Punted from Allianz by football, Waratahs facing club rugby clashes after moving to Brookvale Oval

THEY were forced off Allianz Stadium due to the A-League decider and now club rugby clashes may see the Waratahs have to cut a big cheque to shift a Super Rugby game to Brookvale Oval.

Warringah v Manly 1st Grade Manly Oval. Saturday 3rd June 2017 Rats def Manly 17-16 © Karen Watson 2017

THEY were forced off Allianz Stadium due to the A-League Grand Final and now clashes with club rugby may see the Waratahs have to cut a cheque for $75,000 to ensure they can successfully shift a Super Rugby game to Brookvale Oval.

The Waratahs are set to move their May 6 clash against the Auckland Blues to the northern beaches, due to a double-booking with the FFA, who secured Allianz Stadium in case Sydney FC end up hosting the A-League decider.

Though yet to be officially confirmed by NSW Rugby, the Brookvale Oval game’s 3pm kick-off has caused further headaches, with popular local clubs Manly and Warringah both hosting full club rounds that same day.

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Manly play Penrith and reigning champions Warringah are hosting Southern Districts, in a fixture that doubles as the club’s junior march-past day and can draw 7000 to Rat Park.

Warringah are expecting a big crowd against Southern Districts at Rat Park on May 6.

The Waratahs applied to SANZAAR to move the Blues’ game to the Sunday but were knocked back because the Aucklanders play on the following Friday night.

Attempts to shift the kick-off time has thus far been unsuccessful too, given there is a 5.30pm game in New Zealand and broadcasters FoxSports want the 3pm time given the A-League Grand Final, NRL and the Swans are all playing that night.

The scheduling clash with Shute Shield, subbies and schools competitions obviously has the potential to impact the Waratahs’ crowd negatively.

But Sydney Rugby Union president David Begg said he hoped the Shute Shield kick-offs can be brought forward, and the northern beaches clubs could be fold into the Super Rugby fixture, with Warringah-Souths as a curtain raiser and possibly Manly-Penrith after the main game.

Warringah president Phil Parsons said the club were in talks with NSW Rugby about relocating to Brookvale Oval but said revenue share was part of the conversation.

“We are in continued discussions with NSW Rugby but it would have been handy at the start of the year to have some kind of alignment of calendars,” Parsons said.

The Waratahs are looking to move their May 6 clash with the Blues to Brookvale Oval.

“I guess this is the evolution of us being one rugby community.

“We will find a way through it, we will try and accommodate everyone.

“We are talking to them about some sort of commercial offset for our pain. We’d normally take $75,000 on a day like that, and then there is our fence signage and so on.

“I think we can still find a way through it because everyone is looking for a solution.”

Waratahs CEO Andrew Hore said he was confident a solution that could be found.

“This is about the sport working together,” Hore said.

“In no way do we want to undermine any other part of the game. It is a change that has fundamentally been forced upon us.

“We have been speaking to Warringah for over a month now, and the other clubs, on how we minimise the impact on them. Because at the end of the day, any money into the game is good money so we don’t want to undermining anybody.

“That said, the Waratahs do put $1.16m into the community game each year and we have to generate money too. So whatever we do, we will try to make sure we don’t compromise any of those flows.”

Hore said NSW Rugby had also asked SANZAAR if they could kick-off at 4pm to ease the problems.

“It’s an awkward situation but it is just one we have to get through and show some leadership on,” Hore said.

Originally published as Punted from Allianz by football, Waratahs facing club rugby clashes after moving to Brookvale Oval