Campbelltown Council, Greg Warren welcome Wests Tigers move to play exclusively at home stadiums
Campbelltown leaders have welcomed Wests Tigers’ plans to prioritise its suburban grounds, with council ready to work with the NRL club to bring more Wests games to the region.
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Campbelltown leaders have welcomed Wests Tigers plans to axe its big-stadium strategy and return games to their home-ground stadiums, with one MP promising to advocate for funding for stadium upgrades.
Wests Tigers plan to dump playing games at Accor Stadium and CommBank Stadium next season for a full-time return to Campbelltown and Leichhardt Stadium, the club’s traditional home grounds.
A plan, expected to be ratified by the club’s board, would see five games each played at Leichhardt and Campbelltown from next season.
Campbelltown is also home to Macarthur FC and Campbelltown Stadium has a 17,500 venue capacity and hosts more than 50 event days on an annual basis.
A Campbelltown Council spokesman said it welcomed the Tigers’ intention to return more games to Campbelltown Stadium and would like to see even more fixtures.
“[Council] will continue to engage with the club to increase the number of games played here,” a spokesman said. “Our city is a hotbed for rugby league talent, with significant playing registrations and passionate fans who turn up in large numbers to create an amazing atmosphere and support the Tigers whenever they come.
“Campbelltown Sports Stadium’s world class playing surface regularly attracts top tier sporting events and teams to play and train, making it the ideal venue to host more NRL matches.”
Campbelltown MP Greg Warren welcomed the move from Wests Tigers, and said he was a big supporter of suburban sport.
“Community sport starts in the suburbs and I believe it should stay in the suburbs,” he said.
“Campbelltown Stadium is a regional facility for the southwest and it’s ideally located right on Leumeah Station … with parking and accessibility it means people from all over the region can come.
“I have been long calling for this and it’s great to see Wests Tigers make that standing commitment.”
Mr Warren said the previous government had failed to deliver funding for the Campbelltown Stadium, and had promised other professional clubs upgrades that would not be delivered due to a “black hole” in the budget.
“Having said, I will be doing anything I can to advocate for a funding upgrade for Campbelltown Stadium,” he said.
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