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redunderthebed
24th March 2003, 05:57 PM
well , so my latest Sydney Swans Magazine says......BUT, as an eastern suburbs wacker, I am not at all happy with Telsta Stadium and will seriously consider my membership (of 20 years) if the number of games increase out THERE.
The SCG is perfect for the game (and me) so it is just bleading stupid to increase games out there for no atmosphere and no perceived increase of interest. didn't we see the Kings stuff up on this?

robbieando
24th March 2003, 06:32 PM
What are you complaining about?? At least you get to see them live in your home town more than 5 times. Remember the Swans are for the entire Sydney population not just those in the North-Eastern suburbs.

I don't think if there is any increase that it will be any more than an extra match out West.

desredandwhite
24th March 2003, 07:26 PM
It doesn't make sense to have more than a handful of games at homebush - You'd basically want a high-drawing team - So any of the "Big Four". And depending on circumstances, finals matches too. Stadium Australia is actually more convenient for me to get to so that's fine by me ;)

I don't mind the ground at all. The sightlines aren't any worse than the top deck of the great southern stand, and the food is just as bad as any other footy ground!! :D Get 40,000+ in there and the atmosphere is as good as anywhere.

The SCG is where the majority of games should and will stay.

Bear
24th March 2003, 08:09 PM
The SCG is too small for quality AFL football to be played. It leads to cramped zig-zag football.

The more the better at the bigger, open Telstra Stadium for the sake of our chances of winning in Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth and Melb when it counts. Much better open, running football spectacle too, even if you are significantly further away.

Also the more the better for the sake of growing the club's supporter base, which seems to have plateaud in the East.

I would be happy with around a 50-50 split.

vagary
24th March 2003, 09:11 PM
rutb why are you complaining? coming from the south of sydney i have to travel a great distance to get to all home games. at least you get most of them not so far away.

redunderthebed
24th March 2003, 11:26 PM
sorry, you are right , no excuse ....i am a bleeding ,selfish eastern suberbs richard head.

cos789
25th March 2003, 12:26 AM
There should be the flexbility of rostering any game that appears to draw in excess of say 40,000 to Homebush .They shift games in Melbourne to and fro from the MCG so why not the SCG ?

horses for courses.

bricon
25th March 2003, 09:10 AM
Originally posted by cos789
There should be the flexbility of rostering any game that appears to draw in excess of say 40,000 to Homebush .They shift games in Melbourne to and fro from the MCG so why not the SCG ?


The MCG and SCG have FAR lower overheads/operating costs than Homebush (and Docklands for that matter). The Swans lost $750,000 staging and promoting the 3 games at Homebush last year with average crowds of well over 40,000. It appears that the break-even crowd at Homebush for AFL is something like 55-60,000 - the break-even figure at the SCG is around 18,000.

From a purely financial consideration, a 35,000 crowd at the SCG would offer the club an infinitely better return than 60,000 at Homebush. If Homebush is seen as a development tool to expand the game into the western suburbs (a very flawed theory in my view) then the AFL should pay for the costs of staging the matches there. Code development is the AFLs domain NOT the clubs'.

vagary
25th March 2003, 07:20 PM
Originally posted by redunderthebed
sorry, you are right , no excuse ....i am a bleeding ,selfish eastern suberbs richard head.
i never meant anything like that.

redunderthebed
25th March 2003, 07:53 PM
sorry, not meant specifically at you but just a rather poor effort at being a smart alec.....or maybe it was a successful effort of being a smart alec......anyway it was not meant to offend anyone.

JF_Bay22_SCG
25th March 2003, 08:14 PM
Sadly we have such of a high percentage of typically fickle Eastern suburbs yuppies who make up our membership. If the game is anything west of Moore Park, forget it! There are lattes to be sipped in Paddo and white wine to be quaffed in Woollarah.

Like how difficult is it to get on a train at Bondi Junction, then a 15 minute trip to Central, then up to the interurban platforms for a 25 minute trip to Homebush!

Paul from the office even said that there are people deranged enough to go to Melbourne 2-3 times a year who REFUSE to go to Homebush!

