Andrew Ireland on 3AW

[CJK]

Well that's a fiftth of his salary for this year in one game.

So 'his salary' is Franklin, not Ireland?

That kinda makes more sense.

[ernie koala]

Spot on. ANZ coming along went a long way to making the swans viable, as they could renegotiate a better deal from the SCG.

For this reason, ANZ will always get a few games a year, to keep it in our back pocket. ANZ basically give the games away, so nice little earners for us.

I agree with you on this Barry.

But it doesn't change my view on where I prefer the Swans to play.

[barry]

I agree with you on this Barry.

But it doesn't change my view on where I prefer the Swans to play.

Which I fully respect Mr Koala. We each have personal preferences, and then there is the commercial realities.

Unlike yourself I dont advocate the total removal of other peoples prefered venue, but a balance of the two.

[Jewels]

Which I fully respect Mr Koala. We each have personal preferences, and then there is the commercial realities.

Unlike yourself I dont advocate the total removal of other peoples prefered venue, but a balance of the two.

I have no qualms about playing at ANZ though to me The SCG is our home.
If we have to play out there and from what Ireland says it seems we will have to for a while yet, then I would like the teams we play at ANZ changed up a bit, in other words occasionally playing Collingwood at The SCG instead of what they must consider their home away from home and I think we would gain a significant advantage both physically and mentally if we played our finals at The SCG.

[ernie koala]

Which I fully respect Mr Koala. We each have personal preferences, and then there is the commercial realities.

Unlike yourself I dont advocate the total removal of other peoples prefered venue, but a balance of the two.

Not likely Barry, we'll all put up with a few games there so as to improve our deal at the SCG.

It's pretty obvious from listening to Andrew Ireland, that if it wasn't for the leverage the white elephant gives the Swans, they would be playing all games at their home ground.....The SCG.

[barry]

Not likely Barry, we'll all put up with a few games there so as to improve our deal at the SCG.

It's pretty obvious from listening to Andrew Ireland, that if it wasn't for the leverage the white elephant gives the Swans, they would be playing all games at their home ground.....The SCG.

You are a piece of work Mr koala. You will not stop until you have removed my team from my venue

[erica]

Andrew Pridham ?is seeking feedback on Twitter:

Andrew Pridham @Pridhamhq

"@Sydneyswans keen to hear fans views on where we play our home games in the seasons ahead. process to enter new agreements kicking off soon
stadia arrangements need to balance fans wishes, venue availability, scheduling conflicts, stadia facilities/capacity and $"

[barry]

Just on my way home from AnZ now, and I have to say.. there isnt anything wrong with the ground or atmosphere when the full house sign is up..

[goods78]

Andrew Pridham ?is seeking feedback on Twitter:

Andrew Pridham @Pridhamhq

"@Sydneyswans keen to hear fans views on where we play our home games in the seasons ahead. process to enter new agreements kicking off soon
stadia arrangements need to balance fans wishes, venue availability, scheduling conflicts, stadia facilities/capacity and $"

Swans throwing up another negotiating piece in to the mix.

Sydney Swans consider playing AFL games in Canberra

[ernie koala]

You are a piece of work Mr koala. You will not stop until you have removed my team from my venue

If you're not in politics you should be. Stop deflecting this into some kind of personal argument. That's pathetic.

[mcs]

Just on my way home from AnZ now, and I have to say.. there isnt anything wrong with the ground or atmosphere when the full house sign is up..

Barry, I don't think most people that object to games at anz do so because of the atmosphere. I think most people that dont like anz are more concerned by the consistently poor surface for afl football and the generally crappy viewing angles/sightlines that the ground provides for afl.

can I ask, just out of interest, are you an anz stadium member?

also, and please correct me if im wrong, you seem to think the roof project is a definite. I thought it was far from a fait accompli - wasnt it just part of their masterplan, aka 'Please Mr State Government, give us the money to do this' document?

