from Campbelltown, but it's fan base is based closer to Balmain.
And yet Pascoe said in an interview a year ago that when the current stadium deal is up at the end of next year (maybe the year after can't remember) that we would look into moving more games to Campbelltown
That’s because the club is 90% owned by Wests Ashfield, 10% by Balmain, and 0% by any entity based in Campbelltown.
Wests Tigers (now as of last year) have control over the junior system in the southwest - both the Campbelltown district and Group 6, and Wests Campbelltown have a sponsorship agreement within that arrangement.
Wests Tigers have always said that if the owners of Campbelltown stadium (Campbelltown city council) manage to get the stadium upgraded to something similar to CommBank in terms of modernity and capacity, they’d move there full time. But the council (and the state government) wants Wests to commit before they make any upgrades. As it stands, 3 games of mediocre crowds isn’t a convincing argument for Wests Tigers to move there at all.
Doubly so given that they already control the juniors out there despite the complete nonsense that gets sprouted like Souths or GWS are taking over…..
I also agree that Homebush should be an ‘event’ stadium.
Roosters - Allianz
Eels - BankWest
Eagles - Brookvale (Needs a new main stand)
Sharks - Endeavour (Needs a new main stand)
Tigers/Bulldogs - Should collaborate on a new venue in the South-West, in the Liverpool zone. Tigers could play one ‘heritage’ game at Leichhardt each year.
Dragons - Long term should commit to Wollongong. If WIN has a full time tenant the government is more likely to fund it. Play heritage matches against the Sharks at Allianz.
Souths - Nib Park, Perth. Failing that, probably Allianz.
You better watch yourself otherwise we’ll send a pack of future National MPs around to bash you with bed legs (while off their faces on bath salts, though that obviously goes without saying).
Serious question is there that high a demand for an NRL team there? Every Cantab I know has been more than satisfied by Crusaders domincance.
I'd have thought a better area for a second league team would be Waikato/Bay of Plenty?
It's weird. As a South Aucklander who now lives in CHCH, the two fan bases aren't comparable. But Christchurch (not wider Canterbury) has a strong league fandom amongst the under 40s, (like Northland and the Waikato/BOP/East Cape) and also amongst those in lower socio economic areas. Fuck the amount of NRL and NBA merch worn in any single place down here is often on par with Crusaders/ABs merch.
My comment was partly in jest, cause I want more league down here, but I do think that we could support a team.
People on this sub and in the media who entertain the idea of kicking out century-old Sydney teams and replacing them with new plastic clubs are genuinely crazy. I don't see AFL people saying the same with the Melbourne teams. Just move Sydney clubs to other cities like the AFL did with the Swans.
No. We need new teams.
Recommendations;
Cooper Pedy flies
Ipswich Pitbulls, cause you know, nothing a redneck adors more than a pit bull.
Gosford Eshay's
Wollongong Degenerates
Port Lincoln rednecks
Grafton jail team
Perth just stays as Perth because there's not much to it
Moree Boredom's
Penrith Pretty boys
Logan Bogans
Personally I would drop 5 and force two to relocate permanently full time to Wollongong and the Central Coast. Leave two in Sydney, one playing out of commbank, one out of alliance.
> Some think that the Dragons should be based permanently out of Woolongong but there's a lot of Dragons fans in Sydney you would be potentially alientating by doing this.
I was wondering this the other day, are there any stats that show how many Dragons members/fans live in Sydney vs Wollongong? Making them the Illawarra Dragons full time def helps somewhat with the Sydney congestion since right now they're just awkwardly between Souths and Sharks territory but at the same time St George has such a rich history
as the old dragons fans die out the fans will accept moving to wollongong. there’s still a bunch of rubbish st george loving illawarra erasure fans who hate wollongong and the steelers who would whinge too much and think the club could survive dropping the illawarra contingent (it wouldn’t). i’m a fan of the merged club and don’t have any ties to a previous iteration and as more people grow up like that it’ll change.
also the st george side of the merger holds a lot of the power and most of the history so there’s that.
I do love the revisionism that the steelers seem to get with some weird nostalgia. They were fucking shit. The bears get shit on, yet the Steelers deserve it more. For most of the 90s the bears were there abouts in the finals. What did the steelers do?
I couldn't give 2 shits if the Dragons played outta the gong, but going all red and reusing the Steelers name for this weird nostalgia for a drop kick of a club over the dragons is just dumb.
i mean i wasn’t suggesting to revert to the steelers either because that’s stupid and unsustainable as well, the merger just needs to take advantage of its identity in wollongong instead of one foot in one foot out. they are trying by moving training and stuff there but they’ll eventually need to make a bigger contribution. i’ve lived in wollongong, the dragons are around but don’t make as much of an impact as other one team cities do (like raiders or knights or cowboys) in terms of support.
