I just think we are 20 odd years down the rabbit hole. We can't just forget about one area e.g. L.O or CSS you alienate half your supporter base.
We are a merged club, I would like to see junior academy at Campbelltown and combined COE at Concord.
I do agree we need an elite stadium for fans to go to.
I really think LO needs that upgrade and hoping the government thinks that and changes there mind.
There is no ideal solution and for that reason I’ve been squarely in the fence regarding this issue.
The promise of funding to Leichhardt swayed me to a Leichhardt/Campbelltown split. Also swaying me in this direction was the ‘fortress’ mentality in that these are our real home venues and fans love them.
But do they? Leichhardt yes. Campbelltown I’m not so sure. Crowds are always well below capacity and the atmosphere is tepid at best.
So Leichhardt is the fortress? Well maybe but it’s falling apart (literally) and without the promised funding simply does not meet modern standards or needs. And, the 50M was a smokey. Good ol Darcy was planning to use half this money for the local pool!
So imo that rules out Leichhardt and Campbelltown. One is not up to scratch m, the other is just up to scratch but is hardly a fortress!
Homebush? Sadly you need binoculars even on the 50m line, Row A. 20000 and it’s still cavernous. So it’s a NO from me.
So that leaves us with sharing a ground with Parramatta in the heart of parramatta or sharing a ground with two eastern suburbs teams in the heart of the eastern suburbs. Both state of the art stadiums that cater beautifully for fans, corporates and sponsors. Well I say sadly that in an imperfect world, one of these is the best, if not perfect, solution.
Which one? For parking and public transport accessibility (the only noticeable difference between the two) I say Sydney Football Stadium.
So that’s my choice. I’m not going to debate the merits because it’s pointless- all arguments have pretty much equal pros and cons. But we do need a modern venue I think.
If the state government get exposed for their manipulation and political driven decision making (500 000 000 for Penrith - what a joke) and funding goes back to Leichhardt I’d change my mind.
But for now: SFS
For a bit of perspective, the section of "Grandstand" that collapsed is never used for crowds at Tigers games, it is the area where they usually put audio/camera equipment. probably for this very reason.
Could have been "tenant error" in that they let crowds in an area not for crowds.
None of this takes away from the requirement for LO to be upgraded.
There is no ideal solution and for that reason I’ve been squarely in the fence regarding this issue.
The promise of funding to Leichhardt swayed me to a Leichhardt/Campbelltown split. Also swaying me in this direction was the ‘fortress’ mentality in that these are our real home venues and fans love them.
But do they? Leichhardt yes. Campbelltown I’m not so sure. Crowds are always well below capacity and the atmosphere is tepid at best.
So Leichhardt is the fortress? Well maybe but it’s falling apart (literally) and without the promised funding simply does not meet modern standards or needs. And, the 50M was a smokey. Good ol Darcy was planning to use half this money for the local pool!
So imo that rules out Leichhardt and Campbelltown. One is not up to scratch m, the other is just up to scratch but is hardly a fortress!
Homebush? Sadly you need binoculars even on the 50m line, Row A. 20000 and it’s still cavernous. So it’s a NO from me.
So that leaves us with sharing a ground with Parramatta in the heart of parramatta or sharing a ground with two eastern suburbs teams in the heart of the eastern suburbs. Both state of the art stadiums that cater beautifully for fans, corporates and sponsors. Well I say sadly that in an imperfect world, one of these is the best, if not perfect, solution.
Which one? For parking and public transport accessibility (the only noticeable difference between the two) I say Sydney Football Stadium.
So that’s my choice. I’m not going to debate the merits because it’s pointless- all arguments have pretty much equal pros and cons. But we do need a modern venue I think.
If the state government get exposed for their manipulation and political driven decision making (500 000 000 for Penrith - what a joke) and funding goes back to Leichhardt I’d change my mind.
But for now: SFS
Good post Steve. I think the SFS is the best option also. Even though I don't live in or around the inner city, i'd much prefer to head into the SFS to watch a game than to Commbank or Homebush (for the reasons you mentioned). Leichhardt currently is unfortunately too run down to be used for anything other than the occasional nostalgic game and Campbelltown is a complete fizzer - I'd be happy if we never played there.
In my opinion we need to set aside this romanticised view of our traditional home grounds and face the facts that we will never grow the club in the manner we would like while we still play the majority of our games there. The accident at LO on the weekend was coming for a long time and its fortunate that no one was seriously hurt. The facilities for members and fans are appalling even when the weather is favourable but when its wet it becomes just unacceptable. Also the corporate entertainment facilities are almost non-existent and whether we like it or not this is a key revenue stream for the club which we are just not maximising at the moment.
As far as CSS is concerned I'm just not convinced there is the size of Tigers support in the area which many claim there is. I attended the Manly game earlier in the season and what surprised me the most was the amount of Manly fans in the crowd, it was almost a 50/50 split in some parts of the ground and for a team who's fans are notorious for not crossing the Spit bridge then you have to assume they were from the local area. It's a passable stadium but no more than that and certainly not up to the standard of CommBank or the SFS.
We need to face facts to that neither of LO or CSS will be receiving upgrades any time soon or at least not enough to fulfill the clubs requirements moving forward.
All of which leaves us with Accor stadium or the SFS. My preference would be at Homebush but only if it was redeveloped into a rectangular stadium but until that happens it needs to be the SFS for us. The Sydney club who, in my opinion, are most comfortable with their identity are Souths and they have no issues sharing with their fiercest rivals in what is generally regarded as a Roosters area. This is because they can see the benefits of playing there and the revenue opportunities that present themselves and they are comfortable enough in their own skin to set aside any perceived issues with the location. We should also be able to do this and I hope this is front and centre of the clubs thinking on this.
