Will 2024 be the best NRL season ever?

[fenster]

3 hours ago, JonNgog said:

Nothing AFAIK, besides a patchy bus service.

Doesn’t do itself many favours does it.

[fenster]

1 hour ago, Dunbar said:

Yes, Canberra. 

Harsh.

maybe the raiders should move back to Queanbeyan.

[Sports Prophet]

8 hours ago, fenster said:

The sharks should be forced to play the majority of their home home games away from shark park until their capacity is sufficient.

Why? So they can get even smaller crowds? 

[fenster]

2 minutes ago, Sports Prophet said:

Why? So they can get even smaller crowds? 

Don’t sharks fans travel?

[Sports Prophet]

8 minutes ago, fenster said:

Don’t sharks fans travel?

What is the outcome you are looking for by taking games away from Sharks Park?

If the NRL were so draconian to have forced the Sharks to not play at Shark Park until the ground is up to 18k capacity, then you would have seen the Sharks playing away from home for about 8 or 9 years. A sure way to put a club in trouble.

The Sharks have highlighted their preference to be the home team for event fixtures like Magic. The Sharks requested to be the home team in Vegas, but the NRL instead gave that honour to the Panthers.

I believe the club will continue to take one home game a season to Coffs Harbour after the completion of their existing arrangement. 

I think the Sharks management are doing very well considering the sandwich they’ve been left with by the developer and the previous administration.

A little inside tip is that you can expect the Sharks to be a home team in a NRL double header in Perth in 2025, which should give you an inside tip of another major outcome on the horizon.

 

Edited September 8 by Sports Prophet

[Pulga]

 

 

[Copa]

22 hours ago, fenster said:

Isn’t the Canberra stadium in a poor location as well?

It’s surrounded by bushland and i sometimes see kangaroos hopping down the trail I walk along to the stadium.

The main car parks are right next to the stadium and public transport to the stadium from all major ACT town centres (and Queanbeyan) is free.

It’s easy to get to but there’s nothing to do around the stadium and the stadium is cold, aging and with poor rain protection. It’s easily the coldest major stadium in Australia.

Edited September 9 by Copa

[Sports Prophet]

4 minutes ago, Copa said:

It’s surrounded by bushland and i sometimes see kangaroos hopping down the trail I walk along to the stadium.

The main car parks are right next to the stadium and public transport to the stadium from all major ACT town centres (and Queanbeyan) is free.

It’s easy to get to but there’s nothing to do around the stadium and the stadium is cold, aging and with poor rain protection. It’s easily the coldest major stadium in Australia.

Yeah, definitely built and designed for an age where you go in to watch the game and get out. 

Put it in Cairns, it’s still a pretty good stadium.

[fenster]

6 hours ago, Copa said:

It’s surrounded by bushland and i sometimes see kangaroos hopping down the trail I walk along to the stadium.

The main car parks are right next to the stadium and public transport to the stadium from all major ACT town centres (and Queanbeyan) is free.

It’s easy to get to but there’s nothing to do around the stadium and the stadium is cold, aging and with poor rain protection. It’s easily the coldest major stadium in Australia.

Why on earth was it built as an open stadium?

[DavidM]

Strange season , Melbourne have been the strongest most consistent side and go into the play offs as favourite I’d say but everyone in the mix has looked vulnerable to a degree . And Newcastle are in the top 8 after being abysmal and boring to watch for a large part so that doesn’t say a lot for the depth of the competition this year .

[Copa]

On 08/09/2024 at 22:26, JonNgog said:

Canberra are the biggest disappointment here as a one-club city of a similar size to Newcastle. I guess the rubbish stadium doesn’t help?

Canberra is also the host of a super rugby team and has a sizeable AFL following. A substantial part of Canberra’s population come from AFL loving parts of the country and Australian Rules Football had a substantial following in Canberra before the Raiders even existed. AFL games are also played in Canberra. AFL style goal posts are easy to find all over Canberra.

My children, who have been going to NRL games since they were babies even sometimes refer to rugby league as just “rugby” due to the influence of AFL state migration to Canberra.

[Copa]

3 hours ago, fenster said:

Why on earth was it built as an open stadium?

Back in the 70s when it was constructed Canberra’s population was much smaller and facilities had to be multi purpose to ensure viability.

