Waratahs 2015
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I like to watch
David Codey (61)
Has anyone experienced centreline seats at Homebush?
In particular their food offerings.
If the Tahs go out there,that's probably enough to get me to subscribe.
In particular their food offerings.
If the Tahs go out there,that's probably enough to get me to subscribe.
gowaratahs
Sydney Middleton (9)
For me, the thing I prefer about Allianz (other than free parking at the Barracks, a curry on Oxford and beers at good pubs before and after the game) is it's purpose built for rugby. The rows of seats are on a suitable incline that for the first 40-odd rows from the sideline, the view is still good and you're on top of the action. Not so at ANZ, where the incline is inadequate, and despite being in row 15 you feel as far back from the action as you feel watching rugby at the SCG.
Better still than Allianz is Suncorp - not a bad seat in the house, a true purpose-built rugby stadium. I remember being in the back corner for France v Fiji on the second day of the 2003 RWC, watching Caucau tear into the frogs scoring a cracker of a try and getting carded, thinking to myself - for the worst seat in the house it's bloody awesome. Compared to the night before, full of beer and sunshine from watching Hados score a zillion against the Zims in the Homebush pub though thinking what a shit place this stadium is to watch Del attempt a 3-point turn against the Argies.
I'll walk to a Tahs final in Gaza, but I ain't driving from Newcastle for the plastic Homebush experience for a regular season game. Whatever's best for the Tahs however, is all right by me - I'll see you at the final.
Better still than Allianz is Suncorp - not a bad seat in the house, a true purpose-built rugby stadium. I remember being in the back corner for France v Fiji on the second day of the 2003 RWC, watching Caucau tear into the frogs scoring a cracker of a try and getting carded, thinking to myself - for the worst seat in the house it's bloody awesome. Compared to the night before, full of beer and sunshine from watching Hados score a zillion against the Zims in the Homebush pub though thinking what a shit place this stadium is to watch Del attempt a 3-point turn against the Argies.
I'll walk to a Tahs final in Gaza, but I ain't driving from Newcastle for the plastic Homebush experience for a regular season game. Whatever's best for the Tahs however, is all right by me - I'll see you at the final.
ShtinaTina
Alex Ross (28)
I suppose one of the best things as members we can do is to completely pan ANZ in it's section of the season review, they do read into that survey a fair bit. It might not change much, but they'll hear what they already have heard a few more times at least.
I'm definitely going to send an email to the Waratahs suggesting that this idea would be disastrous with their membership base.
I can handle a couple of games a year but every game would really change things for a lot of people in my opinion.
The facilities at ANZ are pretty good on the whole but it is a vastly inferior place to watch rugby and the lack of restaurants and bars compared to Paddington / Surry Hills is a major loss.
Let's hope they do the proper due diligence before making any decisions
I can handle a couple of games a year but every game would really change things for a lot of people in my opinion.
The facilities at ANZ are pretty good on the whole but it is a vastly inferior place to watch rugby and the lack of restaurants and bars compared to Paddington / Surry Hills is a major loss.
Let's hope they do the proper due diligence before making any decisions
matty_k
Peter Johnson (47)
That's what I did.
Ash
Michael Lynagh (62)
The problem with Allianz is it costs a lot to hire the ground, and the SCG Trust can be narky bastards. You actually need quite a few more people at the SFS to break even than you do at Homebush. The other problem with the SFS is that its facilities for the fans are way dated and not up to scratch.
Hence why a few NRL teams along with the Tahs have taken their games away from the SFS to Homebush recently.
I don't think there's a simple solution to the choice between the SFS and Homebush, unfortunately, but long term I wouldn't be surprised if more games are played at Homebush. Homebush may not be near the city, but it is slowly leaving its "soulless" history behind.
Disclosure: I move 1.5 years ago, and now live within walking distance to Homebush (about 30 mins), and have walked there for games before.
Hence why a few NRL teams along with the Tahs have taken their games away from the SFS to Homebush recently.
I don't think there's a simple solution to the choice between the SFS and Homebush, unfortunately, but long term I wouldn't be surprised if more games are played at Homebush. Homebush may not be near the city, but it is slowly leaving its "soulless" history behind.
