How does Sydney Stadium drama affect Swans?

[Zlatorog]

Whatever plans AFL might have to expand into the western Sydney are not included in the current NSW government plans for expansion/upgrade of existing stadiums. All these upgrades will be for rectangular fields to support rugby and soccer but not AFL. For the time being cricket and AFL will be confined to the SCG and Spotless stadium. If the disaster in Blacktown is anything to go by, I would say that AFL needs to improve their relationship with the NSW government if they want to expand further into the west.

[barry]

Whatever plans AFL might have to expand into the western Sydney are not included in the current NSW government plans for expansion/upgrade of existing stadiums. All these upgrades will be for rectangular fields to support rugby and soccer but not AFL. For the time being cricket and AFL will be confined to the SCG and Spotless stadium. If the disaster in Blacktown is anything to go by, I would say that AFL needs to improve their relationship with the NSW government if they want to expand further into the west.

You would think that the long term vision for Sydney would be two sporting hubs

Moore Park: SCG and Allianz. SCG being major oval ground, Allianz a minor rectangular.
Homebush: ANZ and Skoda. ANZ being major rectangular ground. Skoda being minor oval.

So in all this planning, Skoda seems to have been left behind.
But the planning seems to be very politically focused.

[Zlatorog]

You would think that the long term vision for Sydney would be two sporting hubs

Moore Park: SCG and Allianz. SCG being major oval ground, Allianz a minor rectangular.
Homebush: ANZ and Skoda. ANZ being major rectangular ground. Skoda being minor oval.

So in all this planning, Skoda seems to have been left behind.
But the planning seems to be very politically focused.

Yes, that is quite possible. Maybe all that punishment that AFL imposed on Sydney Swans in past few years, might have had bigger impact than previously thought. If the NSW government understanding of the AFL treatment of the Swans was that they needed to be pushed back in favour of some Victorian clubs (and the drug cheats cover-up notwithstanding), it gave them enough brownie points to put AFL (and their plans) on the back-burner for the time being.
Let's be honest. AFL cowardly treatment of the Swans might have caused more damaged to the AFL (in NSW) than they realize.

[barry]

Gill the dill has dropped the ball. However i do see fitzpatrick around town often. Must be up here for some reason

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I also think the swans early exit of ANZ could be payback to the AFL....

[Zlatorog]

Gill the dill has dropped the ball. However i do see fitzpatrick around town often. Must be up here for some reason

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I also think the swans early exit of ANZ could be payback to the AFL....

Sorry, barry, but I must disagree with you. Unless, you have inside knowledge of this, I think it's the opposite. Sydney Swans were trying to get out of there for sometime. If I remember correctly that even Roos, when he was still at Sydney wanted to play all games at the SCG. When the arrangements were made with ANZ it was dome through Labor government at the time. What Fitzpatrick was doing is not getting us out of there, but negotiating with the government a finals deal for themselves. ANZ is crucial for AFL and their expansion dream into the west and AFL were successfully torpedoed by the Swans as a payback for their atrocious treatment. That is my take on it. I'm sure that the government wanted AFL out of ANZ so that they can proceed with their plans. I guess that Mike likes the Swans very much.

[Mug Punter]

On the ground up here I'd say they're actually doing a pretty good job of creating a Western Sydney presence. The home ground could obviously be further west, but it's relatively convenient for folks that are driving (moreso than the SCG)- back when the Western Sydney Razorbacks were in the NBL they played out of Homebush.

I don't think where the players live really matters all that much. I doubt all the guys from the Bulldogs live around Footscray.

On a grassroots level GWS are doing an appalling job.

Go and dip your toe into the NSWAFL/SFL room on here and you'll see that they are treated as a joke by local football people. They let Campbelltown wither on then invested quite a large summon rebranding the Manly Wolves as the Manly Giants in what was quite possibly the dumbest decision ever in the histpry of NSWAFL stuffups.

Their academies are virtually non-existent, they just cherry pick ready made Riverina kids, some of whom have been playing in Melbourne Private school systems for years but ridiculously still qualify as academy players. I'd say they have zero interest or commitment in developing AFL players from Western Sydney, because it is just too hard.

The AFL simply think that because we are shallow here in Sydney that all they need to do is get a winning team and the rest will look after itself. I think they may have misread that because I see very little real commitment in western Sydney to the Giants and what I do see is a kind of sports consumerism that will really struggle to stand the test of time.

[Mug Punter]

Tell me more about these bum sniffers. Or did you just forget how to write "faggot"?

Oh dear......

[Doctor]

I'm still curious to know what will happen with the originally intended completion of the SCG upgrade. it's really only half done and it'd be great for the rest of the ground to be done up as well as the Noble and Bradman Stands.

[barry]

Speaking of stadiums, i see the grand final replay in the case of a draw is being discarded because it's unfair to "interstaters". How about we keep the replay and if its a non vic team in the grand ... they host the replay. Eg at SCG. That fair and would make for much more interest in the replay.

[Leadloss]

Great :3