So it was initially a multi purpose stadium with a running track. It also hosted AFL games. In preparation for the 2000 Olympics the stadium was renovated to bring the seating closer to the field and it became a permanent stadium for rectangular field sports only.

The running track is now next to the stadium and AFL games are played at Manuka stadium.

[unapologetic pedant]

6 minutes ago, Copa said:

Back in the 70s when it was constructed Canberra’s population was much smaller and facilities had to be multi purpose to ensure viability.

So it was initially a multi purpose stadium with a running track. It also hosted AFL games. In preparation for the 2000 Olympics the stadium was renovated to bring the seating closer to the field and it became a permanent stadium for rectangular field sports only.

The running track is now next to the stadium and AFL games are played at Manuka stadium.

I always understood Bruce Stadium to be linked in some way with the Australian Institute of Sport. When the Raiders started pulling bigger crowds in the early 90s on the back of their on-field success, I recall thinking it all looked very impressive. Perhaps it just appeared so in the context of Sydney suburban grounds.

[DoubleD]

On 08/09/2024 at 13:26, JonNgog said:

Canberra are the biggest disappointment here as a one-club city of a similar size to Newcastle. I guess the rubbish stadium doesn’t help?

I disagree, Souths are the biggest disappointment given their fan base. Their poor attendance is clearly a result of them being gash and having to play their home games at the soulless vacuum that is Accor stadium 

[Sports Prophet]

4 hours ago, DavidM said:

Strange season , Melbourne have been the strongest most consistent side and go into the play offs as favourite I’d say but everyone in the mix has looked vulnerable to a degree . And Newcastle are in the top 8 after being abysmal and boring to watch for a large part so that doesn’t say a lot for the depth of the competition this year .

I see it as a clear top two with three and four Roosters and Sharks hot on the heels due to a few more injuries than most, and all those four are clearly ahead of the rest with the rest of the top eight and maybe the next four all capable of stringing a few together but not in the hunt for a Prem unless there are a stunning amount of injuries to all top four sides.

The remaining 5 are just making up the numbers.

I wouldn’t say that’s too much different than most years.

Edited September 9 by Sports Prophet

[Damien]

1 hour ago, DoubleD said:

I disagree, Souths are the biggest disappointment given their fan base. Their poor attendance is clearly a result of them being gash and having to play their home games at the soulless vacuum that is Accor stadium 

Souths are the one that stood out to me too. For all the hype and bluster since Crowe took over their average attendance is really poor now that success has waned.

[Sports Prophet]

1 hour ago, DoubleD said:

I disagree, Souths are the biggest disappointment given their fan base. Their poor attendance is clearly a result of them being gash and having to play their home games at the soulless vacuum that is Accor stadium 

It’s funny. I remember when in England, questioning the Bunnies playing out of Homebush. My father used to peddle the party line from the club which went something like “research shows that 50% of south sydney supporters are based in the south west of Sydney”, which for anyone with intimate knowledge of the club district from Coogee to La Pa’ back out to Botany and up to Redfern and everywhere between would know, that was a load of BS and they were simply there because of the financial incentive they were given to play there.

Souths belong back at Moore Park, which is what the current administration are trying to achieve.

Edited September 9 by Sports Prophet

[The Rocket]

1 hour ago, DoubleD said:

I disagree, Souths are the biggest disappointment given their fan base. Their poor attendance is clearly a result of them being gash and having to play their home games at the soulless vacuum that is Accor stadium 

Souths aren`t helped by the fact that their fanbase is so dispersed, ever since their original home territory of Redfern and surrounding suburbs became gentrified and priced many of those original supporters and the generational supporters that followed out of the housing market.

This dispersion means that any ground is going to make it hard for any large number of Rabbits` fans to make it to any one stadium on a regular basis. The best they can hope for is to get out of Accor and make attending their games at Allianz more event type occasions, like the Roosters, who publicise their games heavily, and attract good crowds that way.

HST, the Rabbitohs are an invaluable asset to the NRL, they really are the only professional sporting team in Oz that really do seem to be inextricably linked to our Indigenous population, that`s gold in modern marketing and game image. Hard to believe now we almost got rid of them, but I suppose times have changed and who would have thought of that back then.

[Sports Prophet]

2 hours ago, DoubleD said:

I disagree, Souths are the biggest disappointment given their fan base. Their poor attendance is clearly a result of them being gash and having to play their home games at the soulless vacuum that is Accor stadium 

I agree, Souths are the worst result on that sheet and worst by far (all things considered).

