Blackadder
Desmond Connor (43)
Wow there really must not be anything happening in Tah town if the conversation has turned to stadiums, fitness and travel.
Waratahs 2020
- Thread starter RugbyReg
- Start date
Derpus
George Gregan (70)
Usually happens when a city isn't planned to begin with.Sydney has a problem with dumbass planning in general. The buses after any game in the Moore Park precinct are chockers so I'm glad its a downhill walk
Pfitzy
George Gregan (70)
The results of a ship-based colonial settlement that hasn't had a modern war put the broom through the joint every so often.
It will be interesting to see how attendances this year pan out. Unfortunately the cognoscenti are unlikely to travel, and the West, feeling like it is ignored, will surely be tempted to thumb its nose at fixtures on its doorstep.
Pfitzy
George Gregan (70)
KOB1987
Rod McCall (65)
Well it is November.
Who was living in Sydney during the Olympics? They blocked the CBD off to traffic and it was sen-fucking-sational. Everyone was forced to take public transport, it took about 5 minutes on a bus from Clovelly to the city.
Silverado
Dick Tooth (41)
Yep, slow news week but the team is on their post season break. At least we're not talking about Bali
I think your idea of a nice restaurant and bar could be different
S
Show-n-go
Guest
Congratulations - you've just reminded everyone how self-centred you are, but based on the small sample of your posts I've read so far, I'm less than shocked.
And well done for having a pop at my fitness, but I'm actually talking about rugby fans in general. Its nearly 2km to get up Foveaux Street to the station depending on the gate you're using, and the average person covers 1km every 10 minutes at walking pace. I'm 43 year old prop and do it in about 20 minutes depending on beer loading.
Its all moot of course - as you and others have pointed out, the light rail will solve a few of these problems and buses the rest.
In maybe 5 years.
Please go have a geez over your comments in the Subbies thread if you want something self-centred
And guess how far parra station is from BankWest “shock horror” just under 2kms. Your average rugby fan isn’t a 40’s, larger gentleman with a skin full of beer so I suppose your comment is just self centred as mine
I don’t know why a few posters are getting so riled up over a lack of wanting to go to parramatta, do you guys live there and I’ve insulted your suburb? If so I genuinely apologise but it’s just a horrible place to get to if you don’t actually live there
Pfitzy
George Gregan (70)
Ah - but that is my club and I need to put them above other Subbies clubs.
You're having a pop at everyone else who supports the Tahs for NOT cracking a fat over the location of the SFS, in effect.
Do you want to have another go at that?
I wouldn't for a moment dream of defending Parramatta as a suburb. I avoid the place whenever possible. The location of the stadium is not ideal either, but it is the best rectangular ground in Sydney at the moment.
The carry on about the greatness of the SFS was been a constant source of amusement in the last decade. The decision to rip it down, instead of refurbish it is idiotic in terms of Waratahs' continuity the next 2-3 years.
Accepting completely that rugby's stronghold is the eastern suburbs, we also need to accept that the core rugby people in those areas are just not turning up for games any more, and the location or quality of the stadium are not the only factors.
Waratahs win the final in 2014 in front of nearly 62,000 at Homebush.
First Round 2015 against the Force - afternoon game - 17,000 at the SFS.
This year it averaged under 12k. Worrying times.
S
Show-n-go
Guest
No I’m not you absolute battler haha jeez sfs ain’t great just saying it’s better than parra. North, east, south it is all easier to get to (generally speaking) even areas like Penrith there’s only 20 mins or so in it between the two. Anyway walking distances between the two stadiums really isn’t that big of an issue at the end of the day when there’s free buses at both locations
I’ve mentioned multiple times it’s a great stadium
And please please please tell me you’re not comparing a grand final in western Sydney to a game against the force in the city deary me, what sort of point are you trying to make?
From all evidence BankWest has mixed results, great eels and wanderers attendance, shit Shute shield and league World Cup 9’s attendence, from the small sample size it looks like anything that isn’t distinctly western Sydney struggles there. I have the feeling like I said previously that after the initial novelty wears off (if the novelty is there to begin with) crowds will struggle severely there
As a friendly aside if youre gonna promote renegades on various fb pages like I’ve seen the past week, you’ve got to say in the ad somewhere where the renegades are actually located, especially seeing you don’t have the location in the clubs name, just asking for people to keep on scrolling
Attachments
I think it's pretty clear that Sydney is of a sufficient size that it warrants having a rectangular stadium at Parramatta and at Moore Park. They are about 30km away from each other and whilst people can and do travel to both, we have too many fixtures for one of them to cater for all the games.