[DamY]

the roof hasn't been given the "go-ahead", but they're currently seeking tenders for the work and it's part of the plan. I think Andrew Ireland mentioned the roof so I have a feeling it is basically set in stone. It is probably one of the things they have asked for. In the master plan it also addresses some of the sight line issues by rearranging the shape. I have a feeling that ANZ as a whole is probably far too important as a venue for them to maintain sub-standard expectations and the $300m going into it will hopefully revitalise the whole area. They plan to add cinemas and a drivein cinema on top of a venue (not ANZ) and building a 2 level bar on the grass, near the entrance and the toilets.

One thing ANZ does have over SCG is that they always put enough staff on to serve the expected number of patrons. And the Members Bar has full-strength beer. The ANZ Sydney Swans members bar is much more sociable than the SCG ones for reasons unknown.

Anyways I think having ANZ as a bargaining took is very important. Faster trains out to Homebush would be nice!

[CJK]

Just on my way home from AnZ now, and I have to say.. there isnt anything wrong with the ground or atmosphere when the full house sign is up..

Must of missed the AFL game there last night.

Was it before, or after, that NRL game that the stadium is designed around?

can I ask, just out of interest, are you an anz stadium member?

This has been confirmed, in earlier threads. Not that it wasn't obvious...

[barry]

The ANZ roof will be built. Its just a question of when. The stadium is designed for a roof so no big structural issues.

However the tenders are also out for reconfiguring the stands. Im not exactly sure what this means but I think its making the goal end stands slidable.
It may also address viewing angles for other areas. This is an issue for all codes.

Afl will need to maintain an interest to avoid the ground losing its AFL configuration option.

Last time we played there the surface was fine. Better than the SCG was last weekend I might add.
A lot of you crtics are being very subjective.

The whole precinct is gathering momentum. Businesses are moving there which bring the eateries and hotels.

[mcs]

Last time the surface might have been fine, but for the majority of matches out there, it is pretty awful and has had a significant detrimental effect on the quality of the game.

Further slidable stands will make the problem worse I'd expect, as you'd think for square field codes, that the stands at each end will move in, thus creating the same significant issue that occurs on the wings at each end of the ground. It won't fix the viewing angle issue for AFL either, as surely the stands will be in the same position for AFL (or if anything, a bit further out, in order to increase the size of the field of play. The viewing angle would only be fixed if the bottom tier somehow could also be made significant steeper. Having a roof, even if it is clear glass/plastic/whatever material they use as proposed, will have an additional impact on the turf (but this should be able to be dealt with ok through greater use of heat lamps, as done in the big european football grounds with roofs such as Amsterdam Arena and Millenium Stadium).

There is nothing wrong with being subjective when being critical about a ground. Some may argue you are quite subjective in your views on the SCG, and far from objective on your views about ANZ.

To me, its pretty simple:
- ANZ is great for me (coming from Canberra) to get to and get away from. Food around the ground is alright as well, and the precinct is developing. But the AFL quality there is generally inferior to the SCG due to the poor surface (although the SCG also has issues due to the square when its wet).
- In terms of the SCG, its a dog of a place to get to for me, but I think its a superior venue for AFL. It is a more intimate venue, where you feel (and I'd expect are) far closer to the action, and viewing angles are vastly better from the majority of the seats (the only really high quality seats at ANZ are in the stadium members section). And finally, and this is solely subjective, it feels like 'home' and is our spiritual home in Sydney.

I'd love to see all games back at the SCG, but I can see the commercial need to have ANZ involved. But given that recent years, crowds have been poor (only 32 and 34 odd thousand for Hawks and Pies this year), I don't really see the need for 'marquee games' to be played out there at this stage. If we get to a point that we are packing out the SCG every fortnight, and we are effectively locking out significant people by playing at the SCG, then it makes sense for marquee games to be out there. But at the moment, I can't see why we can't at very least rotate the teams we play at Homebush, so that it isn't the same old teams out there time after time.