Pure and simple, if you are having trouble fitting a 25 minute trip to Homebush into your 'oh-so-hectic' lifestyle, then TOUGH! :mad: If you are going to be accepted as a fair-dinkum Sydney fan you should be prepared to go anywhere the team is playing. I'm sure most of the Eastern Suburbs set would be itching to get their designer jeans-wearing derrieres on seats out at Stadium Australia when the finals come around. The pick-and-choose attitude of many inner-city Sydneysiders is one of my pet hates. I see it not only in Swans' fans, but in most of people you meet who live in the inner suburbs. You are a Swans' barracker or not, pure and simple!

Personally to me Homebush has been a huge disappointment. Especially considering I was one of its greatest supporter before we moved matches there. Behind the goals, with the squabbling Little Leaguers leaving in the second quarter, and no roof to keep the sound in, the atmosphere is virtually non-existant. Actually I have never been to a less atmosphere-engendering facility in the AFL yet. Even vocal Cheer Squads like Essendon and Richmond are unable to make much noise there! (So it's not just me!!!) Footy Park, the Gabba, even Waverley resonated more atmosphere than Stadium Australia with 50000 in it! (Having said that, hopefully the new rooves behind the goals will help on that score)

Do I boycott going, of course not! Do I reckon there should be more than 3 games at the venue, no I don't. I had it re-assured to me last year. As much as we love to hate its security team, the SCG is our home. Hopefully with the new grandstand replacing the hill things will improve. I'd personally love for there not to be that huge gap between Bay 22 and the bays above it. Maybe they could have the seats join up with the back part, as they have done of Destructive's and Mike B's wing.

We lost a lot of money last year, in spite of the increased crowds, at Homebush. When you look at today's Terror, methinks our club can hardly afford to be shelling too much cash out on ventures that will lose them money.

I could not handle us having to cry poor to the AFL again. Especially in the face of maggots like Eddie and co squealing blue murder at any hint of "interstate favouritism".

JF

JF_Bay22_SCG
25th March 2003, 08:26 PM
Originally posted by redunderthebed
sorry, not meant specifically at you but just a rather poor effort at being a smart alec.....or maybe it was a successful effort of being a smart alec......anyway it was not meant to offend anyone.


Should have read further down the page.

Hopefully there is no personal offence Red. (Des/Gemma, have mercy on lil ol' me! LOL) :p

Just that the attitude of some Swans' "fans" is something that really gets me hot under the collar.

Still, see you all at the Brewery about 4ish on Saturday. Red, I owe you a beer mate!

JF

redunderthebed
26th March 2003, 08:56 AM
but no offense taken and thanks for the beer offer but , confession, i won't be there on saturday night NOT because it is homebush BUT because my missus didn't read the calender and booked us in for a north shore dinner party....now i ask you, is that fair?But there is a positive WE ALWAYS WIN WHEN I MISS A GAME.
enjoy the night and let's hope for a good crowd.

Mike_B
26th March 2003, 11:15 AM
Originally posted by redunderthebed
But there is a positive WE ALWAYS WIN WHEN I MISS A GAME.


The same has been said of Des....well, maybe something similar, like when he's at Colonial we NEVER win.

snajik
26th March 2003, 12:33 PM
Originally posted by bricon
The MCG and SCG have FAR lower overheads/operating costs than Homebush (and Docklands for that matter). The Swans lost $750,000 staging and promoting the 3 games at Homebush last year with average crowds of well over 40,000. It appears that the break-even crowd at Homebush for AFL is something like 55-60,000 - the break-even figure at the SCG is around 18,000.

From a purely financial consideration, a 35,000 crowd at the SCG would offer the club an infinitely better return than 60,000 at Homebush. If Homebush is seen as a development tool to expand the game into the western suburbs (a very flawed theory in my view) then the AFL should pay for the costs of staging the matches there. Code development is the AFLs domain NOT the clubs'.

It amazes me how the whitest of white elephants can demand such enormous overheads. Surely it needs to be a bit more flexible in order to attract more events. I once worked out there, and there were no more than a dozen 'events' in a calendar year. How does it continue to justify its existence?

