Westie
Sydney Middleton (9)
Fuck Milner. If the crowds are going to start small then use merrylands and forshaw. Parramatta stadium would be great though.
Western Sydney Rams . NRC Official Team Thread
- Thread starter Hugh Jarse
- Start date
Fuck Milner. If the crowds are going to start small then use merrylands and forshaw. Parramatta stadium would be great though.
Omar Comin'
Chilla Wilson (44)
Nah I wouldn't play 3 games at TG. The problem is it's not conveniently located unless you live locally - it's not that close to either Eastwood or Epping train stations and the parking situation is awful on a big game day.
But the bigger problem is that I think people in the greater west would not consider that Ryde/Hornsby area as part of the West. And the west is where rugby really needs to grow its supporter base. If you're going to play in one place for all or most games I think Parramatta is the best option. Otherwise it'd be better to share them around. One at TG, one further West like Blacktown (not sure of ground options?), one at Concord, one in the South (I think Forshaw might be too small...perhaps Kogarah is an option?). Another option would be the South West.
To begin with it might be better to do that anyway to sort of mark the territory of the team. The danger is that the Rams might become invisible trying to cover too much ground, especially as so few games are going to be televised. Creating awareness of the team and it's home games (if they're all different) would be a big challenge.
Could you stick a set of proper goal posts up at the Blacktown Olympic Baseball Park ? The oval next to the Train tracks at Rooty Hill where they originally were going to base GWS AFL team.
The Umpires stopped one game that FWS were playing there early when they mistook the Train Horn for the 1/4 time siren.
IIRC there is a decent grand stand, plenty of parking and public transport. A hill around the oval would give good viewing, although the punters would not be right on the sidelines.
The Umpires stopped one game that FWS were playing there early when they mistook the Train Horn for the 1/4 time siren.
IIRC there is a decent grand stand, plenty of parking and public transport. A hill around the oval would give good viewing, although the punters would not be right on the sidelines.
FLasH
Bob McCowan (2)
You mean Nepean Park right??
Merrylands RSL Rugby Park aka Granville Park would be the best option.. Plenty of parking (and street parking), crowds are closer to the field all around the park, close public transport, and its the heart of the west. If the rams are to be successful, this is where they need to be based. Big market to tap into fan wise. But if ego's up the chain dont humble themselves and realise the rams will blossom in parra then sadly the fan base will only be small. Fair enough ppl will want games to be shared around the various clubs involved. But the rams need a permanent residence where the fans can call it their HOME ground. After all, those travelling from port hacking or from afar can always plan their day or night hanging out in parra cbd
Omar Comin'
Chilla Wilson (44)
Haven't been there in ages but from memory it's pretty small. How many people could it hold realistically? 2-3k?
B
BellyTwoBlues
Guest
I'd love to agree with you Flash. I really REALLY would.
But mate, the facility is just not up to standard. While the canteen provides great healthy food options, sadly Parramatta Council do not permit us (nor will they do it themselves) to construct and upgrade the facility to a decent standard.
I would dearly love for Merrylands to be a viable option, but I am also a realist.Feel free to contact Parra Council though, and let them know of any disappointment you may have in this.
B
BellyTwoBlues
Guest
For me, I'd like to see all home games played at Parra Stadium.
Pfitzy
George Gregan (70)
We've already agreed in the larger discussion about broadcast options for Australian Rugby that Saturday is the sweet spot for games, as in the major markets for rugby there are no clashes with existing NRL fixtures on FTA broadcast. Saturday afternoons are problematic due to Subbies Rugby finals for the first couple of weeks too.
Saturday evening is therefore the best option in order to be able to broadcast from any Australian location.
Cross-referencing this with Belly's point about facilities above:
Foxtel are NOT going to take their gear to a ground without basic OB capability, and neither they nor any FTA network are going to be able to broadcast a game from a facility on Saturday night that doesn't have minimum lighting requirements.
So it can't just be a regular suburban rugby park, as anyone who has trained at night at a regular suburban rugby park knows.
Saturday evening is therefore the best option in order to be able to broadcast from any Australian location.
Cross-referencing this with Belly's point about facilities above:
Foxtel are NOT going to take their gear to a ground without basic OB capability, and neither they nor any FTA network are going to be able to broadcast a game from a facility on Saturday night that doesn't have minimum lighting requirements.
So it can't just be a regular suburban rugby park, as anyone who has trained at night at a regular suburban rugby park knows.
The Australian Standard (AS 2560.2.3) for Sports Lighting at semi-professional competition games is rather high - 200 lux
Most of the ovals that I have been to for club competition games and match practices (requirement 100 lux) barely meet the standard ball and physical training (requirement 50 lux).