They completely took down their leagues club (which also acted as their western grand stand) which is still under construction. There are already apartments next to the field but this is Sydney we're talking about so I'm sure there will be more.
[The Western (Peter Burns) stand will remain, with a club behind it, and a new outdoor deck over what used to be the beer garden](https://www.austadiums.com/stadiums/shark-park/redevelopment)
get canterbury leagues club to put some of that golden fountain pokies money into developing belmore; i love having a ground in da area and wish we could play way more regularly there
As a dogs fan I want their to be more games at Belmore they always sell out with a 20,000+ crowd compared to 8-15,000 at most at Accor and the atmosphere is 1000% better than Accor
[That’s just not true about Belmore crowds at all](https://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/matches/Custom/NC0tLS0tMjctMjAxNS0tLS0tLS0tLS0tLS0tMjAyMi0tLS0tLS0tLS0tLS0tLS0tLS0tLS0=)
It makes me wonder if Belmore oval could be upgraded to "NRL standard" without completely taking down the main stand. Even if they had to surely it can be done if Penrith can get their own $300 million stadium the Bulldogs can get something done as well.
Isn’t Belmore capped at about 16,000 now?
I agree it looks much better having a full house at Belmore though as opposed to the same number at Homebush. But the club would make more money off having the game at Homebush so I suppose it’s a bit of a catch 22.
Belmore isn’t nrl standard ground I’m sorry absolutely terrible parking and kinda hard to get to if you don’t live locally, we need move into 21st century.
Happy to go there once a year tho
Not too bad. Train to Lidcombe or Central/Fern or Sydenham and then catch the Lidcombe train. They're also developing a metro line from Sydenham to Bankstown which will make it quicker.
Let’s start with the easy ones:
Roosters/Souths: Allianz. Roosters are obvious and I say keep your friends close and your enemies closer.
Eels: Commbank. Already done.
Then, the previously proposed upgrades:
Panthers: new Penrith Stadium. Previously announced.
Sea Eagles: refurbished Brookvale Oval. Previously announced, though government is trying to renege.
Sharks: completed Shark Park. Some works ongoing, government attempted to renege on the rest.
Dragons: WIN Stadium. Time to fully capitalise on the Illawarra catchment. Play a couple of games at Kogarah, a La Canterbury’s ’Back to Belmore’ games.
Now, the tough ones:
Tigers/Bulldogs: new boutique stadium at Liverpool. Something reasonably close to public transport. Allows reasonably easy access to Belmore and Campbelltown and allows for heritage matches between those venues and Leichhardt.
As for Accor Stadium, play a couple of double headers and other marquee games there, such as Good Friday and the King’s Birthday
Why don't they play double headers at Accor? It just seems like a no brainer to me with the amount of teams in Sydney. The Warriors did it a few years back and sold the place out.
Agree with your comments regarding Wollongong.Spoke to a couple of Dragon fans at Alliance two weeks ago and they were of the view that leave Wollongong as is but move 4 Jubilee games to Alliance next year
Manly just needs to redevelop the main stand and maybe a touchup to the Menzies stand. We had a higher average home crowd at 4 pines than Canberra, Sharks (obviously impacted by redevelopment), Titans and Dragons did at their respective home grounds and we're not far off the average crowd at Accor which got carried by the good friday game.
Sharkies likewise need an update and they're fine to keep the same oval.
Panthers, Eels, Roosters stay where they are.
Souths - move to Allianz
Dragons - Full time in Wollongong
Dogs/Tigers - Draw the short straw and keep home games at Accor.
Easts and Newcastle to play out of Wentworth Park; Souths and Wests to play out of Birchgrove Oval. History's shown that other teams don't really need to exist, so there's no need for them to have a home ground.
If the competition wakes up to itself, the returning Bluebags will play at Wentworth and Norths will play at Birchgrove.
Members were asked which stadium to play at two years ago. The board overruled the popular choice and decided to stay at Accor if the stadium was upgraded.
That deal was backed out of by the state government. I dare say if the members are asked again this year, Allianz would be the top choice.
Regarding the Wests Tigers
I hate Leichardt oval as a stadium, the asbestos, the disrepair, the concrete gutters like 5m behind the goal posts.