Meanwhile, everyone I have spoken with including myself (well we have the occasional discussion) loves the atmosphere at Homebush. We think it rocks. It will be awesome when the rooves go up. Don't quite get the aforementioned comments. Sure that you have your walkmans turned off before the game starts?

TheHood
26th March 2003, 02:38 PM
The thing with Homebush is that is it fine once you get out there. No doubt about that.

However, getting there is abominable and parking is shocking. Plus it is so easy to get lost in the maze out there.

Then getting home takes even longer, buses to car parks, long cab ques, dolly steps to the train station - I hate it so much.

Don't get me wrong, I don't live in the East either, in fact as the crow flies, I am much closer to Homebush than the SCG but when I have to go or get home from the SCG, I have absolutely no problem at all.

vagary
26th March 2003, 06:53 PM
Originally posted by Mike_B
The same has been said of Des....well, maybe something similar, like when he's at Colonial we NEVER win.

we hardly ever win at colonial anyway. (is that why?)

thommoone
26th March 2003, 07:48 PM
Personally, i love hombush. So easy to get too and there is no queing anywhere. Just go to the bus stop and there is a bus every 15mins ready to pick me up. get there, walk a few hundred or so meteres and im in the ground. On the way out there is no rush and no squabbling ar pushing as it is not cramped like outside the scg and plenty of open space. Then hop straight onto the bus that is waiting there for me and im home in 20 mins

vagary
26th March 2003, 10:23 PM
Originally posted by thommoone
On the way out there is no rush and no squabbling ar pushing as it is not cramped like outside the scg and plenty of open space.

i guess you've never had to wait at the train station then as that always gets crowded waiting for the trains after a game.

blinddog
26th March 2003, 11:34 PM
The problem I have with Homebush (and no I don't live in the Eastern Suburbs - but in St Peters) is that I have to catch a train by 11.30pm. So after the game I get at most 1-2 beers at the Novatel bar/pub/brewery (and I use the term loosely) and then I have to catch the last train from the stadium. At the SCG, I can walk out and pub crawl all the way home and if I wanted to catch a train from Central to St Peters I have until till 1.00 am.
The other reason is I don't like cats piss oh sorry Tooheys New and thats all they serve at Homebush (at least at the Novatel they have James Squires).

cos789
26th March 2003, 11:56 PM
Why are we always getting screwed financially with stadia ?
In the early days the Swans ere charged $250,000 for 11 games at the SCG when The ARL was charged $100,000 for a whole season plus finals .Now we have two options .they should be competing for our business .Do they want more business ?
How can the NRL afford to host games there with their small crowds ?And what was the idea of paying $3.6 million to get Homebush converted , if we can't afford to play there ?

EMJ
27th March 2003, 11:37 AM
We are Sydneysider members and so get parking as part of our membership for both venues. Parking at SCG is great - Homebush we have to walk a fair way - not complaining but it adds to cost of membership - Parking - especially now for some unknown reason I have lost my parking cards for both places. I am very angry and have just had to replace them - a further $120 - how dumb. Oh well there goes the though of attending a function - would love to attend one function but they are out of our pocket.

We originally took up the Sydneysider membership as our youngest daughter works part time and her shifts always seem to finish 1 hr before the game. Driving to both places is no problem - actually we probably are very close to Homebush - living North West as they say.

swan_song
27th March 2003, 12:51 PM
This is interesting...the swans would have us believe that homebush is easier to get to than the scg for those in the south and south west...but for us, at least, nothing is farther from the truth. we have 10 mins to the M5 then about 45 mins later (depending on the toll booth congestion) hey presto we come up and out of the Eastern distributor, next to sydney boys high...and parking (helping the school rather than the moore park quango)...nothing could be simpler. To get to homebush means a stack of traffic lights, slow traffic, and a much longer journey.

Bart
27th March 2003, 01:37 PM
You need to bear in mind that the losses associated with Homebush were related to marketing the games. The Swans put a tremendous amount of time, effort and $$ into making them big events, which is necessary in this market. I know there are a few cynics on this board who query this approach, but THIS IS SYDNEY! Much and all as I love this city, its fickleness (and not just in sporting terms) is renowned. Sydneysiders love something new and shiny, they are fly by the seat of your pants hedonists, who love cheap quick thrills.

