Wests Tigers won’t abandon Leichhardt Oval despite financial concerns

WESTS CEO Grant Mayer has confirmed the Tigers will continue to play matches at one of the club’s spiritual homes, Leichhardt Oval, next year.

Players silhouetted with backdrop of crowd on hill as Brett Hodgson kicks for goal during Wests Tigers v Gold Coast Titans NR...

WESTS CEO Grant Mayer has confirmed the Tigers will continue to play matches at one of the club’s spiritual homes, Leichhardt Oval, next year.

But in a sign of the commercial realities of rugby league in the 21st century, the Tigers will most likely downsize their commitments to both Leichhardt Oval and Campbelltown Sports Stadium.

While spiritual homes Leichhardt and Campbelltown offer charm, history and emotion, ANZ Stadium offers a guaranteed $100,000 for every match played at Sydney Olympic Park.

Given the Tigers have already borrowed $2 million from NRL headquarters, it’s a commercial necessity.

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Mayer stressed the Tigers will not be abandoning Leichhardt or Campbelltown completely but will need to be selective about the number of games the club plays at each venue.

“There’s no doubt there’s a future for suburban grounds, the question that we’ve all got to ask is how many games will that be,” Mayer said.

“From our point of view we’d like to see Leichhardt Oval full of members. We understand the impact on our fans and we understand the history and the passion surrounding Leichhardt Oval and Campbelltown Sports Stadium.

“We won’t be abandoning Leichhardt but we will be determining the number of games we play at our two suburban home grounds based on a number of factors.

“We will be insisting the venues meet NRL standards and our fans and patrons are suitably catered for at those venues.”

Originally published as Wests Tigers won’t abandon Leichhardt Oval despite financial concerns