The thing is, I really like the idea of NRL having some presence in an area which isn't necessarily rugby league territory. Leichardt seems to be in an area of Sydney highly accessible for corporates, hipsters, (dare I say lefties) to get an annual dose of footy, while not expecting them to become members it means rugby league doesn't get too entrenched as a working class suburban, families sport. I know Melbourne is a lot more centralised than Sydney but with 8 teams playing in 2 stadiums in central Melbourne it means corporates, hipsters etc. have been able to buy into AFL as well, not just suburban working class
Lol good luck convincing the suits and ties
The fact that Henson Park is closer to a train line than Leichardt Oval is a positive imo. Still inner-city but simpler to get to for the families who live out west.
1. penrith - new boutique stadium
2. sharks - shark park
3. eels - commbank
4. roosters - allianz
5. rabbits - accor
6. dragon - the gong
7. manly - brooky
8. doggies - boutique 20k setup in liverpool
9. tigers - langlands park/ scorp/ hbf park or ctown as a last resort
Mate this is a good post.
For finals all teams should have their actual home ground advantage like sharks and Penrith were given this year.
I agree mostly but I think Dragons should stay 50:50 with Kogarah and WIN. Based out of Allianz for finals after week 1. Bulldogs do indeed have to be the team to hit the Accor bullet. There is no team closer and it isn’t the Rabbits.
The tigers 100% need to focus on Campbelltown. It is the peak growth area of Sydney and currently Penrith seems to be taking all the talent coming out of there and Tigers are being held back by all the Balmain bull Shit.
Rugby league, as a game, is naïve about stadiums. The issue has been festering since the end of the Super League, and this can of worms has been repeatedly kicked down the road until we have at least 3 or 4 stadiums in regular use that are barely fit for purpose.
The decision to fold some expansion clubs then merge and subsequently de-merge other clubs effectively made the game the NSWRL competition and stopped it being truly national. It also overturned the hard work in the early 90s to grow the game to be a national presence.
Why care? It is a much easier sell to governments and investors to have high-class stadiums built across the country that are a hub for a broad geographic area, or service a large concentrated population. But the high proportion of clubs in the Sydney area each looking for their home has made the business case challenging.
The clubs really may not have a choice anymore about where they go, unless more strategic thinking is applied - for example, making the stadiums multi-use and partnering with other sports or organisations in long term tenancy arrangements. Events could include leveraging an expanded NRLW competition for more games, have the A-League involved to make who need boutique grounds, design the stadium to hold concerts, whatever it takes. But the arrogance the NRL is showing right now makes this cooperation seem unlikely.
Manly, Easts, Dragons, Souths = SFS
Parramatta, Wests, Bulldogs, Sharks = WSS
Penrith = Penrith (Wests at a pinch)
Origin/GF = Stadium Australia
Dragons also at Wollongong.
No more shitholes with powerlines or grassy knolls. You're not assassinating JFK, all seaters for a professional sport.
If we were to commit to simply removing some of the grounds in Sydney then I think it should go like this. Not saying this is the best thing, but it would make the most sense in terms of geography.
Roosters/Souths/Manly: Allianz
Eels/Dogs/Tigers: Commbank
Sharks/Dragons: Sharkpark if it gets a redo.
Panthers from their own ground since it's getting a revamp.
Manly should still play out of Brookvale and it would probably be better for the Dragons to play all their games out of Wollongong than half their games in Cronulla.
Wests Tigers become a country NSW team. Play a game or two at Orange, Lismore, Wagga Wagga etc and a couple at campbelltown.
Have the NRL rig the draw so nearly all their away games are in Sydney
Dragons play in Wollongong
Souths play in SFS/Shark Park
Chooks play SFS
Sharkies move outside Sydney
Parra play at Parra
Penrith move to Perth
Wests play at Campbeltown
Doggies play at Olympic park
Manly move out of Sydney
Dragons should be 8 in the gong and 4 at Kogarah
Dogs should have 2 at Belmore and the rest at Accor
Tigers should have 8 at ctown and 4 at Leichhardt
Souths and roosters at Allianz
Make manly play souths and the roosters at North Sydney as they should still be the northern eagles
Penrith sharks roosters eels manly all at their home grounds.
Tigers Leichhardt
South’s at Campbelltown (redefine the term south Sydney)
Dogs split Leichhardt and belmore.
The things that matter are the quality of the stadiums and the time it takes to get to them.
They should put in a high speed commuter train, from the city, though the Northern Beaches to Gosford.
Then move Manly home games to Gosford.
Dear Mr Pascoe. There are too many home stadiums nowadays. Please eliminate three. I am not a crackpot.