But the AFL is puttimng $500k into the marketing of these games and this should assist enormously (and so they should!)

A pity this $500k is more than off-set by the drop in membership and sponsorships. Rugby World Cup is being blamed (refer to my point above - shiny and new)

BTW for those in Melbourne the Rugby World Cup is going to be a massive event.

Mike_B
27th March 2003, 01:52 PM
Originally posted by swan_song
next to sydney boys high...and parking (helping the school rather than the moore park quango

As a Sydney High Old Boy - thanks for supporting the school - the car parking funds are by far the biggest revenue raiser for things within the school and without that money, there are a lot of things that just would not be able to happen due to lack of funds.

Glenn
27th March 2003, 02:44 PM
Ahh it had to happen someone had to whinge about the Swans playing at Homebush, like it or not the Swans are trying to expand the game by the taking games closer to the heartland of Sydney, which IMHO is essential if they want long term viability :rolleyes:

Bart
27th March 2003, 04:38 PM
Originally posted by Glenn
Ahh it had to happen someone had to whinge about the Swans playing at Homebush, like it or not the Swans are trying to expand the game by the taking games closer to the heartland of Sydney, which IMHO is essential if they want long term viability :rolleyes:

Totally agree. It is the future.

Mark
27th March 2003, 06:03 PM
Interested to note that Paul from marketing mentioned people who travel to melbourne 2/3 times a year for games but complain about Homebush. I suspect i am one of those he was refering to as i had a long chat with him about it.

My problems with Homebush are threefold

1) To break even on games we need 55,000 "paying" attendees, even with freebies of last year we struggled to get that !

2) Apart from crappy Novotel there is nothing out there, footy for me and many other members is a family/friends/social occasion not just the game. distance is not the factor (although convenience for me is nice) If the stadium was in Homebush but had local facilities i would have no problems.

3) Despite previous assertions, transport is not satisfactory and club have admitted this, mainly getting home. No additional trains are rostered by city rail after certain times so you either leave dead on time or sit around for ages at Central !!!

The place is a white elephant foisted on the Swans by the AFL in a bid to ease North Melbournes move to Sydney ! the Homebush games were meant to be shared by he Swans and North HOW QUICKLY WE FORGET

Bart
27th March 2003, 07:59 PM
Originally posted by Glenn
Ahh it had to happen someone had to whinge about the Swans playing at Homebush, like it or not the Swans are trying to expand the game by the taking games closer to the heartland of Sydney, which IMHO is essential if they want long term viability :rolleyes:

Totally agree. It is the future.

Mike_B
27th March 2003, 09:01 PM
Originally posted by Mark
2) Apart from crappy Novotel there is nothing out there, footy for me and many other members is a family/friends/social occasion not just the game. distance is not the factor (although convenience for me is nice) If the stadium was in Homebush but had local facilities i would have no problems.

3) Despite previous assertions, transport is not satisfactory and club have admitted this, mainly getting home. No additional trains are rostered by city rail after certain times so you either leave dead on time or sit around for ages at Central !!!


Agree on both counts, which is why after the Essendon game I made sure to purchase pre-paid parking for the other two games (and have done so for all three this year) so that I can catch up with people after the game without worrying about getting stranded with no publicx transport available to get me home.

Glenn
27th March 2003, 10:09 PM
Maybe Sydney need to look at moving there games at Telstra Stadium forward by 1 or 2 hours, might be a prob with the TV coverage etc but just a thought:confused:

Craig
28th March 2003, 08:24 PM
For me Homebush simply sucks. I have to catch 3 trains and a bus just to get there. Yes I will still continue with the trek out there, I have supported the Swans too long not to do that. However I'm fed up with all the hype surrounding Homebush & how it is a great place to watch the footy. The members area (unreserved) is very hard to watch the footy from, add to this the fact that a lot of the seats aren't even facing the ground! The place has no atmosphere and makes a great crowd of 40,000 look silly.

Why do we want new supporters from the West who don't bother comming to the SCG because it's too far? They will stick around all of 10 minutes. I will keep complaining about Homebush, but at least I will continue to make the trek out there.