Given that most of the players in the NRC will be Professional Rugby players, the requirement (as per AS 2560) for professional competition games is 500 lux. 200 lux is deemed as only suitable for match practice at professional level.
There are not many stadia that have 500 lux lighting capability.
If NRC is going to suburban ovals, they will need to play day games under natural lighting conditions.
Most of the ovals that I have been to for club competition games and match practices (requirement 100 lux) barely meet the standard ball and physical training (requirement 50 lux).
Given that most of the players in the NRC will be Professional Rugby players, the requirement (as per AS 2560) for professional competition games is 500 lux. 200 lux is deemed as only suitable for match practice at professional level.
There are not many stadia that have 500 lux lighting capability.
If NRC is going to suburban ovals, they will need to play day games under natural lighting conditions.
Pfitzy
George Gregan (70)
Which I don't mind - daytime footy is good. But that means no Friday games and very few for Sunday, given the clash with Loig.
Saturday afternoon is also prime time for AFL.
It also means while Premier Rugby will be done and dusted, Subbies finals will be on, so there is part of a potential audience already busy.
No easy answers except Saturday night... provided there is no Loig game on at said stadium.
Saturday afternoon is also prime time for AFL.
It also means while Premier Rugby will be done and dusted, Subbies finals will be on, so there is part of a potential audience already busy.
No easy answers except Saturday night... provided there is no Loig game on at said stadium.
As the Bishop said to the Actress, "Timing is everything".
MarkJ
Bob Loudon (25)
I thought that Foxsports were going to be broadcasting a live NRC game on Thursday nights as it filled a hole in their scheduling. Or did I just imagine that?
2bluesfan
Nev Cottrell (35)
Well, there's something I didn't know.
Mind you. there's an awful bloody lot of things I don't know. But who'd have thought there'd be an actual Australian Standard for sports lighting?
Not many do.
I think the compo lawyers of this world are just waiting for the day when one of the show ponies gets injured at training or during game time and the lighting at that time is below the requirements of AS 2560 for the activities being conducted. Not only would they go the Clubs and competition organisers, but I reckon Councils would be in the cross hairs for negligence.
The Standard covers Soccer, AFL , League and Rugby.
I think the compo lawyers of this world are just waiting for the day when one of the show ponies gets injured at training or during game time and the lighting at that time is below the requirements of AS 2560 for the activities being conducted. Not only would they go the Clubs and competition organisers, but I reckon Councils would be in the cross hairs for negligence.
The Standard covers Soccer, AFL , League and Rugby.
2bluesfan
Nev Cottrell (35)
I'm a little worried that you do.
Involved in the project management team to upgrade the lights for the village club where the Junior Jarses were playing at the time. Kept a copy of the standard knowing it would be useful one day.
Good information to use to win a beer or two in the pub on a bet.
Good information to use to win a beer or two in the pub on a bet.
T
TOCC
Guest
Saturday nights would work for Super Rugby on FTA since the only competition is one AFL game, but not for the NRC on PayTV, it will get lost in the competition with NRL and AFL matches also on foxtel.
Best bet for the NRC is to play on a weeknight where Foxtel has no other live sporting content and actually offers the best bet for respectable ratings. There have already been rumours that Foxtel want to broadcast the games on a Thursday night.
This competition is at the whim of the broadcasters, if they want to play the game on a Thursday night then i think the ARU should happily oblige, yes it will have a impact on crowds but realistically a worst case scenario of a 50% drop in attendnace on a 5'000 crowd is still only 2'500 people. Whereas the potential ratings and exposure by playing on a Thursday night with no other competition could see an extra 20'000 tune in.
As for the rest of the games, well only one match is been broadcast so there shouldn't be an issue with playing the rest of the matches in the daytime, it reduces overheads by mitigating the need for lighting issues etc mentioned above.
T
TOCC
Guest
Yes it will be shit for gate taking, but this competition is at the mercy of the broadcaster who paid $millions for a conceptual competition. Playing a game at 7:30 on a saturday night in competition with the AFL and NRL at the pointy end of the season will only mean poor ratings, poor ratings aren't going to do the ARU or the clubs any favours in 18months time when the competition broadcast rights are up for renegotiation.
Its in the interest of the competition and broadcasters that they play the games at a point in the week which they will be able to get respectable ratings.. If they get poor ratings then the competition will fail, the number of people walking through the gates will be irrelevant.
Regardless, only one game will be broadcast a week, its not as though teams will be playing every game on a thursday night, only the match of the round which is been broadcast.