State government funding dries up for suburban ovals

THE days of watching NRL matches at Sydney's traditional old suburban grounds are numbered.

Brookvale Oval

THE days of watching NRL matches at Sydney's traditional old suburban grounds are numbered.

A state government report yesterday revealed that funding was financially unsustainable for all Sydney-based clubs, virtually ruling out future funding for some of the city's most historic venues that have been hosting rugby league for more than 70 years.

Brookvale Oval, Campbelltown Stadium, Toyota Stadium, Kogarah Oval, Leichhardt Oval and Penrith Stadium will be most affected.

Under a stadia strategy released by sports minister Graham Annesley, the government will instead invest in major venues including ANZ Stadium, Allianz Stadium and other government-owned grounds including Parramatta Stadium, Hunter Sports Stadium and Wollongong Stadium. A 30,000-seat stadium in Sydney's west, possibly at an existing venue, is also under consideration.

The government wants Sydney clubs to adopt the Melbourne model that led to AFL clubs dumping their suburban home grounds from the late 1980s to share Etihad Stadium and the MCG. In Sydney, nine NRL clubs play out of nine venues.

"Review of stadia has identified the number of current venues requiring ongoing maintenance and or upgrading is financially unsustainable." Annesley said in the report. "Stakeholders suggested there are too many Tier 2 stadia in Greater Sydney, and the present decentralised approach leads to under-utilisation of venues."

Sydney venues classified as Tier 2 are Brookvale Oval, Campbelltown Stadium, Toyota Stadium, Kogarah Oval, Leichhardt Oval, Penrith Stadium and Parramatta Stadium.

"Belief that the NSW government has an overriding responsibility to ensure all sporting infrastructure is maintained and upgraded is inaccurate."

The decision was met with anger from a number of officials.

"We've run into dead ends before and we're not going to give up," said Manly director and life member Peter Peters. "We have a handshake agreement with Tony Abbott that we'll get federal government support if he gets in. It's a tragedy that three quarters of a million people north of the Harbour Bridge don't have a boutique stadium at Brookvale. We have won premierships in every decade since the 1970s and our fans deserve it."

The report was critical of the previous government's sporting venues strategy.

Annesley said Sydney would lose big events to other cities if major venues were not up to scratch.

"The implementation of the Stadia Strategy is integral to ensuring NSW keeps pace with the evolution of sport both in Australia and around the globe," he said.

"Sport, as an industry, is a significant contributor to the NSW economy. Spectators today expect more from the match day experience. Sporting infrastructure established in the lead-up to the 200 Olympics is now ageing, and in coming years will need upgrading and in some cases replacing.

"The post-Olympic NSW government infrastructure investment strategy was at best ad hoc, with minimal consideration given to ensuring long-term sustainability."

The Wests Tigers were reluctant to comment. While Leichhardt Oval will miss out, the club is hopeful the government will look favourably at their existing ground in Campbelltown for a new 30,000 seat stadium in the west.

The Sharks were not overly concerned, according to chairman Damian Irvine.

"The difference is we own our own home ground," Irvine said.