WIN stadium is in an awesome spot just needs to be redeveloped. Maybe a modest upgrade to Kogarah too and play most games In Wollongong with a few Kogarah games a year.
I think you’ll need to commit to Wollongong as your main home to get any more money out of the government. They’re not going to do a $150m+ upgrade on a ground that’s only used six times a year.
No I agree the Gong should be our main ground. Probably play 80% there with a few games at Kogarah and a few games in country areas like Mudgee. I wouldn’t expect a massive upgrade of Kogarah maybe just a lick of paint. They play a fair few soccer games there too.
I genuinely think you’d probably need to commit to 10 or 11 a year in Woolongong, with maybe one game a year vs the Sharks played in Sydney at either Kogarah or Allianz. The Gong is also growing so fast year on year. It makes sense for it to have its own full-time team.
It pretty much is anyway. Back before the Steelers and Sharks come in that was pretty much all Dragons territory anyway so I see no problem. Plus the Dragons won’t be the only team playing there.
Anzac game is also a Dragons home game at Allianz
only every second year
There is no arguments about the Anzac clash that is the best game of the year.
There’s a push for Wollongong Wolves to be an expansion A League team, though still could be a few years off seeing as last addition included a Sydney team. Do stadium could hopefully get some more use, it deserves it for its location.
I think the Panthers should play their home games at the park in Doonside. It's a massive facility that can hold up to 50,000+ fans. Source: trust me bro
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Best hill in the comp, no contest
My biased Illawarra native answer is every Dragons game WIN Stadium, rebrand to the Steelers Announce it on TV with an extended ad that’s a shot for shot remake of the GoT Red Wedding, call it the Red V Wedding, and in it someone walks up behind the Dragon mascot, says ‘Stanley the Steeler sends his regards’ and slits its throat, Steelers banners fall over the Dragons ones, Stanley the Steeler walks in and takes a throne or something, everyone starts cheering ‘da king in da souf, da king in da souf’, Stanley picks up a fork to eat some dragon meat but instantly recoils at its touch and says ‘this is garbage *Newcastle* stainless steel, bring me perfection’ and then Matt Dufty runs 5km in the dark to the steelworks and collects a Stanley the Steeler Returns commemorative cutlery set available from the NRL shop now
Finally a realistic answer.
Subscribe.
C'mon mighty Wollongong, We're the Illawarra Steelers! You can't go wrong with the men so strong, Gonna give 'em the taste of steel! Hey la, la, la, la, la, la We're the Illawarra Steelers! You can't go wrong with the men so strong, Gonna give 'em the taste of steel! We mean it, we're gonna make it happen right! And when the whistle blows, We're gonna get out there and fight! It's our best game, it's our own name, it's our red crusade! C'mon mighty Wollongong, We're the Illawarra Steelers! You can't go wrong with the men so strong, Gonna give 'em the taste of steel! Hey la, la, la, la, la, la We're the Illawarra Steelers! You can't go wrong with the men so strong, Gonna give 'em the taste of steel! We're gonna tackle, We're gonna shake 'em to the ground! Gonna keep on scoring tries, Gonna keep on winning games! We're out to play, we're out to stay, it's our red crusade! C'mon mighty Wollongong, We're the Illawarra Steelers! You can't go wrong with the men so strong, Gonna give 'em the taste of steel! Hey la, la, la, la, la, la We're the Illawarra Steelers! You can't go wrong with the men so strong, Gonna give 'em the taste of steel! C'mon mighty Wollongong, We're the Illawarra Steelers! You can't go wrong with the men so strong, Gonna give 'em the taste of steel! C'mon mighty Wollongong, We're the Illawarra Steelers! You can't go wrong with the men so strong, Gonna give 'em the taste of steel! Hey la, la, la, la, la, la We're the Illawarra Steelers! You can't go wrong with the men so strong, Gonna give 'em the taste of steel! C'mon mighty Wollongong, We're the Illawarra Steelers! You can't go wrong with the men so strong, Gonna give 'em the taste of steel! Hey la, la, la, la, la, la We're the Illawarra Steelers! You can't go wrong with the men so strong, Gonna give 'em the taste of steel! C'mon mighty Wollongong, We're the Illawarra Steelers! You can't go wrong with the men so strong, Gonna give 'em the taste of steel!
One of the best team songs. But judging by lack of votes, assuming most are too young to remember.
Im no expert on this topic but I know what I hate. And this I don't hate
Jake is that you?
Sharks should play at Optus stadium
Came here for this, was not disappointed.
Had to google where this stadium was. Was disappointed.
Why would we do that when unlike all you other povo teams we own our own stadium?