Disclosure: I move 1.5 years ago, and now live within walking distance to Homebush (about 30 mins), and have walked there for games before.
TahDan
Cyril Towers (30)
It's obviously a conundrum... I don't mind homebush for big games, but ultimately it's always going to be a half-way house; it was never intended as a purpose built Rugby Union/League ground, and as a result - awkward location at homebush aside - the views around the ground are pretty ordinary if you're not paying top dollar.
That's not the case with the SFS, which gives you a pretty good view from most seats around the ground. The other problem with homebush is that even when there's 30k there it looks like a ghost town, while 30k at the SFS has a great atmosphere, so it also undermines it in that way too.
Unfortunately the sad fact is that unlike Melbourne and Brisbane, Sydney's stadia have ultimately been poorly planned from a demographic and transportation strategy perspective.
In an ideal world, there'd have been be an 80k Rectangular purpose built stadium on the park-lands behind central station, the land they've just built the "Central Park" complex on, or even at Piratek Stadium near Parramatta station.
But sadly we're stuck with awkward stadia locations for our bigger grounds and the result is the fans suffer.
Pfitzy
Nathan Sharpe (72)
When the supposed "rusted-on" Eastern Suburbs fans who wouldn't be caught dead at Homebush actually turn up, that is.
Besides the 38K at the Semifinal, the biggest SFS crowd was 24.5k at the Highlanders game. And it took a whole season of us bossing the shit out of the competition to get even that.
Momentum was a big problem. Thrashing the Force, Reds, and Rebels was stymied by the 4 losses mid-season and a clumsy win to the Bulls.
But even after belting the Brumbies out at Homebush (which was the best regular season crowd, it must be noted), they could still only manage less than 25k for the last home game of the regular season?
Even the fucking NRL got 30k for the wogdogs versus eels at Homebush!
This is where ANZ can make its argument unless things at the SFS change in terms of numbers, and quickly.
If the draw features a couple of early games at the SFS which get 30k+ would be the best argument for keeping games there. If an early derby match is out at Homebush, and the ticket prices aren't completely ridiculous, then it puts weight on hosting it in the geographical heart of Sydney.
40,000 of the noisy bastards I was sitting with on Final night will fill Homebush, don't you worry
I'm not sure an 80k stadium won't have bad views in a rectangular configuration. Most of the big rugby grounds are a similar size to Suncorp (around low/mid 50k) while extreme cases like Twickers max out around 82,000
TahDan
Cyril Towers (30)
It's a bit of a bugger, but it's also sadly a reflection of Rugby's lost market share in Sydney in general. We generally get better crowds against the brumbies and reds than most other teams, so it's hard to compare to the highlanders.
To be fair, that's a significant Western Suburbs local derby, so that shouldn't be a massive surprise. The Tahs got around 29k for their match against the Brumbies, so it's pretty comparable.
If the draw features a couple of early games at the SFS which get 30k+ would be the best argument for keeping games there. If an early derby match is out at Homebush, and the ticket prices aren't completely ridiculous, then it puts weight on hosting it in the geographical heart of Sydney.
40,000 of the noisy bastards I was sitting with on Final night will fill Homebush, don't you worry
If Homebush could regularly crack 40k for the Tahs, then fuck it - I'd be happy to go on the 1 to 2 hour pilgrimage to get there. But if I'm gonna be sitting with 10k supporters I at least want a good view.
There would undoubtedly still be some bad views, but most places in Twickers seem pretty good - certainly no seats like the 'noose-bleeders' at HomeBush. Something like that would really be ideal.
We just need someone with a couple billion dollars who's a big sports fan with a lot of government connections.
Pfitzy
Nathan Sharpe (72)
1) Homebush has never had 10,000 spectators to a Tahs game
2) Do what I did: buy a silver ticket, sit in one of the many Platinum seats available
TahDan
Cyril Towers (30)
1) Homebush has never had 10,000 spectators to a Tahs game
2) Do what I did: buy a silver ticket, sit in one of the many Platinum seats available
1) Only because we've never played teams like the Lions there. I suspect that if it became the home ground we'd see some small attendances to those less fancied teams.
