Sydney AFL Stadium Thread

[Pekay]

Can only type so much at a time. The councillor in question didnt want AFL played next to his beloved Panthers so he kyboshed that deal. Sharks are hopeful of getting Lincoln Oval at Loftus but it is pretty small for seniors, but gota be better than Gwawley, for all concerned. Where will Manly move now that Weldon is under redevelopment? What grounds does that leave not mentioned? Always have a soft spot for Trumper,so much history there,i'm sure Oscar will agree. Man i could go for hours on this subject!

[shearer]

Best ground to play on now:North Dalton by a country mile, also like Drummoyne & Ern Holmes.

It used to be great playing in finals at Erskinville Oval. It was a great surface, neutral but unfortunately now no one could play there now because the Rabbitohs have converted the dressing rooms into a theaterette and gym. Trumper was also very good even though it was small.

Ground i hated the most was Gipps Road, @@@@house playing surface in the middle of bum@@@@ idaho & the changerooms werent big enough for a Davis Cup team let alone a footy team.

[Pekay]

Parramatta in bum@@@@?geez Dalts,i'd hate to see ur reaction to playing out at Richmond.the city does stretch past Broadway last time i checked.

[shearer]

Sorry mate to far for me. Add Gore Hill to the worst grounds list, i remember playing there after they put a tonne of sand on it because the sewerage had run down from the hospital.

Spoiler mentioned Jubilee Oval, we(St George) approached them a few years back but we couldnt play there as it was to be a construction site once the league finished for the year and that is the case again now. The ground is oval shape but would be a bit small. Hurstville is still part of the plan though.

[shearer]

p.s. was lucky enough to play on the Sydney Showground this year and it was very very good.OK size, excellent dressing rooms and the surface was spot on. If the league could sort out cheap parking they could play finals there.

[RPM]

Further to that,i hvnt played on there but i think Henson is a hole of a ground,way overused.holds too much water after rain.no decent drainage. Uni no 1 is great to play on, Village Green also but a bit hard underfoot. Hvnt played on Olds since Baulko days,but always found surface to be soft,that was 10 yrs ago.Gipps has potential but is a dustbowl at present,league should put money into that. Penrith Cronulla Manly need new grounds but local cricket wont share their grounds with them,which is wrong.

Pekay can tell you that i drink at the local pub with a bloke that has just finished re-surfacing Henson with new sprinkler system and taking the lump out of the guts so it should be a lot better oval this next season

[Pekay]

You?in a pub? Now i've heard it all! But as i said i've only had a kick between quarters and watched a few games on Henson,but it just seems way overused and rough as guts. I hope it does improve,it was my dads home ground back in the 50s n 60s. Although i reckon the league could find a better ground to use for finals.

[Norris Lurker]

Without wanting to get into a "my ground is better than your ground" debate, Nth Dalton Park is in awesome nick at the moment. NSW take on SA in a Ford Ranger Cup there this Sunday. It's only $15 to get in if anybody in the footy community wants to make the trip.

If the weather's decent I'll be there. Sadly the forecast isn't promising.

North Dalton looks great now. I did a couple of match reports from there this year - it's a great venue, the crowds were the best home & away crowds I've seen in this comp, and the lights are sensational. And during day games, the mountain background is a photographer's dream. Drummoyne is another ground that always looks good on camera, and Ern Holmes isn't bad.

And Oscar, thanks for the update on Bruce Purser Oval. Looking forward to checking that ground out next season.

[The Spoiler]

If the weather's decent I'll be there. Sadly the forecast isn't promising.

North Dalton looks great now. I did a couple of match reports from there this year - it's a great venue, the crowds were the best home & away crowds I've seen in this comp, and the lights are sensational. And during day games, the mountain background is a photographer's dream. Drummoyne is another ground that always looks good on camera, and Ern Holmes isn't bad.

And Oscar, thanks for the update on Bruce Purser Oval. Looking forward to checking that ground out next season.

So we're all agreed Blacktown is a dud idea??

[Rafters]

Currently North Dalton is best ground for playing & improving each day with spectating - many thanks to an amazingly hadworking Lions committee that had it as no 1 priority. Was the main reason why I travelled a few hours every 2nd week to play a game of footy. I enjoyed playing at Drummoyne & it is a good venue to watch from the hill on a sunny blue sky day. Also liked Trumper on dry days (the muddy square was terrible in the wet). Village Green - please see Trumper. Rosedale is a very good ground but viewing spots are limited.

Henson playing surface is terrible & would only be beaten to last position by Gore Hill & Gwawley - the Sharks would have lost many players over the years because of this ground. Ern Holmes is pretty ordinary as well although I didn't mind the skinny ground as the quick fellas couldn't fid enough space to run around me like at Monarch.

Gipps oval changed in mid 90s Shearer with a great facility built there care of the infamous Ros Kelly whiteboard - yes it was one of teh projects on it!! Sadly lack of funds (council & Goannas) coupled with the drought didn't help the surface but I understand significant funds have been found for 2008-09 which includes a bore watering system.

I like Monarch & Mac Uni - well sized grounds that didn't hinder quality players - no matter if they were big or small - but not ideal for viewing.

I think that Sydney Showground is central to all of SYdney & has merit to be considered as a finals venue.

Lidcombe will never have the bicycle track ripped up & they play soccer there during the year so surface would be average - dressing rooms were not modern in 1970s & they haven't been improved on since.

I always wished that Sydney Uni & Erskineville would have aligned the goal posts correctly.

Weldon, Grey Gums & Bensons always seemed to lack "atmosphere" - I think because the grounds are same level as the supporters.