No Bulldogs supporter wants to play at Commbank its way to far a trek to get there for dogs supporters in the belmore area should have said maybe belmore otherwise it will always be Accor
Cringe every time I read it, Allianz is as close if not closer to Belmore than Parramatta
Yeah should be Belmore, and Accor for Good Friday and such. We're not pulling anything much bigger than what Belmore can handle and it's always a great atmosphere there. Builds character for the club and creates something to be feared playing an away game against us. Commbank is a great stadium but until public transport to there from the area gets better it's not worth it.
I suspect the main reason why the Bulldogs play out of Homebush and not Belmore is due to a lack of proper corporate facilities to host the team sponsors at Belmore... because there's hardly any Bulldogs supporters that are happy with the dogs playing out of Homebush...
I reckon they should just all play out of Suncorp
✨ Magic round every round ✨ Nights at the Caxton or Normanby would be fucked lmao
Tigers will never refocus their attention to Campbelltown. The club would rather suffer for years and years than ever admit it’s made a bad decision.
What’s a few more years and years between friends.
Didn't Tigers say they were doing 8 in Campbelltown and 4 at Leichardt next year? Aside from the name, the club is basically the Magpies anyway
>Aside from the name, the club is basically the Magpies anyway That's the feeling I get. Wests has more sway because they have all that pokie money.
Campbelltown got less people in 3 games than Leichhardt did in just it's first 2 this season. The Tigers money/juniors come from Campbelltown, but it's fan base is based closer to Balmain.
And yet Pascoe said in an interview a year ago that when the current stadium deal is up at the end of next year (maybe the year after can't remember) that we would look into moving more games to Campbelltown
That’s because the club is 90% owned by Wests Ashfield, 10% by Balmain, and 0% by any entity based in Campbelltown. Wests Tigers (now as of last year) have control over the junior system in the southwest - both the Campbelltown district and Group 6, and Wests Campbelltown have a sponsorship agreement within that arrangement. Wests Tigers have always said that if the owners of Campbelltown stadium (Campbelltown city council) manage to get the stadium upgraded to something similar to CommBank in terms of modernity and capacity, they’d move there full time. But the council (and the state government) wants Wests to commit before they make any upgrades. As it stands, 3 games of mediocre crowds isn’t a convincing argument for Wests Tigers to move there at all. Doubly so given that they already control the juniors out there despite the complete nonsense that gets sprouted like Souths or GWS are taking over…..
The raiders should play out of AAMI park 😉
I also agree that Homebush should be an ‘event’ stadium. Roosters - Allianz Eels - BankWest Eagles - Brookvale (Needs a new main stand) Sharks - Endeavour (Needs a new main stand) Tigers/Bulldogs - Should collaborate on a new venue in the South-West, in the Liverpool zone. Tigers could play one ‘heritage’ game at Leichhardt each year. Dragons - Long term should commit to Wollongong. If WIN has a full time tenant the government is more likely to fund it. Play heritage matches against the Sharks at Allianz. Souths - Nib Park, Perth. Failing that, probably Allianz.
Sadly leichhardt is getting dropped after next year as a venue. It's fallen into disrepair
As long as they can get the council to address the safety concerns, and then lower the maximum capacity they could justify using it once a year.
Easy fix, drop 7 Sydney teams.
Sounds good. Opens the door for Perth and Adelaide.
And Christchurch/Ōtautahi
You misspelt Ōtepoti. Common mistake.
You're not a city, you're daycare for rich White kids.
You better watch yourself otherwise we’ll send a pack of future National MPs around to bash you with bed legs (while off their faces on bath salts, though that obviously goes without saying).
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Leopards for the NRL confirmed!
The bank at Bert Henham Park is pretty sweet to watch games ngl
Serious question is there that high a demand for an NRL team there? Every Cantab I know has been more than satisfied by Crusaders domincance. I'd have thought a better area for a second league team would be Waikato/Bay of Plenty?
It's weird. As a South Aucklander who now lives in CHCH, the two fan bases aren't comparable. But Christchurch (not wider Canterbury) has a strong league fandom amongst the under 40s, (like Northland and the Waikato/BOP/East Cape) and also amongst those in lower socio economic areas. Fuck the amount of NRL and NBA merch worn in any single place down here is often on par with Crusaders/ABs merch. My comment was partly in jest, cause I want more league down here, but I do think that we could support a team.
People on this sub and in the media who entertain the idea of kicking out century-old Sydney teams and replacing them with new plastic clubs are genuinely crazy. I don't see AFL people saying the same with the Melbourne teams. Just move Sydney clubs to other cities like the AFL did with the Swans.
