ANZ stadium - the home of footy

[Doctor]

At least they can leave it exposed all week with there not being any League played there between now and the game. Hopefully the forecast rain midweek won't be too bad.

I think most people have made their preferences clear, but the fact is that staying away because of where it's played only hurts our chances and helps Freo. Coach Longmire's voice over on the ads they were pushing on tv last night, pleading with us all to get out there and support the team should have us all storming the electronic barricades at Ticketek this morning!

[Conor_Dillon]

What is the liklihood of the surface improving between now and Saturday?
Those wings were an absolute embarrassment.
It's bordering on farcical that in modern AFL we are playing games on an oval that has temporary stands wheeled out onto it most weekends...this wouldn't even happy in local football.

[Mr Magoo]

Why oh why do they only sell mid strength beer - you are kidding $7.40 for a super dry 3.5 or XXXX Gold. This alone is reason enough not to go.

[mcs]

At least they can leave it exposed all week with there not being any League played there between now and the game. Hopefully the forecast rain midweek won't be too bad.

I think most people have made their preferences clear, but the fact is that staying away because of where it's played only hurts our chances and helps Freo. Coach Longmire's voice over on the ads they were pushing on tv last night, pleading with us all to get out there and support the team should have us all storming the electronic barricades at Ticketek this morning!

I dont think anyone will stay away because its an ANZ for finals.

I know its a strong consideration for many during the Home and Away Season - certainly I avoid the place (because of the red zone issues) where I can.

- - - Updated - - -

What is the liklihood of the surface improving between now and Saturday?
Those wings were an absolute embarrassment.
It's bordering on farcical that in modern AFL we are playing games on an oval that has temporary stands wheeled out onto it most weekends...this wouldn't even happy in local football.

No League or Union being played there this week - as long as the weather is ok, should be a lot better than Saturday. I fear from the Prelim final though - although I understand we will get a friday night one if we win, so there should be at least 5 days between matches (i.e. an NRL final potentially on the Sunday before?), so should be ok.

Just got to hope for some sun this week.

[erica]

Barry, can you tell us how many ANZ Stadium members were there on Saturday? The members reserve can hold 18,400 members (according to this Members Seating - ANZ Stadium). What proportion of those were at the game?

[tasmania60]

Wouldn't run cattle on it just in case they hurt themselves , why do they play there . SCG full is the home off the Swans, criminal AFL should be disgusted!

[Margie]

North will be playing their 'home' final at a venue they've played at twice all year.

Bit like us then.

[Mel_C]

2 weeks of solid rain, and some here are complaining about sliperyness?

SCG would have been a bog hole.

Now the crowd. The ANZ members area had a god 10,000 in, which means only 20,000 swans members came. Are these 40,000 members we are supposed to have pets like hawthorn has?

Can't agree with you there Barry, the SCG drainage is excellent.

The 40,000 members aren't all based in Sydney. There are over 11,000 in Melbourne.

[Mel_C]

Unfortunately rain is forecast for several days in the coming week, including for next Saturday. Bad news for the ANZ surface.

Wow the weather has been bad in Sydney! I remember being jealous of the great weather Sydney used to have in winter.

Hopefully with no rugby the surface can still improve.

[stellation]

Wow the weather has been bad in Sydney! I remember being jealous of the great weather Sydney used to have in winter.

Hopefully with no rugby the surface can still improve.

It pretty much didn't rain at all for most of winter, it's only been the past few weeks that it turned up.

[billyboob]

Thread is mired in bickering. Would be good to organise a letter writing campaign or something similar around a few key issues we want resolved such as drainage, seating/viewing angles and stand (re)configuration. Make it clear we want this resolved asap so that the club, league and fans can move on. I think something like this would gain support among other club supporters, staff and administrations.

I prefer the SCG but I'm also aware Sydney is HUGE and hosting home games at different venues, so long as they are up to standard for players and supporters and, would be a great way to showcase the city and autralian rules footy while making the game more accessible and inclusive. It's also a pragmatic response to the question of the club, league and supporters being shafted by the SCG trust.

The to and fro here isn't really helping.

[Zlatorog]

+1, finally somebody thinks the same way as me. People, stop bickering and start planning for Saturday. When was the last time we saw QF in Sydney? 1998? Cherish the moment!

[churry]

Can't wait for them to start building a roof at this ground. The only positive will be is that the ground will be closed for a period of time and hopefully that means no swans games at the ground for at least a season!

[barry]

Well start with this thought Barry.

Approx 10,000 of our fans are from Melbourne - I'd hardly expect many of them would come up for a dead rubber. There probably is another 500 or 1000 based in other cities around the country too.
Then out of the other '10,000' missing, you have:
- plenty of NSW based members that live outside of Sydney itself, and probably didn't make the trip because they would prefer to come up for finals (myself and 3 other people I know from Canberra fall into this category);
- plenty that just didn't go because it was a dead rubber, and might not have been able to afford to go both this week and the finals;
- some that dislike ANZ and don't go to games at that ground during regular season/ hold SCG only memberships (these still exist don't they - I can't remember?)
- Those who didn't go for miscellanious reasons (i.e. sick/away/have other things to do etc).

Don't go tarring people as 'fair weather' fans when you have no reason to do so. We all love the swans, but they after all are only one part of people's lives,and there are plenty of people with very valid excuses not to have been there on Saturday.

The last three excuses you gave are what I call "fair weather".

And just to be clear on another myth bandied around here. The stands are rolled back during the week. And only rolled in for Rugby games on the weekend.

[mcs]

The last three excuses you gave are what I call "fair weather".

And just to be clear on another myth bandied around here. The stands are rolled back during the week. And only rolled in for Rugby games on the weekend.

In terms of the last three points, I call bull@@@@ on your idea of 'fair weather' supporters.
- Not everyone is loaded Barry - for a lot of people, the idea of a 'Budget constraint' is very real, and they have to pick and choose what games they go to - even if they have entry covered by Membership.
- Some people genuinely do not like watching football at ANZ, and choose not to go. I fully comprehend how people come to such a conclusion. It doesn't make them 'fair weather' fans. Being a member of the swans doesn't involve some sort of signature in blood saying you have to attend every home game or else you'll be sacrificed to the great AFL god. People are free to prioritise what games they go to, and if part of that is that they don't do ANZ games, then so be it.
- The last one is exceptionally valid. There are a lot of reasons why people can't make games, and they are all reasonable. It doesn't mean they are 'fair weather fans'.

People have a life outside of football Barry.... or indeed for your case, a life outside of ANZ stadium

As for the turf and the stands. It doesn't matter when they rolled in or out - its the damage they do in the process that causes the problems. It was blatantly clear where the problem areas of the turf were the other day, and we've seen the issues with relaid turf in previous years in the exact same areas. The wings are always a mess at ANZ - hopefully a week without movement of the stands should see them in good condition for the game on Saturday. Teddy's slip against Richmond didn't cost us anything in the grand scheme of things - but I'd be pretty pissed if something similar happened and we lost a final, or dear goodness, a Prelim final as a result of it.