Waratahs to play three matches at Western Sydney Stadium in 2019
THE Waratahs have confirmed they will play some home matches in the 2019 Super Rugby season at the new Western Sydney Stadium just days after the NRL’s Eels turned down a deal to host its own matches at the $360 million venue.
RUGBY union’s long talked-about push into the NRL’s heartland is finally starting to take shape with the NSW Waratahs announcing that the new Western Sydney Stadium in Parramatta will start hosting Super Rugby matches from 2019.
Just days after the Parramatta Eels rejected a deal from the stadium’s operator to play in their own backyard, the Waratahs confirmed they were more than happy to take up residency in the $360 million stadium after striking a deal with Venues Live.
“We’re extremely excited, we see it as part of a wider strategy of how we’re going to grow the game in and through and Western Sydney,” NSW Rugby CEO Andrew Hore said.
Forced to find a new home for the next three seasons while Allianz Stadium is being rebuilt, the Waratahs spurned the obvious temptation to stick to their traditional stomping grounds in the Eastern suburbs and North Shore to venture into rugby league territory.
The Waratahs have been talking about going west for as long as anyone can remember and now they’re finally doing it after locking in a deal to play three of their eight home matches for 2019 at the $360 million Western Sydney Stadium.
“We’ve got 100,000 participants and they’re not all based in the Eastern Suburbs and the North, that’s a myth that we’ve got to break,” Hore said, adding that negotiations are already underway for the Waratahs to play more games in Parramatta in 2020 and 2021.
“Our intention is to have a consistent presence. It’s not a one-off but what games and how many will vary because that’s the advantage we’ve got right now.”
The NSW Minister for Sport, Stuart Ayres, said the Waratahs’ decision to go west was a win-win for the sport and Parramatta’s new stadium.
“This is a massive vote of confidence in this stadium by the rugby community and by the Waratahs,” he said.
“It’s a really strong statement by the sport of rugby to say that Western Sydney is right at its heart.”
The Waratahs’ first game at the new western Sydney Stadium will be against South Africa’s Sharks on April 27 - the week after Easter.
The second will be against Argentina’s Jaguares on May 25 before the derby blockbuster with the ACT Brumbies on June 8.
The venues for the Waratahs’ other five home matches in 2019 will be revealed in the next few weeks with three, or possibly four, different venues selected to host games as part of the Waratahs’ plans to showcase the sport in as many parts of NSW as possible.
“I think we’ve got a real opportunity with being nomads and essentially playing around our state,” Waratahs coach Daryl Gibson said.
“We’re one of the few teams that actually represents the state so we have that luxury of going to a number of different stadiums and spreading rugby around the state.
“There’s rugby lovers wherever we go and it’s a real opportunity that we get to play three games in what is a fantastic stadium and a new experience for both players and fans and we hope that reinvigorates Western Sydney and really brings the people out and back to the game.”
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Originally published as Waratahs to play three matches at Western Sydney Stadium in 2019