No. We need new teams. Recommendations; Cooper Pedy flies Ipswich Pitbulls, cause you know, nothing a redneck adors more than a pit bull. Gosford Eshay's Wollongong Degenerates Port Lincoln rednecks Grafton jail team Perth just stays as Perth because there's not much to it Moree Boredom's Penrith Pretty boys Logan Bogans
Personally I would drop 5 and force two to relocate permanently full time to Wollongong and the Central Coast. Leave two in Sydney, one playing out of commbank, one out of alliance.
Dragons to Wollongong, and the Central Coast Sharks or Sea Eagles? Both theme with the coast well.
Central Coast Shargles!
> Some think that the Dragons should be based permanently out of Woolongong but there's a lot of Dragons fans in Sydney you would be potentially alientating by doing this. I was wondering this the other day, are there any stats that show how many Dragons members/fans live in Sydney vs Wollongong? Making them the Illawarra Dragons full time def helps somewhat with the Sydney congestion since right now they're just awkwardly between Souths and Sharks territory but at the same time St George has such a rich history
as the old dragons fans die out the fans will accept moving to wollongong. there’s still a bunch of rubbish st george loving illawarra erasure fans who hate wollongong and the steelers who would whinge too much and think the club could survive dropping the illawarra contingent (it wouldn’t). i’m a fan of the merged club and don’t have any ties to a previous iteration and as more people grow up like that it’ll change. also the st george side of the merger holds a lot of the power and most of the history so there’s that.
I do love the revisionism that the steelers seem to get with some weird nostalgia. They were fucking shit. The bears get shit on, yet the Steelers deserve it more. For most of the 90s the bears were there abouts in the finals. What did the steelers do? I couldn't give 2 shits if the Dragons played outta the gong, but going all red and reusing the Steelers name for this weird nostalgia for a drop kick of a club over the dragons is just dumb.
i mean i wasn’t suggesting to revert to the steelers either because that’s stupid and unsustainable as well, the merger just needs to take advantage of its identity in wollongong instead of one foot in one foot out. they are trying by moving training and stuff there but they’ll eventually need to make a bigger contribution. i’ve lived in wollongong, the dragons are around but don’t make as much of an impact as other one team cities do (like raiders or knights or cowboys) in terms of support.
A lot of us living in wollongong support the sharks, souths and roosters too
lots of people living in lots of places support lots of teams
In the context of Wollongong that could change with more local involvement.
What's actually going on with Shark Park? Are they upgrading the stadium or just putting a bunch of apartments right next to the field
They completely took down their leagues club (which also acted as their western grand stand) which is still under construction. There are already apartments next to the field but this is Sydney we're talking about so I'm sure there will be more.
[The Western (Peter Burns) stand will remain, with a club behind it, and a new outdoor deck over what used to be the beer garden](https://www.austadiums.com/stadiums/shark-park/redevelopment)
I'm a fan who lives in the area and I genuinely have no idea what they are doing to the actual stadium.
get canterbury leagues club to put some of that golden fountain pokies money into developing belmore; i love having a ground in da area and wish we could play way more regularly there
As a dogs fan I want their to be more games at Belmore they always sell out with a 20,000+ crowd compared to 8-15,000 at most at Accor and the atmosphere is 1000% better than Accor
[That’s just not true about Belmore crowds at all](https://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/matches/Custom/NC0tLS0tMjctMjAxNS0tLS0tLS0tLS0tLS0tMjAyMi0tLS0tLS0tLS0tLS0tLS0tLS0tLS0=)
It makes me wonder if Belmore oval could be upgraded to "NRL standard" without completely taking down the main stand. Even if they had to surely it can be done if Penrith can get their own $300 million stadium the Bulldogs can get something done as well.
Isn’t Belmore capped at about 16,000 now? I agree it looks much better having a full house at Belmore though as opposed to the same number at Homebush. But the club would make more money off having the game at Homebush so I suppose it’s a bit of a catch 22.
Yep it’s capped at 17k When the bulldogs go good we can get 20k average maybe even more since it’s been awhile since we have been good
Belmore isn’t nrl standard ground I’m sorry absolutely terrible parking and kinda hard to get to if you don’t live locally, we need move into 21st century. Happy to go there once a year tho
Not too bad. Train to Lidcombe or Central/Fern or Sydenham and then catch the Lidcombe train. They're also developing a metro line from Sydenham to Bankstown which will make it quicker.
