Waratahs suburban idea to bring back fans

AFTER a poor season in which crowds and ratings dropped, the Waratahs want to take Super Rugby matches to suburban grounds which will include curtain-raisers.

THE Waratahs will investigate the possibility of taking Super Rugby matches to suburban grounds — with Shute Shield games as curtain-raisers — as part of a push to reconnect with the community.

The Sydney club rugby season capped off a successful year last weekend with a crowd of more than 15,000 at the Shute Shield grand final at North Sydney Oval.

That came after club crowd figures for the whole season grew.

But the surge of interest in club rugby contrasted with the nosediving interest in Super Rugby.

The Waratahs’ crowds and ratings dropped during a poor season and feedback from fans at club rugby games suggested that it was because they had lost connection with rugby’s ­professional tier.

In his speech at the Catchpole Medal dinner, Sydney Rugby Union president David Begg called for the Waratahs to take games back to the community and proposed staging a Super Rugby match at North Sydney Oval.

“We get a sense that if you take rugby back to the rugby community, you can strengthen that tangible connection,” Begg said.

“I was at Brookvale when they played a trial there in February. Great crowd, you could sense the ­excitement.

There was no joy for the Waratahs players at Allianz Stadium this year. Picture: Getty Images

“In my view, taking a Waratahs game to North Sydney would be an excellent idea.

A Friday night game, people walking up from North Sydney, you can’t tell me that wouldn’t be a great occasion. Or at Brookie.

“In whatever form, competition games, trials, whatever, to have our No.1 team in NSW, the Waratahs, playing in the community would be really well received.” NSW Rugby has a tight contract to play all games at Allianz Stadium until 2031.

But with the potential for the Waratahs to be rehomed as part of an upgrade to Allianz Stadium — which is being debated at a government level — NSWRU boss Andrew Hore said the idea of playing Waratahs games at North Sydney, Brookvale and regional areas was worth considering.

“One hundred per cent we would look at it,” Hore said.

“We have shown the desire with (trials in) Mudgee last year. And Brookie, that’s a possibility. I don’t want to get drawn into a stadium debate. We have a contract here and this is our home. But we are very open to that idea if the opportunity arises.”

Reports have indicated the Waratahs could relocate to the SCG during the Allianz Stadium rebuild, possibly as soon as next year. That may open a door for the Waratahs to take games elsewhere.

The high traffic on Allianz Stadium makes it hard to play curtain-­raisers but taking a game to a suburban ground opens up that possibility as well; reaffirming the pathway between club footy and the Waratahs.

“The reason we like the idea is it also makes it easier to play a Shute Shield game beforehand,” Begg said.

“If you played Manly and Warringah as a curtain-raiser to a Tahs game at Brookvale Oval, that’d be a great event.”

Hore and Begg are keen to break down perceptions of tension between club rugby and the Waratahs.

Originally published as Waratahs suburban idea to bring back fans