gallagher
Well-known member
@ said:
All these home grounds has taken the chance of an identity away IMO.
All these home grounds has taken the chance of an identity away IMO.
@ said:
Like it or lump it,Campo was the home of the Magpies after Lidcombe,LO was always the home of the Balmain Tigers….we merged as one unit the mighty Wests Tigers...we need a home ground and to me Campo fits the bill...LO is where the Benny Elias factor is related to...a dead end..Campo can be a centre for WTs for years to come..its just that some supporters can't lower themselves to travel out there..I travel 1.25 hours to go to a game at Campo and look forward to the day or night out..I'm an out of town member and the guys who have met me at the forum get together know me well enough that I make the effort to support the club and forum members,if I can do it then why can't others,we have had the numbers at games before.???
Tigers4ever
Active member
@ said:
PERFECT!!!!!
Harvey
Well-known member
I live near ctown and go to games there. Go to ANZ ad that is easy enough to get to. Allianz is also not bad. Leichhardt is a pain in terms of public transport but Parramatta is terrible to get to from anywhere other than the west or central Sydney
@ said:
All the games Parramatta must play at Ctown when they verse us. They must bend down and pay homage to the Sizzlers near the stadium and bask in the Glory of Campbelltown.
Seriously Why would we even think of just playing at a Parra Stadium. We need to solidify our home groundage and cut out Olympic park. Leichhardt 4 times, the rest Ctown. Aim for one Venue.
Tiger_Steve
New member
I'm sure I read earlier this year that the board see our footprint to be the inner west. This would rule out Campbelltown as a home base. I'm saying this (and I'm a Leichhardt Oval tragic) I don't understand this direction. I think we should definitely base ourselves at Campbelltown and ensure all juniors there feed into a Wests Tigers system. You've only got to drive from Liverpool to Campbelltown via narellan to see the population explosion out there. From where I sit, I think the inner west direction is all about Magpie power on the board and is a really poor long term strategy
Campbelltown is a long way from Wests Ashfield while they back the club financially basing themselves in Campbelltown is not a good move for the club. Part of a clubs function is its links to the community. Unless they up and move an already thriving establishment elsewhere, cant see them supporting a base at Campbelltown.
gallagher
Well-known member
@ said:
Don't they have direct services from cambo to parra? It's a bit of a walk from the station but the light rail is being built.
GNR4LIFE
Well-known member
@ said:
Not a direct service. You'd change at Merrylands.
gallagher
Well-known member
@ said:
That's pretty crap. they would need to have direct trains on match day.
Its crazy that youl have to change at Lidcombe for ANZ.
jirskyr
Well-known member
Hard for Tigers to have any specific long-term plans at this time, given that the govt hasn't even decided how to spend their stadium money.
A couple of things however are clear at this time and are unlikely to change any time soon:
1) Tigers usually average around 13-15K crowds over a season and most of these are losing seasons. CSS and LO can easily accommodate these numbers and are better venues for smaller crowds.
2) Tigers crowds will increase with success. In these situations, you would need to have Sydney derbies at the larger venues. We've already seen what happens if Tigers play someone like Rabbits where both clubs are in finals contention. That being said, overall crowds still rarely top 20K.
3) As of 2017 only one club - Broncos obviously - averages more than 20K per game despite several clubs having over or close to 20K members.
4) If not for the financial incentives to play at Homebush or SFS (or some new iteration of these venues), we wouldn't play there regularly. But facilities, sponsorship, corporate boxes etc. - these are something CSS and LO will never match the primary stadia.
5) Fans do appear to enjoy suburban grounds, despite the decreased facilities.
6) Our grounds are comparatively well serviced by public transport - the Leichhardt North LR at LO and Leumeah station at CSS.
7) If you increase the frequency of local games, you do risk decreasing the "boutique" nature of these matches. I've been going to Leichhardt for a long time, but people have really only been banging on about the "beauty" of the venue since Balmain merged and the # of games decreased. Nostalgia kicks in for old-time Sunday afternoon football in the sun, but if Tigers played there every 2nd home game, such a mood might wane.
8) There are only ever more supporters who aren't affiliated with Wests or Balmain, and these folks might not have the same emotional investment in LO or CSS in the future years.
9) There is limited money long-term for suburban grounds, and once the govt spends their current funds, there might be a time limit on how long these grounds are viable.
10) NRL wants to grow crowds but not at the expense of TV revenues. They have succeeded in growing memberships across the clubs, and a push for game-day attendances might be a new game-wide strategy. But as long as ratings are high and someone forks out a billion dollars for TV rights, the crowds remain the clubs' primary concern but not the NRL's.
11) The irony is that despite the "concern" about 2017 crowds, the average crowds of the last 10 years are at all-time highs. Therefore an increase in the live coverage of matches (and now simulcasted on pay TV and mobile phones) has not obliterated the crowds. All-time average crowds since 1957 is 13K.
12) There is likely a positive influence of Sydney's growing population that has offset potential downward trends in crowds, but I have never seen that analysed anywhere. If you were to plot population against crowd sizes there would be some sort of correlation (general increase in average crowds along with increase in population), but you should also then factor in other things wrt population: location, born locally or overseas, history with NRL (i.e. bringing in new fans vs those whose families are already involved), competition and growth in other codes, disposable income levels, average work hours etc.