Chaz McLaughlin I liked playing at except for one time in 1988 when the groundsman put a certain type of fertiliser on the ground before a wet match & both sides had to forfeit the following week due to pussie sores on bodies.

Blacktown - played there in the late 80s as a whipper snipper & it seemed so far away ... but if it means our own facility ... akin to the Irish grounds at Auburn ... then I am not foreign to the idea.

100 years of aussie rules in Sydney yet we don't have a) a ground or b) a licenced club to call our own. Its pretty poor.

[Danny_Widler]

Had the pleasure of playing on the Showground this year ..and it is a great ground to play on . Facilities are sensational ...ground is in tremendous nick nobody else uses it at all and the dressing rooms are top class also . Ticks every box for me . I think the Sydney AFL needs to continue to put games on before Telstra Stadium games to promote our product .

[ZAIS]

Currently North Dalton is best ground for playing & improving each day with spectating - many thanks to an amazingly hadworking Lions committee that had it as no 1 priority. Was the main reason why I travelled a few hours every 2nd week to play a game of footy. I enjoyed playing at Drummoyne & it is a good venue to watch from the hill on a sunny blue sky day. Also liked Trumper on dry days (the muddy square was terrible in the wet). Village Green - please see Trumper. Rosedale is a very good ground but viewing spots are limited.

Henson playing surface is terrible & would only be beaten to last position by Gore Hill & Gwawley - the Sharks would have lost many players over the years because of this ground. Ern Holmes is pretty ordinary as well although I didn't mind the skinny ground as the quick fellas couldn't fid enough space to run around me like at Monarch.

Gipps oval changed in mid 90s Shearer with a great facility built there care of the infamous Ros Kelly whiteboard - yes it was one of teh projects on it!! Sadly lack of funds (council & Goannas) coupled with the drought didn't help the surface but I understand significant funds have been found for 2008-09 which includes a bore watering system.

I like Monarch & Mac Uni - well sized grounds that didn't hinder quality players - no matter if they were big or small - but not ideal for viewing.

I think that Sydney Showground is central to all of SYdney & has merit to be considered as a finals venue.

Lidcombe will never have the bicycle track ripped up & they play soccer there during the year so surface would be average - dressing rooms were not modern in 1970s & they haven't been improved on since.

I always wished that Sydney Uni & Erskineville would have aligned the goal posts correctly.

Weldon, Grey Gums & Bensons always seemed to lack "atmosphere" - I think because the grounds are same level as the supporters.

Chaz McLaughlin I liked playing at except for one time in 1988 when the groundsman put a certain type of fertiliser on the ground before a wet match & both sides had to forfeit the following week due to pussie sores on bodies.

Blacktown - played there in the late 80s as a whipper snipper & it seemed so far away ... but if it means our own facility ... akin to the Irish grounds at Auburn ... then I am not foreign to the idea.

100 years of aussie rules in Sydney yet we don't have a) a ground or b) a licenced club to call our own. Its pretty poor.

*******************
If my memory is correct, East Sydney (now UNSWES) had a very successful licenced premises in the 60's-70'-80's (and frequented by the Swans from 1982) and I believe North Shore also had a licensed club in the 70's-80's, but through a combination of things (mainly poor management), those licensed clubs went broke. Those were also the days when big games were played at Erskenville Oval (what a shame AFL can't still use that ground). These days, there's just too much emphasis on (a) auskick, and (b) the Swans, so I can't see any licensed club getting off the ground anytime soon.

[Danny_Widler]

Didnt North Dalton look in good nick today ......NOT

So much for the EXCELLENT drainage ...rain all morning down the Gong and Ford Ranger Cup game to be played there between NSw and SA was abandoned due to flooding of the pitch .

They even moved the boundary in 15 metres cos there was mud all round the boundary ..which is a joke in itself as North Dalton is smallish for top class cricket anyway

[Norris Lurker]

I made the trip down, and I didn't think the surface was that bad. Especially once they'd moved the ropes in, I thought it was playable. There were plenty of other games in Wollongong, at vastly inferior facilities, that went ahead; I thought today's cancellation was more about elite crickets being too pampered and precious than about the surface being unsuitable.
Unfortunately the image of the ground copped a battering as a result of today's fiasco, and I doubt there'll ever be another interstate one-dayer scheduled there again. Which is a shame - only Sydney AFL people will see the ground reach its potential. Once the Lions get a good winning streak going, the local Wollongong people will come and will get a better impression of the ground than any cricket people got today.

(I must be a jinx. Last weekend I went to Gosford for the softest soccer cancellation ever, and now this).

[Hawknik]

Hey lads, Mac Uni should be vastly improved for the 2008 season. I thought it was pretty good for 2007 and prior, but the oval is now purely for AFL use. The cricketers have been "merged" with Gordon and have no use of it at all whih has allowed it to develop over summer.

Also with Sydney FC moving in, it has put a big cash injection into the ground staff, their "training" etc, as you can imagine the soccer boys only want to play on perfect %'d rye, oats and whatever, so the groundsmen have had to improve on their skills to accommodate so hopefully this will rub off onto Roger Sheeran - which it has already - to a degree that even with all the rain of late in Sydney, we have kept training through and the ground shows no sign of any damage. We have told them though that the far side needs better work as it gets quite heavy.

Wollongong was always gold for the bus trip predominantly which will be good for us as we are doing that now with Camden - so bus trip round 2 it looks like.

Added to that we are scheduling 3 night matches this year (Sharks, Manly and Camden) which should be great nights - lighting isa awesome and we had about 200 people there last year when we played a night match, so hopefully will be good.