‘I don’t think you’d ever change it’: Inside the famous Sydney oval that’s slowly falling apart

It was the fig tree that clinched the deal.

When British and Irish Lions Rugby coach Andy Farrell toured North Sydney Oval earlier this year on a reconnaissance mission before the team’s Australian tour, he was transfixed by the giant tree that has towered over the sports ground’s picket fence and cradled spectators in its boughs for decades.

Curator Dylan Johnson stands beside the revered Moreton Bay fig tree, thought to have been planted about 1900.Credit: Sam Mooy

“I love this ground, I love that fig tree,” Farrell had enthused to North Sydney Council’s director of open space and infrastructure, Gary Parsons, as the pair stood in the middle of the ground shortly before Farrell locked in the oval as a training base for the test side’s tour that kicks off later this month.

Farrell’s admiration for the hallowed ground, which hosted its first cricket match in 1867, highlights the dilemma it faces: North Sydney Oval is crumbling in parts and desperately needs at least $12 million in critical renewal works, but the cash-strapped local council can’t afford to fund them.

As Parsons laments: “Everybody loves it, but it’s starting to fall apart.”

The sports ground has been thrust into the spotlight after the National Rugby League Commission last month said Perth would get its own NRL team, which will also honour the 117-year heritage of the North Sydney Bears. The team will play the majority of its home games in Perth when the NRL’s 18th franchise enters the competition in 2027; however, commission chairman Peter V’landys has said he wants the red-and-blacks to return to their spiritual home on the lower north shore once a season.

Mayor Zoe Baker has vowed the council will do what it takes to accommodate one NRL match a season, but has urged the state and federal governments to chip in funds for renewal works. The council’s ambition to return the ground to its former glory has been further hampered after the independent pricing regulator shot down its attempt to raise rates.

Parsons said the council had committed to hosting at least nine game days for the North Sydney Bears between April and August, but it hadn’t yet been approached about hosting an NRL match.

He thought the old-school oval “might struggle a little bit to be an NRL venue, to be honest”.

“We might get one game, and I think that might be a bit more of a nostalgic thing rather than anything else. I don’t think we’re going to see a whole host of games played here, to be honest.

“We certainly haven’t had those discussions. If they did, we would do what we can.”

Regardless of whether the ground hosts the spectacle of an NRL match, the council is acutely aware the existing facilities need extensive repairs and upgrades to cater for the male and female cricket, soccer, rugby and rugby league teams who regularly play at the oval – often to sell-out crowds.

Parsons said the change rooms were outdated, paint was peeling, brickwork was crumbling, and the shabby metal roofs on the old grandstands let in water, which has caused serious structural damage.

The council had planned to complete $7.8 million of critical infrastructure renewal works on the oval in the 2026-27 financial year, followed by $12.7 million for similar repairs in 2027-28. There were also plans to install much-needed gender-neutral change rooms in the next couple of years.

The hallowed oval is suffering from years of wear and tear. Credit: Sam Mooy

Those projects got the chop when the council – which is struggling financially in part due to the ballooning $122 million cost of its disastrous Olympic pool rebuild – was knocked back for its bid to lift rates by 87 per cent over two years, an increase intended to add about $25 million to its coffers.

“We could spend $12 million on it, and you wouldn’t even know we’d been here,” Parsons said.

“Every time I’ve got $20 to put a coat of paint on something, we do it. But in a couple of years time we’ll be in [run-down] Leichhardt Oval territory, we’ll have to close stands and things like that. ”

The ground still has a rare manual scoreboard. Credit: Sam Mooy

Despite the oval’s worn condition, Parsons said sporting clubs loved the ground for its history and nostalgia, due in large part to its picket fence, grandstands, manual scoreboard and the Moreton Bay fig. He said the council recently asked the clubs for their “warts and all feedback” on the ground.

Among their gripes were the oval’s lacklustre food and beverage options – often a cold sausage roll and a warm beer – and the evident wear and tear. The clubs also expressed an appetite for technology upgrades, and bucket seats to replace the wooden benches to make ticket sales easier.

“The positive side was everyone loves it – the players, officials, clubs, patrons – because it’s this mini-Sydney Cricket Ground, the playing surface is second to none, and the atmosphere is great.

“We cannot get any more content on that surface. We just need some capital investment.”

Parsons expected the council would apply for a rate rise next year. Meantime, staff would seek to boost revenue by hosting more events, and possibly using part of the complex for a community gym or a cafe featuring oval memorabilia. The council has already started to get food trucks in for match days. And it also raised the prospect of selling the sponsorship and naming rights for the ground.

North Sydney Oval curator Shaun Eaton removes covers from the sports ground, which includes a rare drop-in cricket pitch. Credit: Sam Mooy

“We’ll work hard on our business plan and squirrel away our pennies and do things when we can.”

Baker said the council was eager to work with sporting codes on a masterplan for the facility.

“Any upgrades have to respect the built heritage and hold onto the spirit of what makes the ground so special, which is the intimacy,” Baker said.

Parsons agreed: “I don’t think you’ll ever rebuild North Sydney Oval – and this is where I think the NRL may have some issues with it – as a CommBank or Allianz stadium.

“I think it will always be what it is: a quaint, old, regional sort of sporting facility. The community seems quite happy with that. It’s an amazing place.”

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.