Stadium Australia at Olympic Park is the worst of the major Sydney stadiums as it is too big for the overwhelming majority of events we have and thus lacks atmosphere. It also drastically lacks entertainment options before and after games. We need this plus the SFS and Parramatta to host games though.
It absolutely needs to be accepted that the walk from Central to the SFS/SCG is not what you would describe as an easy one. It is up a steep hill and is not short. Distance wise it's not dissimilar to the walk you do at Parramatta or in Melbourne to some of the stadia but it is much more challenging for older people and little kids than those flatter walks. Hopefully the light rail significantly improves this access because it would be better for everyone if less people needed to drive to the game.
The Waratahs also need to cater to their core supporters first and foremost (the members) because they're the ones buying the majority of the tickets. I don't think a permanent move to Parramatta would be beneficial in this regard.
I think BankWest is a fantastic stadium but it is laughable to suggest that teams that have been long term tenants at the SFS could easily relocate there without causing huge issues for their supporter bases.
Stadium Australia at Olympic Park is the worst of the major Sydney stadiums as it is too big for the overwhelming majority of events we have and thus lacks atmosphere. It also drastically lacks entertainment options before and after games. We need this plus the SFS and Parramatta to host games though.
It absolutely needs to be accepted that the walk from Central to the SFS/SCG is not what you would describe as an easy one. It is up a steep hill and is not short. Distance wise it's not dissimilar to the walk you do at Parramatta or in Melbourne to some of the stadia but it is much more challenging for older people and little kids than those flatter walks. Hopefully the light rail significantly improves this access because it would be better for everyone if less people needed to drive to the game.
The Waratahs also need to cater to their core supporters first and foremost (the members) because they're the ones buying the majority of the tickets. I don't think a permanent move to Parramatta would be beneficial in this regard.
I think BankWest is a fantastic stadium but it is laughable to suggest that teams that have been long term tenants at the SFS could easily relocate there without causing huge issues for their supporter bases.
Tomikin
Simon Poidevin (60)
GRR creating a West Sydney team might be go for out there.
The other thing that's relevant is that while the SCG is a poor viewing experience, it is a very good stadium for the members. Food is good, plenty of spacious bars, good toilets etc. Given the number (and influence) of SCG members it is still a good strategic move to play a few games there.
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wamberal
Phil Kearns (64)
When the Force was first admitted to Super Rugby, it was largely because there was a huge amount of community support for a team based in Perth.
I doubt that a team can be "created", unless it is built on genuine and committed community support. And I do not see many signs of that. Sydney has changed enormously as a city during my lifetime, that is a truism, I know. But when the sort of families who might once have been supporters of our code now send their children to fully or partly selective schools with an average round trip of 100 kms a day (for fully selective schools) or 50 kms a day (for partly selective schools) we are in a totally different world. Sport used to be important in selective and partly selective schools, like the school I went to. And rugby union was the winter sport of choice. Teachers used to coach teams. Now organised sport is either non-existent or just a side issue, with the richer codes providing opportunities which used to be freely available.
Maybe GRR will find a way to create a Western Sydney team without the support of NSWRU/ARU but I can't see that support coming whilst Parramatta is a key venue for the Waratahs.
Froggy
John Solomon (38)
Disagree about not being able to 'create' a team, it just takes time, money, nous, support from the 'head office' and some dedicated officials prepared to stick it out.
AFL did it in Sydney with the Swans, and now have done it again with the GWS Giants, while soccer has done it with the Wanderers.
I guess most of the above rule that out for rugby
AFL did it in Sydney with the Swans, and now have done it again with the GWS Giants, while soccer has done it with the Wanderers.
I guess most of the above rule that out for rugby
Up the Guts
Steve Williams (59)
Not sure about the food. It's stuck somewhere between gastro and rough pub with gastro prices. I've often found the chips to be soggy and the burger to be bland. Very heavy-handed on the salt as well. Nothing on the sweet nectars they were dishing out at Coogee Oval for the Wicks vs Argies game.
By the time you've handed over $15-$17 for the 'main' and then shamefully trotted back for the meat pie for desert, you're looking at pulling a lobster out of the wallet for a pretty underwhelming feed. 5/10 in my rugby-feed scorebook.
Derpus
George Gregan (70)
Worst stadium that i have ever been too, including the shitty rectangular league 1 football ground i used to go to in England.
Place sucking fucks.