2. Good advice. I did that for the Brumbies game actually
Pfitzy
Nathan Sharpe (72)
Hard to tell until it happens. Maybe the western fans will actually bother turning up - all the way to Allianz for the Lions versus down the pub on the TV is a bit different to a train ride with the kids to ANZ. Hit the game, get home, put the kids to bed and watch a late game.
Badger
Bill McLean (32)
I reckon the current set up of a couple of games out at Homebush is what the Tahs will end up doing again in 2016 and beyond. Tahs HQ would be stormed if they moved all home games out there.
What's interesting has been previous talk about taking a Super Rugby game to a regional centre. If that goes ahead, does that mean one less home game at the SFS?
As an aside, is there any contractual obligation to play the Homebush games at night and against the Brumbies and Reds?
If not, it would be interesting to see how many people would turn up for a Sunday afternoon fixture. Fox Sports would probably never agree to the Tahs playing the Brumbies or Reds in the afternoon so a Kiwi team could be a viable option.
Depending on which Kiwi team the Tahs miss out on playing in 2015, either the Chiefs, Blues or Crusaders could be visiting. Any of these teams on a Sunday afternoon would be an attractive proposition for fans.
A 3pm kick off would allow time for people to have a Sunday lunch before heading out to Homebush and with the game finishing before 5pm, fans could be back in the city by 6pm to kick on if they so desire.
Also, by hosting a Kiwi team at Homebush, it would allow either the Reds or Brumbies match to be played at the SFS which would be good for the fans.
What's interesting has been previous talk about taking a Super Rugby game to a regional centre. If that goes ahead, does that mean one less home game at the SFS?
As an aside, is there any contractual obligation to play the Homebush games at night and against the Brumbies and Reds?
If not, it would be interesting to see how many people would turn up for a Sunday afternoon fixture. Fox Sports would probably never agree to the Tahs playing the Brumbies or Reds in the afternoon so a Kiwi team could be a viable option.
Depending on which Kiwi team the Tahs miss out on playing in 2015, either the Chiefs, Blues or Crusaders could be visiting. Any of these teams on a Sunday afternoon would be an attractive proposition for fans.
A 3pm kick off would allow time for people to have a Sunday lunch before heading out to Homebush and with the game finishing before 5pm, fans could be back in the city by 6pm to kick on if they so desire.
Also, by hosting a Kiwi team at Homebush, it would allow either the Reds or Brumbies match to be played at the SFS which would be good for the fans.
Richo
John Thornett (49)
I'm sure that moving to Homebush would grab a few new members, but it would be a catastrophe with existing members. Almost every member I know personally (only 20 or so, but from almost every age group possible) would not keep their membership. When this came up among our group (7 seats, all members for 5-10 years) on Saturday night, everyone said they would not renew.
As others have said, I'm fine with a couple of games a year out there and I have hopes that those games will jump back up in attendance next year. Clearly holding the final there was a big success -- 18,000 more fans than would have fit at Allianz. But the Waratahs need to be smarter and more strategic about building their supporter base rather than cost-cutting their way to sustainability.
As others have said, I'm fine with a couple of games a year out there and I have hopes that those games will jump back up in attendance next year. Clearly holding the final there was a big success -- 18,000 more fans than would have fit at Allianz. But the Waratahs need to be smarter and more strategic about building their supporter base rather than cost-cutting their way to sustainability.
T
Train Without a Station
Guest
As Pfitzy says, if that's your view, what's to say that people out west don't share the same view and subsequently don't travel for Allianz?
Just because it doesn't suit you, it doesn't mean it applies to all those in Sydney. I'd guess more people from the west would be alienated by Allianz than the amount of people from the east alienated by homebush.
Just because it doesn't suit you, it doesn't mean it applies to all those in Sydney. I'd guess more people from the west would be alienated by Allianz than the amount of people from the east alienated by homebush.
Badger
Bill McLean (32)
Piss off both the west and east equally by having an equal number of home games at each venue.
If there's an odd number of home games then play it at a regional venue!
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