Opinion We need our own home ground stadium

[Alan79]

On the rare occasions I am able to get to live games it's usually at SOP. While I do like being there, the atmosphere is definitely not a drawcard. The food is generally pretty poor and pricey too. The seats I've wound up in are usually so far away that i can't see the numbers on jerseys. I'm in Sydney maybe once every two years these days. If I was there often the novelty of being at the game under those circumstances would wear thin. Small stadiums are far more appealing for most people. So I think it would be better to find a solution to the dilemma. The above reasons are potentially why crowds are down. If you don't have atmosphere or good views of the game, it's a matter of economics in some cases. Why pay $50+ to be there (food cost, public transport & ticket) when you barely see the game.

 

[Spoonman84]

Semantics fellas.
Home ground advantage does not come from whether you play at Belmore, ANZ or new WSS. It comes from the atmosphere of having 3/4 of the crowd screaming and cheering on the team.
It's looking around and seeing the sea of blue and white jerseys, scarfs, beanies, flags, the roar of the crowd and the beating of the drums.

Its us - the fans!

An average walking pace is 5 km an hour - and i would gladly walk the 15 mins for my team...

Go dogs.
See you at the game tomorrow!

It wouldn't matter if you have 15000 going nuts making as much noise as possible in ANZ it gets lost but if you get that 15000 in WSS or Belmore then you can create a good atmosphere.

 

[Canis Maximus]

It wouldn't matter if you have 15000 going nuts making as much noise as possible in ANZ it gets lost but if you get that 15000 in WSS or Belmore then you can create a good atmosphere.

Exactly! Thats why i can understand the issue people have with WSS.
Its owned by the government and as far as i know will be used by WSWonders, The Waratahs, Tigers and Parramatta. I guarantee you the atmosphere generated by any of these teams at WSS will smash anything we could ever generate at ANZ. And i am not saying this because i live close to WSS - quite the opposite in fact. Can't wait to we play the Panthers there in August. I think ppl will be pleasantly surprised.

 

[Spoonman84]

Exactly! Thats why i can understand the issue people have with WSS.
Its owned by the government and as far as i know will be used by WSWonders, The Waratahs, Tigers and Parramatta. I guarantee you the atmosphere generated by any of these teams at WSS will smash anything we could ever generate at ANZ. And i am not saying this because i live close to WSS - quite the opposite in fact. Can't wait to we play the Panthers there in August. I think ppl will be pleasantly surprised.

I think its because people are just used to the "atmosphere" at ANZ.

WSS is the first purpose built footy stadium of that size the stands are really steep so you'll be right over the field.

Belmore isn't good enough for more then a couple of games and its not going to be upgraded to a standard we need to host all games there.

WSS is the best option by a mile.

 

[TwinTurbo]

Semantics fellas.
Home ground advantage does not come from whether you play at Belmore, ANZ or new WSS. It comes from the atmosphere of having 3/4 of the crowd screaming and cheering on the team.
It's looking around and seeing the sea of blue and white jerseys, scarfs, beanies, flags, the roar of the crowd and the beating of the drums.

Its us - the fans!

An average walking pace is 5 km an hour - and i would gladly walk the 15 mins for my team...

Go dogs.
See you at the game tomorrow!

I’ll be there.

Maybe check your maths, 2 km at 5 km/h is 24 minutes, then que up and 24 mins walking back. It’s not a good ratio of walking/queuing time to game watching time.

Go Dogs

 

[TwinTurbo]

Exactly! Thats why i can understand the issue people have with WSS.
Its owned by the government and as far as i know will be used by WSWonders, The Waratahs, Tigers and Parramatta. I guarantee you the atmosphere generated by any of these teams at WSS will smash anything we could ever generate at ANZ. And i am not saying this because i live close to WSS - quite the opposite in fact. Can't wait to we play the Panthers there in August. I think ppl will be pleasantly surprised.

I have no problem with the design of WSS, it’s a pretty good layout for playing “square” games. Just that where it is located is piss poor for most Bulldogs supporters. Because of that location and the effect it has on us Bulldogs supporters means we won’t have as much home ground advantage as we should. Especially for the up to 4 games a year when we play the teams where it is much more advantageous (Parra & Penrith).

Go Dogs

 

[Spoonman84]

I have no problem with the design of WSS, it’s a pretty good layout for playing “square” games. Just that where it is located is piss poor for most Bulldogs supporters. Because of that location and the effect it has on us Bulldogs supporters means we won’t have as much home ground advantage as we should. Especially for the up to 4 games a year when we play the teams where it is much more advantageous (Parra & Penrith).

Go Dogs

This wasn’t a problem when we moved from Belmore to ANZ crowds actually increased and that was a change in location. We don’t have any home ground advantage at ANZ so there’s none to lose.

 

[Canis Maximus]

I’ll be there.

Maybe check your maths, 2 km at 5 km/h is 24 minutes, then que up and 24 mins walking back. It’s not a good ratio of walking/queuing time to game watching time.

Go Dogs

I did say average pace!
But if you want to be anal - check your math because its only 1.1km from the transitway exit to the O'connell st entrance. And i have walked it many times in 15 minutes so i speak from experience

 

[TwinTurbo]

This wasn’t a problem when we moved from Belmore to ANZ crowds actually increased and that was a change in location. We don’t have any home ground advantage at ANZ so there’s none to lose.

The difference is ANZ isn’t Parra’s home stadium and it isn’t in Parramatta.

Go Dogs

 

[Spoonman84]

The difference is ANZ isn’t Parra’s home stadium and it isn’t in Parramatta.

Go Dogs

It’s not Parra’s stadium, they are a tennant the same way we would be. Anyway we have gone back and forth on this and we aren’t going to agree so let’s agree to disagree.

 

[Sir Col 'The Mushroom']

Very easily!

The current stadium (length wise of the field) is facing North to South.

You build West to East with plenty of parking!

But i agree its never going to happen

There is a reason why footy fields are built North/South.
Imagine an afternoon game and trying to take a high ball with the sun directly in your eyes.

 

[James zac]

Someone enlighten me who actually owns belmore?

 

[Spoonman84]

Someone enlighten me who actually owns belmore?

Canterbury-Bankstown Council and the Bulldogs lease it off them as the major tenant.

 

[Boldslug]

Why is 25k the magic number for a stadium? What would be wrong with say 15k capacity? Who cares if not everyone can get a seat. Basketball is played in small stadiums in the US and has expotentially more fans than any sport in Australia.

 

[Raysie]

Why is 25k the magic number for a stadium? What would be wrong with say 15k capacity? Who cares if not everyone can get a seat. Basketball is played in small stadiums in the US and has expotentially more fans than any sport in Australia.

You then leave the lower to middle class families and kids behind as they won't be able to afford the inflated prices you'd get from a small capacity seating stadium.

 

[Boldslug]

I'm not sure that's a valid argument, the average crowd attendance in the NRL so far is just over 15,000 https://afltables.com/rl/crowds/summary.html . Only the blockbuster type games seem to crack 20,000+ fans, and finals should be played at larger venues.

 

[_G-Dog_]

We need a proper First Grade team before our own home ground..