Should we consider playing a season at the SCG?

[paski_10]

(a) should Manly considering playing for one year away from Brookie?
(b) should it be at the SCG, SFS, North Sydney Oval or Bluetongue?  

(a) I have been discussing this with my family for the past month. We don't want Manly to move from Brookie because Brookie is home and we can't imagine Manly playing anywhere else, BUT we came to the same conclusions. Manly should perhaps look to move from Brookie for one season and deprive Warringah Council of the reported $300,000 or $350,000 they pay each year to lease the oval. Warringah Council won't make that kind of money any other way, especially with "ultimate frisbee". Council may then begin to appreciate the Sea Eagles' contribution to the local area and their financial budget.

(b) If Manly do move, they should move to a ground that will benefit them the best financially. A ground that offers great corporate facilities, that is where the big bucks are. The SCG doesn't provide the best and I'm not keen on them playing out at Gosford either. My preference would be the SFS or ANZ. Although they are huge and atmosphere is not the best, they would be the best in terms of a move that gives the best financial return. Souths and Canterbury are paid big bucks by ANZ Stadium to play out of there. Dragons and Tigers were paid big bucks to play out of SFS a couple of years back. The way I see it, if we move from Brookie, we forego the true atmosphere of a Manly home game, so the feel of the new ground shouldn't come into it. The criteria should purely be which ever ground offers the best financial benefits.

 

[Dancing zorba]

yes we should consider a move but not to an AFL ground or anything else excessively large! if we go anywhere I would go to bluetongue! or maybe WIN stadium to build a following south or North of Sydney? A split between the two would see us gain a huge amount of extra supporters!

 

[Duff]

Why do people keep referring to "the cricket ground" as an AFL ground?

It's the freakin' home of Rugby League in this country.

 

[Dancing zorba]

its round like an AFL ground?

 

[abnc]

We get 12 home games a year, so let's say we decide to boycott Brookie to make a point to the council. Here's my suggestion:

6 games at SFS or ANZ (As stated would be big dollars to move games there)
2 home games at Bluetongue (1 against Newcastle like normal)
2 home games at SCG (could be blockbusters like against Roosters or Saints etc)
1 home game at New Zealand (obviously against the Warriors. Would get a good financial gain from that)
1 home game in Brisbane (a double header as has been suggested. Big financial gain from something like that)

The only problem with this is that you will piss off a lot of season ticket holders and that is not a good thing. Less home supporters will travel because of the distance, but you will get some supporters from other areas.

It's just an idea, but to be honest i don't see us moving, only as a last resort. As bad as the council are you still have to look after the supporters that shell out their hard earned cash each year for memberships and season tickets.

 

[deadlyeagle]

This wont happen for a few years, If it would ever happen as didnt we resign the lease for brookie for another couple of years? Im not sure but i thought it stated there was a maximum certain number of games we could take away, i could be wrong.

 

[EagleRock40]

The best thing to do would be to split half our home games, maybe 6 at Brookie and 6 at SFS or Bluetongue??? A big NO to SCG or ANZ.

 

[dowdz]

The way i see it, Bluetongue will only be for another 2 years as it sounds like the bears and Perth will enter the comp in 2013. I just wish they would upgrade Brookie. If we had to choose though i like the SFS.

 

[Duff]

The best thing to do would be to split half our home games, maybe 6 at Brookie and 6 at SFS or Bluetongue??? A big NO to SCG or ANZ.

Why a big no to SCG when you'd say yes to SFS (shudders) or Bluetongue?
The SCG is a special place. We were the last Rugby League team to win a premiership there. That would have to make it some kind of a holy place for Manly. Second only to Brookvale.
Gosford is the site of the darkest days in the club's history & the place hates us. SFS is just a bit of a nothing ground and they sell VB, yuk.

 

[WESTIE]

SFS over SCG every time for footy viewing.....

 

[paski_10]

Who cares about which is a special place and which isn't... The only special place is Brookie. If we are going to move let's do it for the cash (SFS and ANZ have the best corporate facilities) and to show Warringah Council they need the Sea Eagles a lot more than they think they do!

 

[Duff]

I'm sure the SCG has good corporate facilities. The cricket mob always like a bit of style.

 

[Manly To Win!]

I'm against it, having to travel long distances to every single match would be a pain in the butt, not to mention expensive. Our crowds and support would drop and it would hurt us big time. There's no denying that our current situation in relation to Brookvale needs fixing ASAP, but I really don't think that sort of drastic action is the answer. Warringah Council are so clueless they probably wouldn't even notice or care anyway.

 

[ManlyBacker]

Watching at the SCG is like being at ANZ Stadium. Most seating is just way too far from the play. I was on the bleachers at the GF in '87 and that was special but it isn't a good ground in general.

 

[abnc]

I'm against it, having to travel long distances to every single match would be a pain in the butt, not to mention expensive. Our crowds and support would drop and it would hurt us big time. There's no denying that our current situation in relation to Brookvale needs fixing ASAP, but I really don't think that sort of drastic action is the answer. Warringah Council are so clueless they probably wouldn't even notice or care anyway.

I don't actually agree that the crowds would drop. If you say have it at SFS or ANZ, they are central locations and you would get a bigger crowd. More Manly fans outside God's country would go, plus you would get more away supporters going. I'd suggest we would easily attract an average of 20K+. Plus the advantage of extra dollars on offer from corporate facilities etc.

To those that say having the games at Brookie is more advantageous due to the fortress / home support mentality, our record this year at Brookie speaks for itself. 6 from 10. Our away record is 5 from 10. These days i don't think home ground advantage is such an issue unless your an interstate team.

I love brookvale oval, but unless the ground is updated dramatically and the surface fixed properly, it will be hard to us to continue playing there 10 games a year.

 

[Duff]

Without conducting a survey, you'd have to think that the majority of Manly fans who go to games are from the Beaches, abnc.
That would mean the crowds would drop.

ANZ is far from a central location for a team from the noth-east corner of the city, it's a mission. Moore Park is good fun to go to if it's a Saturday & you can take your time getting there & back but it's no good on a Friday, Sunday or Monday.

How much can fixing the playing suface possibly cost? Fix that & we don't have a problem. I went for a walk on it after a recent home game & I don't remember it ever having been any different anyway.

 

[Guest]

[quote author=Duff link=topic=184569.msg283059#msg283059 date=1281321830]
North Sydney Oval is well grassed and the cricket pitch area would not pose a problem these days with better ground-keepers.

The cricket pitch may be well grassed but it resembles grassed concrete.  Anyone who has played footy knows how hard a cricket pitch gets when it is dry. 

I watched a norths rugby game on ABC a few saturday's ago and even the commentators were saying how the players were avoiding tackling and being tackled on the cricket pitch. 

North sydney oval is Ok for a one off game each year but Norths had to move to the CC because the ground fails the NRL standards test in so many ways.  Having a cricket pitch and not being rectangular are just two. 

It is also a fire hazard as the gates are set to autmatically lock 20 minutes after each game starts so as to prevent the home team supporters leaving the ground early.

 

[Duff]

That's not a quote from me!!!
How the hell did you do that, Tookey?

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

That is a quote from me!!!
How the hell did you do that, Tookey?

hmm this could get ugly... nothing is beyond manipulation by the powers that be, especially during election camplaigns. 🙂

 

[Duff]

Damn you too SER8.
It's a plot.

I can piss enough people off on my own thanks.