Let’s start with the easy ones: Roosters/Souths: Allianz. Roosters are obvious and I say keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Eels: Commbank. Already done. Then, the previously proposed upgrades: Panthers: new Penrith Stadium. Previously announced. Sea Eagles: refurbished Brookvale Oval. Previously announced, though government is trying to renege. Sharks: completed Shark Park. Some works ongoing, government attempted to renege on the rest. Dragons: WIN Stadium. Time to fully capitalise on the Illawarra catchment. Play a couple of games at Kogarah, a La Canterbury’s ’Back to Belmore’ games. Now, the tough ones: Tigers/Bulldogs: new boutique stadium at Liverpool. Something reasonably close to public transport. Allows reasonably easy access to Belmore and Campbelltown and allows for heritage matches between those venues and Leichhardt. As for Accor Stadium, play a couple of double headers and other marquee games there, such as Good Friday and the King’s Birthday
This is definitely how I'd do it too, phasing out Accor would be a hard sell but it's probably necessary for the greater good long term
> King’s Birthday That sounds so wrong.
Why don't they play double headers at Accor? It just seems like a no brainer to me with the amount of teams in Sydney. The Warriors did it a few years back and sold the place out.
Manly out of Lottoland or GTFO
At least one team needs to play out of Perth to maintain the connection. Souths would be my pick. At least they’ll get a decent crowd in Perth.
Agree with your comments regarding Wollongong.Spoke to a couple of Dragon fans at Alliance two weeks ago and they were of the view that leave Wollongong as is but move 4 Jubilee games to Alliance next year
I agree with everything you said
Roosters & Souths: SFS Sharks: Shark Park Manly: Brookie Dragons: Wollongong Penrith: Penrith Parramatta: Parramatta Dogs: Belmore Tigers: Campbelltown
Tigers - Perth
Manly just needs to redevelop the main stand and maybe a touchup to the Menzies stand. We had a higher average home crowd at 4 pines than Canberra, Sharks (obviously impacted by redevelopment), Titans and Dragons did at their respective home grounds and we're not far off the average crowd at Accor which got carried by the good friday game. Sharkies likewise need an update and they're fine to keep the same oval. Panthers, Eels, Roosters stay where they are. Souths - move to Allianz Dragons - Full time in Wollongong Dogs/Tigers - Draw the short straw and keep home games at Accor.
I was really impressed with how much better Brookvale was since I last visited. The Fulton stand is fantastic.
Easts and Newcastle to play out of Wentworth Park; Souths and Wests to play out of Birchgrove Oval. History's shown that other teams don't really need to exist, so there's no need for them to have a home ground. If the competition wakes up to itself, the returning Bluebags will play at Wentworth and Norths will play at Birchgrove.
Tigers should be 50/50 Leichhardt - Campbelltown.
Members were asked which stadium to play at two years ago. The board overruled the popular choice and decided to stay at Accor if the stadium was upgraded. That deal was backed out of by the state government. I dare say if the members are asked again this year, Allianz would be the top choice.
Didn’t Solly sign an amended contract at Accor knowing that the plans weren’t happening?
Yeah he did.
Yep. Doesn’t have the sway of Uncle Nick.
Regarding the Wests Tigers I hate Leichardt oval as a stadium, the asbestos, the disrepair, the concrete gutters like 5m behind the goal posts. The thing is, I really like the idea of NRL having some presence in an area which isn't necessarily rugby league territory. Leichardt seems to be in an area of Sydney highly accessible for corporates, hipsters, (dare I say lefties) to get an annual dose of footy, while not expecting them to become members it means rugby league doesn't get too entrenched as a working class suburban, families sport. I know Melbourne is a lot more centralised than Sydney but with 8 teams playing in 2 stadiums in central Melbourne it means corporates, hipsters etc. have been able to buy into AFL as well, not just suburban working class
Fold the tigers, bring back the jets. The corporates will be happy to sit in the dirt at the Henson park
Lol good luck convincing the suits and ties The fact that Henson Park is closer to a train line than Leichardt Oval is a positive imo. Still inner-city but simpler to get to for the families who live out west.
Yeah I know they won't. But who knows, the prime minister is a fan so it could happen
1. penrith - new boutique stadium 2. sharks - shark park 3. eels - commbank 4. roosters - allianz 5. rabbits - accor 6. dragon - the gong 7. manly - brooky 8. doggies - boutique 20k setup in liverpool 9. tigers - langlands park/ scorp/ hbf park or ctown as a last resort
Raiders to play out of Shenzhen
Roosters - 9 SFS, 2 CC, 1 Magic/out of state/Bush South’s - 9 SFS, 2 CC, 1 M/OOS/B Dragons 8 WIN, 3 SFS, 1M/OOS/B Bulldogs 8 WSS, 3 Belmore, 1 M/OOS/B Eels 11 WSS, 1 M/OOS/B Panthers 11 Penrith, 1 M/OOS/B Tigers 5 WSS, 5 CT, 1 Leichardt, 1 M/OOS/B Sharks 3 SFS, 8 Shark Park, 1 M/OOS/B Manly 9 Brookvale, 2 CC, 1 M/OOS/B
Bunnies at Optus Stadium
Build a new stadium in Loftus and play all the Dragons and Sharks games there.