Any long term and multi match commitment to either LO or CSS would be enormously short sighted.
if we announced 10+ games a year here I would immediately buy premium ticketed memberships for my entire family. If LO and CSS are now to be left to decay in the hands of local governments then it is the perfect time to go hard at setting up a new era at the SFS and not give ground to East/South’s/Bulldogs or whoever is going to play out of this incredible venue
It is farcical that we would choose to play at a stadium which is quite literally falling apart vs an $800m mega stadium that is custom designed for rugby league. Every seat is under cover, fantastic corporate facilities, at the cross roads of Sydney transport. If it comes down to Commbank, ANZ or Allianz then this is a no brainer
the new SFS looks amazing however I think we should go for Accor stadium. In my opinion the fact we can share it with the dogs and it is pretty close to our COE. Also if we commit long term the perhaps we can open up a satelite leagues club near the stadium ?
I still think Accor will get a roof and minor upgrades if the nsw government wants to attract big events we need a roof and capacity for big games. I think the nrl will be told by state government money is going back into upgrades for Accor.
If we want to succeed as a club then we need to look after the corporates even if we as fans dislike it. We need to provide first class facilities and easy parking. Some posters are against playing at the SFS as it is in Roosters territory. I don’t see it that way, to me it feels a lot more neutral than CommBank stadium and more parking is available.
the new SFS looks amazing however I think we should go for Accor stadium. In my opinion the fact we can share it with the dogs and it is pretty close to our COE. Also if we commit long term the perhaps we can open up a satelite leagues club near the stadium ?
I still think Accor will get a roof and minor upgrades if the nsw government wants to attract big events we need a roof and capacity for big games. I think the nrl will be told by state government money is going back into upgrades for Accor.
Accor is not appropriate unless it receives an almost complete rebuild.
In memory of Geoff Chisholm (1965-2022)
if we announced 10+ games a year here I would immediately buy premium ticketed memberships for my entire family. If LO and CSS are now to be left to decay in the hands of local governments then it is the perfect time to go hard at setting up a new era at the SFS and not give ground to East/South’s/Bulldogs or whoever is going to play out of this incredible venue
I’d be buying a premium membership if we played out of the new SFS as well. I am over the so called suburban grounds from the ‘60. Best thing they could do is condemn them or at the very least limit crowd numbers to sub 5K. Both Leichhardt and CSS are not suitable for NRL games.
I've avoided comment on grounds but will cast my opinion.
We only attend games at Leichhardt - that's where we feel 'at home' (disclosure: I'm in a sponsor's box or the main function room).
Campbelltown doesn't appeal to me and our performances suggest the players feel the same.
My son and I used to go to ANZ but the Grand Canyon feeling when there's 8,000 people makes it lifeless. Zero atmosphere.
Travelling to the city or surrounds is a hassle so SFS/Cricket ground don't appeal. Being in my mid sixties and with TV coverage of every game, I couldn't be bothered - especially when we're a shambles.
Given the average NRL attendances over many years has hovered around 15,000, I'd be happy to see a ground of 20,000 capacity be our home. If it's Leichhardt even better but I accept it needs a significant upgrade. If we have a blockbuster game where they think 35,000 is a chance I'd be happy to play at Bankwest (provided it's not against Eels) or Homebush. I don't see a need to play in a 35-40k stadium when we're more likely to get 10-15k fans.
Again, Leichhardt is the only place which feels (to me) like a home ground - make of that what you will.
@mike Myself and extended family would be around 12 premium memberships if one of the three stadiums was selected we opted out when there was no move on Maguire . We attended the first game at Orana park when the Magpies started then on an off memberships until the last game at Campbelltown.My grandkids live at Narellan and I have never taken them to a game at Campbelltown always was ANZ then Bankwest we believe an inner west club belongs we’re it’s roots are especially how the Magpies ended in the South West there is nothing there for this club the sooner they wake up the better it will be! But that’s just us …
@snake this has always confused me about the Campbelltown based option for the tigers. It seems pretty obvious that the majority of fans live east of parramatta so moving 45-60min away alienates the majority of existing fans. The counter arguement is that the south west is a growth opportunity but given we have played there as the tigers for 20 years to limited support it is by no means guaranteed it will succeed. Even when people point out that we got good crowds there in 2010 and 2011 I wonder how many of these were people travelling from the traditional regions to support a successful team vs locals. The club would know the location of their existing 20k members and even if you assume they are spread 1/3 at each venue I would guess many/most of the parramatta and Leichhardt members wouldn’t lock into 10+ games at Campbelltown for practical reasons (proximity). It would really be an all in decision that would likely set the club back 10yrs in memberships etc with the payoff being in the long run you think u gain new members in the south west to replace the inner west majority. It’s a high risk strategy, much lower risk in my view would be to select a centralised modern stadium that everyone could access and then pour infinite resources into providing development opportunities to junior players in your catchments. We have been trapped by this arguement about home grounds for over 20 years. I hope the club makes the right call. Reverting to 2 sub standard heritage grounds because it’s too hard to work out what to do is a cop out in my view. Unfortunately Lee sounds like he is an advocate for the south west option given then us where he is based.
@tigertownsfs We have made our decision so it’s up to others to make there’s .. if the option is the South West that’s well and good the club needs a home .We will give our money to rival clubs that play out of modern stadiums and will attend Tigers games as away supporters this will be our choice .