13) The Broncos and Melbourne have certainly pushed up the NRL crowd averages, but that isn't cheating, it's growing the game. So in reality the reasons for increase in crowds are all ok, so long as you can at least sustain them.
A couple of things however are clear at this time and are unlikely to change any time soon:
1) Tigers usually average around 13-15K crowds over a season and most of these are losing seasons. CSS and LO can easily accommodate these numbers and are better venues for smaller crowds.
2) Tigers crowds will increase with success. In these situations, you would need to have Sydney derbies at the larger venues. We've already seen what happens if Tigers play someone like Rabbits where both clubs are in finals contention. That being said, overall crowds still rarely top 20K.
3) As of 2017 only one club - Broncos obviously - averages more than 20K per game despite several clubs having over or close to 20K members.
4) If not for the financial incentives to play at Homebush or SFS (or some new iteration of these venues), we wouldn't play there regularly. But facilities, sponsorship, corporate boxes etc. - these are something CSS and LO will never match the primary stadia.
5) Fans do appear to enjoy suburban grounds, despite the decreased facilities.
6) Our grounds are comparatively well serviced by public transport - the Leichhardt North LR at LO and Leumeah station at CSS.
7) If you increase the frequency of local games, you do risk decreasing the "boutique" nature of these matches. I've been going to Leichhardt for a long time, but people have really only been banging on about the "beauty" of the venue since Balmain merged and the # of games decreased. Nostalgia kicks in for old-time Sunday afternoon football in the sun, but if Tigers played there every 2nd home game, such a mood might wane.
8) There are only ever more supporters who aren't affiliated with Wests or Balmain, and these folks might not have the same emotional investment in LO or CSS in the future years.
9) There is limited money long-term for suburban grounds, and once the govt spends their current funds, there might be a time limit on how long these grounds are viable.
10) NRL wants to grow crowds but not at the expense of TV revenues. They have succeeded in growing memberships across the clubs, and a push for game-day attendances might be a new game-wide strategy. But as long as ratings are high and someone forks out a billion dollars for TV rights, the crowds remain the clubs' primary concern but not the NRL's.
11) The irony is that despite the "concern" about 2017 crowds, the average crowds of the last 10 years are at all-time highs. Therefore an increase in the live coverage of matches (and now simulcasted on pay TV and mobile phones) has not obliterated the crowds. All-time average crowds since 1957 is 13K.
12) There is likely a positive influence of Sydney's growing population that has offset potential downward trends in crowds, but I have never seen that analysed anywhere. If you were to plot population against crowd sizes there would be some sort of correlation (general increase in average crowds along with increase in population), but you should also then factor in other things wrt population: location, born locally or overseas, history with NRL (i.e. bringing in new fans vs those whose families are already involved), competition and growth in other codes, disposable income levels, average work hours etc.
13) The Broncos and Melbourne have certainly pushed up the NRL crowd averages, but that isn't cheating, it's growing the game. So in reality the reasons for increase in crowds are all ok, so long as you can at least sustain them.
diedpretty
Well-known member
@ said:
Club functions would be the only that is a problem being based at Campbelltown. Wests Ashfield existence doesn't depend on WT members. Maybe they need to come to some agreement with the Campbelltown Club.
@ said:
Lets scrap that idea.
Yes we can catch the train from Campbelltown or Newtown/Lidcombe/whereever. No we are not going to adopt the Eels stadium and become a second class supporter beneath their Crechin/Sterlo/Hindmarsh monuments. Homebush is easier for everyone and even then we should scrap that idea. Why go further out.
We need a home ground and we can claim Ctown or Leichheardt. Claim, stake and mark our territory. You come to our ground you will worship Brett Hodges, Tommy R, Benny Elias/Roach/Sironin/whoever was good enough to wear our jersey and do us proud. Our ground, our turf our rules our team!
PrattenParkMagpie
Well-known member
@ said:
New rail timetable before next season, many ways of getting to games by train will change, some dramatically.
As I understand it there will be no direct services from Campbelltown to Lidcombe, will either need to change at Glenfield and possibly Parramatta or go via East Hills and Airport and change at Central
gallagher
Well-known member
@ said:
And continue to just make up the numbers. May aswell scrap the club.
Everyone wants the club to play at the closest possible ground (including me), but that's not necessarily best for the club.
It's also worth remembering that ticket sales are only one source of revenue. There are also some hefty costs to consider.
Assuming the figures I have are correct, the club currently makes the most from playing at ANZ with guaranteed ticket revenue, minimal running costs, much higher corporate revenue than LO or Ctown and ok merchandise sales.
Ctown and LO face the challenge of high game day costs and lower corporate revenue. A low turnout makes things way worse.
I'd rather see the side winning and the club doing what's best rather than push my own personal agenda or preference.
It's also worth remembering that ticket sales are only one source of revenue. There are also some hefty costs to consider.
Assuming the figures I have are correct, the club currently makes the most from playing at ANZ with guaranteed ticket revenue, minimal running costs, much higher corporate revenue than LO or Ctown and ok merchandise sales.
Ctown and LO face the challenge of high game day costs and lower corporate revenue. A low turnout makes things way worse.
I'd rather see the side winning and the club doing what's best rather than push my own personal agenda or preference.