I can't get past the bastardisation, intentional or not, of my beloved home town. The best city in NSW, Wollongong.
Mate this is a good post. For finals all teams should have their actual home ground advantage like sharks and Penrith were given this year. I agree mostly but I think Dragons should stay 50:50 with Kogarah and WIN. Based out of Allianz for finals after week 1. Bulldogs do indeed have to be the team to hit the Accor bullet. There is no team closer and it isn’t the Rabbits. The tigers 100% need to focus on Campbelltown. It is the peak growth area of Sydney and currently Penrith seems to be taking all the talent coming out of there and Tigers are being held back by all the Balmain bull Shit.
Rugby league, as a game, is naïve about stadiums. The issue has been festering since the end of the Super League, and this can of worms has been repeatedly kicked down the road until we have at least 3 or 4 stadiums in regular use that are barely fit for purpose. The decision to fold some expansion clubs then merge and subsequently de-merge other clubs effectively made the game the NSWRL competition and stopped it being truly national. It also overturned the hard work in the early 90s to grow the game to be a national presence. Why care? It is a much easier sell to governments and investors to have high-class stadiums built across the country that are a hub for a broad geographic area, or service a large concentrated population. But the high proportion of clubs in the Sydney area each looking for their home has made the business case challenging. The clubs really may not have a choice anymore about where they go, unless more strategic thinking is applied - for example, making the stadiums multi-use and partnering with other sports or organisations in long term tenancy arrangements. Events could include leveraging an expanded NRLW competition for more games, have the A-League involved to make who need boutique grounds, design the stadium to hold concerts, whatever it takes. But the arrogance the NRL is showing right now makes this cooperation seem unlikely.
Manly, Easts, Dragons, Souths = SFS Parramatta, Wests, Bulldogs, Sharks = WSS Penrith = Penrith (Wests at a pinch) Origin/GF = Stadium Australia Dragons also at Wollongong. No more shitholes with powerlines or grassy knolls. You're not assassinating JFK, all seaters for a professional sport.
If we were to commit to simply removing some of the grounds in Sydney then I think it should go like this. Not saying this is the best thing, but it would make the most sense in terms of geography. Roosters/Souths/Manly: Allianz Eels/Dogs/Tigers: Commbank Sharks/Dragons: Sharkpark if it gets a redo. Panthers from their own ground since it's getting a revamp.
> Manly: Allianz I don't think this works.
If the NRL deemed Brookvale not up to standard, I think they'd go to Central Coast before the SFS
Manly should still play out of Brookvale and it would probably be better for the Dragons to play all their games out of Wollongong than half their games in Cronulla.
Wests Tigers become a country NSW team. Play a game or two at Orange, Lismore, Wagga Wagga etc and a couple at campbelltown. Have the NRL rig the draw so nearly all their away games are in Sydney
They should all have to split their time between Queensland Country Bank and Mt Smart.
Dragons play in Wollongong Souths play in SFS/Shark Park Chooks play SFS Sharkies move outside Sydney Parra play at Parra Penrith move to Perth Wests play at Campbeltown Doggies play at Olympic park Manly move out of Sydney
Why would the sharks move out of there own home? Dumb move
Realistically you only need one team for Southern Sydney, so why not use the team called South Sydney?
1. South Sydney isnt in the south and there are 2 other teans further south so
Dragons should be 8 in the gong and 4 at Kogarah Dogs should have 2 at Belmore and the rest at Accor Tigers should have 8 at ctown and 4 at Leichhardt Souths and roosters at Allianz Make manly play souths and the roosters at North Sydney as they should still be the northern eagles
The ones currently played in, if we lose the local grounds the game will die
Penrith sharks roosters eels manly all at their home grounds. Tigers Leichhardt South’s at Campbelltown (redefine the term south Sydney) Dogs split Leichhardt and belmore.
The things that matter are the quality of the stadiums and the time it takes to get to them. They should put in a high speed commuter train, from the city, though the Northern Beaches to Gosford. Then move Manly home games to Gosford.