I hope you've all been well. Before I start ranting, I'd like to say I've finally hit 550 page views and I'm so grateful to know that someone somewhere enjoys reading my blog so thank you very much.
Today's rant is an NRL post about the proposed changes made to suburban grounds as home grounds. To put it simply, I AM OUTRAGED. Of all my rants, this one definitely means the most to me.
The NRL just can't get rid of Kogarah Oval as the Dragons home ground. There are a number of reasons why crowds were down this year at Kogarah and Wollongong. Firstly, they've already reduced home games to 4 instead of 6 which obviously angered people and turned them off going to the game. Also, not one all Sydney game as played at WIN Jubliee Oval this year. This obviously contributed to the lower crowds in comparison to our games at ANZ or Allianz where we played another Sydney team and so their fans helped boost the crowd. It's been speculated that this is a ploy to make the suburban grounds look worthless as the NRL hopes to cut these stadiums out of the picture. I can guarantee you if the Dragons played local opposition at Kogarah, they'd get bigger crowds than what they got this year and you'd see just how great a suburban ground could be. Furthermore, low crowds are partly caused by poor performance. It doesn't matter what ground you play it, if the team isn't performing, people won't show up. It doesn't help that the games at Kogarah were against other poor performing teams. The games were quite non-eventful. And those that were against quality opposition were at poor times. For example, Dragons played Cowboys at Kogarah on a freezing cold saturday night without origin stars there. They also played the Warriors at Kogarah only a few weeks after they played then in New Zealand making the game less exciting. I also think it was a big mistake to play the local derby between Cronulla and St George Illawarra in Wollongong because Kogarah and Cronulla are far more local than Cronulla and Wollongong and on top of that, there actually is a rivalry between the people on my side of the bridge and those in the Shire.
So why shouldn't they get rid of Kogarah?
- It is the hallowed turf of one of the most traditional and proudest clubs in the comp. St George won 11 premierships in a row using Kogarah as their home ground. There is a legends walk dedicated to the superstars of those teams including three (of only eight) Immortals. To stop using this ground for its sole purpose would be losing a piece of NRL history. It won't be long before it becomes a development site and apartments are build. I couldn't imagine anything sadder.
- Kogarah is as close to home as you can get. I find it quite ridiculous to play our home games at ANZ which is close to Parramatta and Bankstown Territory than it is to St George. Allianz is more Souths and Sydney territory than it is St George. How can you say that is our home stadium when it is nowhere near our home territory? Furthermore, the Dragons will still have to hold their fan days at either Kogarah or Wollongong making it so contradictory to say this is our home ground on some occasions but we play our home games at ANZ.
- Consider fans in the Illawarra. It is a hard enough trip to go from Wollongong to Kogarah for a home game. Given we only have 8 true home games a season now, it makes it even tougher knowing that you only get four in Wollongong so you have to travel extra to get your regular NRL fix. Could you imagine the extra effort it would take for Illawarra fans to travel the extra distance to Homebush or Moore Park? They'll stop showing up because it takes too much time out of their day. Especially night games. A 7:50pm kick off on a Friday Night means the game finishes near 10pm. Then an hour and half at least to get home. No one will go because they won't be able to bring their children. So much for attracting families. If kids aren't going to games because it's too much effort for their parents to take them, less kids will play NRL and then the league is in all sorts of trouble.
- NRL is supposed to be a working class game yet they aren't accommodating for the working class. The parking and the food at the big stadiums is more expensive than at suburban grounds. Not to mention the extra traffic and the extra petrol it takes. Especially from Wollongong. Moving out of the grass roots area into the big stadiums contradicts the whole NRL philosophy that you have to look after the true base of your fans- the working class, the country and the suburbs.
- You lose the atmosphere. 18,000 at Kogarah trumps 19000 at ANZ. You need at least 30,000 to make ANZ an interesting atmosphere. You are far away from the action, the crowd is spread out, voices fade before they are even heard. I do not care if you can get an extra 1000 people at ANZ because of the people who go, more will leave satisfied with the experience walking out of a suburban ground than out of ANZ.
If you think moving to big grounds and getting rid of suburban grounds are a good idea let me know why in the comments below!
Thanks for listening my dears,
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