Similar to what was said earlier in this thread, where capacity allows it, 15k needs to be the minimum benchmark moving forward.

[Sports Prophet]

53 minutes ago, The Rocket said:

Souths aren`t helped by the fact that their fanbase is so dispersed, ever since their original home territory of Redfern and surrounding suburbs became gentrified and priced many of those original supporters and the generational supporters that followed out of the housing market.

I am not certain that is a fair reflection on the whole district @The Rocket. Maybe for real inner city suburbs like Redfern and Surrey Hills, but looking at whole South Sydney district JRL, there is still a great representation of RL at all age groups at most clubs up to 14s. Not to mention the public schools in the district bursting with students.

I think Randwick and Botany city regions are still thriving with the same communities which have always loved the bunnies

This isn’t to discount the appeal of the bunnies beyond the district.

[fenster]

On 08/09/2024 at 21:48, Sports Prophet said:

What is the outcome you are looking for by taking games away from Sharks Park?

If the NRL were so draconian to have forced the Sharks to not play at Shark Park until the ground is up to 18k capacity, then you would have seen the Sharks playing away from home for about 8 or 9 years. A sure way to put a club in trouble.

The Sharks have highlighted their preference to be the home team for event fixtures like Magic. The Sharks requested to be the home team in Vegas, but the NRL instead gave that honour to the Panthers.

I believe the club will continue to take one home game a season to Coffs Harbour after the completion of their existing arrangement. 

I think the Sharks management are doing very well considering the sandwich they’ve been left with by the developer and the previous administration.

A little inside tip is that you can expect the Sharks to be a home team in a NRL double header in Perth in 2025, which should give you an inside tip of another major outcome on the horizon.

 

The NRL is currently going gangbusters and having a team with a 12.5k capacity home ground is not acceptable and is dragging the whole competition down.

my solution would be for the sharks to play the majority of their “home” games away from shark park like the dolphins do with Kayo stadium.

Maybe harsh but totally necessary until the sharks do something about it.

[fenster]

On 08/09/2024 at 21:48, Sports Prophet said:

What is the outcome you are looking for by taking games away from Sharks Park?

If the NRL were so draconian to have forced the Sharks to not play at Shark Park until the ground is up to 18k capacity, then you would have seen the Sharks playing away from home for about 8 or 9 years. A sure way to put a club in trouble.

The Sharks have highlighted their preference to be the home team for event fixtures like Magic. The Sharks requested to be the home team in Vegas, but the NRL instead gave that honour to the Panthers.

I believe the club will continue to take one home game a season to Coffs Harbour after the completion of their existing arrangement. 

I think the Sharks management are doing very well considering the sandwich they’ve been left with by the developer and the previous administration.

A little inside tip is that you can expect the Sharks to be a home team in a NRL double header in Perth in 2025, which should give you an inside tip of another major outcome on the horizon.

 

The NRL is currently going gangbusters and having a team with a 12.5k capacity home ground is not acceptable and is dragging the whole competition down.

my solution would be for the sharks to play the majority of their “home” games away from shark park like the dolphins do with Kayo stadium.

Maybe harsh but totally necessary until the sharks do something about it.

[fenster]

Massive blow for the bulldogs.

 

https://www.news.com.au/sport/nrl/bulldogs-star-stands-down-misled-club-over-alleged-roadside-test-result/news-story/74f0f7a07fedcadb4bdabd992857c84d

 

 

[fenster]

On 08/09/2024 at 23:26, Pulga said:

 

 

Storm just missed out as well and cowboys not too far away also.

 

will be interesting to see how the new Penrith stadium will affect future panthers crowds.

[fenster]

6 hours ago, Sports Prophet said:

It’s funny. I remember when in England, questioning the Bunnies playing out of Homebush. My father used to peddle the party line from the club which went something like “research shows that 50% of south sydney supporters are based in the south west of Sydney”, which for anyone with intimate knowledge of the club district from Coogee to La Pa’ back out to Botany and up to Redfern and everywhere between would know, that was a load of BS and they were simply there because of the financial incentive they were given to play there.

Souths belong back at Moore Park, which is what the current administration are trying to achieve.

Are souths locked into a long-term stadium lease contract at Accor?