stupid RFL trying to grow the sport by putting pressure on clubs to improve grounds

the future of RL should be decided on who wins the Championship GF

The Cas ground has planning permission, the Wakey one will have it this year, what is there to approve?

Oh, and clearly Cas don't have money from their current ground, as that is the reason why the funding has fallen - due to the land being earmarked for housing. The ground being in a blast zone and the economic climate do not help pull in developers to go through with the ground purchase...

neither club can finance one on their own

a joint ground will be easier to finance.

cas ground is still worth something isnt it? they will have funds to contribute

and a joint ground will be easier to get council money as its not favouring 1 club over the other

a joint ground makes so much sense

and thats why it wont happen

So which Sydney clubs have paid to improve or build new facilities ?

As others have said - not much new here. This article www.castigers.com/cgi-bin/news.cgi?194_7314 from the Cas website dated December 11th states the build may be done in phases. Also what was interesting in that interview with Wright was that he stated a developer would be chosen and plans released to the public at some point before Christmas. Maybe more worrying was that he also he went as far to say the once they have full planning permission they could start gthe build - If they are ready to do so - doesn't sound too definite to me.

As others have said - not much new here. This article www.castigers.com/cgi-bin/news.cgi?194_7314 from the Cas website dated December 11th states the build may be done in phases. Also what was interesting in that interview with Wright was that he stated a developer would be chosen and plans released to the public at some point before Christmas. Maybe more worrying was that he also he went as far to say the once they have full planning permission they could start gthe build - If they are ready to do so - doesn't sound too definite to me.

sydney clubs havent spent a cent because we have governments doing it for us.

over the past 10 years just in sydney weve had :

1. kogarah oval - $20 million spent including seats all the way round and an extension to the main grandstand
2. cronulla - $10 million spent building a GS on one of the hills and complying with codes re. disabled access etc
3.cambelltown stadium - $20 million spent by council
4. penrith - $10 million for grand stand extensions.

and thats only the tip of the iceberg. our clubs now realize they cant rely on Poker Machine revenues and so more pressure will be placed on governments for ground improvements.

outside sydney we have :

1. townsville - $20 million in improvments for more seats
2. suncorp stadium - $300 million brand new ground to replace lang park
3. Skilled park GC - $300 million new ground as the clubs entry into NRL was conditional upon new ground
4. Newcastle - $26 million new Eastern grand stand replacing hill, $20 million works underway to replace existing western grandstand, further funds sought to complete the remaining hills

over the past 10 years or so the NRL has seen a massive improvements in its grounds.

the NRL told the Gold Coast bid team that without a new stadium they wouldnt be getting a license.

the bid team then went to council and state governments and got funding for a new ground.

without the NRL demanding a new ground for the bid team, they wouldnt have a new ground.

but hey in australia we want to see the game grow. we dont see growth as a bad thing

Whereas the RFL told Celtic all they needed was a field in Wales and voila you have a franchise. Worlds apart

the bit in bold is the important bit.

I think we have all seen that the important bit is the backing of the council/community. Without that it doesnt matter where you put a team it is destined to fail.

Just a thought, but if it does come to pass that Wakefield and Cas end up sharing a ground, will this resurrect the merger debate?

Calder may yet live after all

Having had a half built stadium for a couple of decades I wouldn't recommend it! Problem with this apporach is the ground never gets finished, or at least takes forever to happen and ends up being a bit of a mish mash in the process.

WMDC do not have any money to contribute to the stadiums, they may pay for facilities such as swimming pools that may be a part of the stadium but as for actual construction, you can forget it. Besides, if they ever become involved on a larger scale then the stadium would more then likely not happen for another 10 years.

The Castleford ground is only worth what a developer is willing to pay, the Hickson blast zone means it will be very difficult to secure planning permission for the Jungle which in turn would severely reduce the value of the land. The area is near to/on a flood plain as well (check the EA website).

BV was sold for £2.8m, which might get you an end terrace but not much more, besides Trinity have already had £1.7m of that.

Castleford have always wanted to go this alone, the development at Stanley, should it come off, is available for them to use as they wish, as it is for Featherstone. Both have chosen to decline the offer due to their own stadium plans. One stadium may end up a reality, but if all clubs played out of there I can only see one thing, a merger, with new Castleford, Featherstone and maybe Wakefield clubs formed in protest.

australian clubs share grounds and nobodies forcing them to merge

eg roosters and tigers at SFS or souths / dogs at homebush

why a shared stadium means a merger is just an internet furphy.

the economics of a shared stadium are much better than stand alone

in the current economic environment clubs will have to face up to bitter realities of compromising or being kicked out of SL

the beauty of the franchising process is widnes are a sword of damocles hangning mainly over the head of wakey, but to a lesser extent cas

sort out your ground or bye bye

I wouldn't mind a shared stadium, as long as it was in Cas, which coincidentally is also in Wakey. But the Wakey fans don't want a stadium in Cas, and Cas fans don't want one in Wakey. It's as simple as that really.

For Cas fans the solution is Wakey share at Glasshoughton
For Wakey fans the solution is Cas share at Stanley

That is why there won't be a stadium share

Ground is getting sorted, of course until steel, bricks and mortar are seen no one will believe it, but still.

So, in the RFL’s grand plan of expansion they would be more then content with two teams playing out of one stadium? Anyhow Cas fans will not watch them play in Wakefield, even though Newmarket is the same distance from Cas as it is from Wakefield, and vice versa. Wherever the share is, one club will naturally wither and the remaining club will take over/merge, with new teams forming in the original area. ala Gateshead and Sheffield.

Chose not to believe it, that’s your prerogative, but you know little of how people feel on these matters..

Moderator curls up into ball and starts whimpering!

which is probably why there will be only 1 of the teams playing in SL in 2012.

So, now that your stadium driven attempts to get rid of Wakefield and/or Cas are failing, you want to make it an attendance competition!

Make a list of all the franchise-assessed reasons why Wakefield should be the team dropped from SL and let's have a proper, reasoned look at the situation; Ground, crowds, junior development etc etc.

What's the result? Bye bye Salford!

exactly dboy. Salford are gone first.
For me it's the strength of Stade, Toulouse, Halifax or Barrow as to whether one of the Calder clubs goes

as long as there is a chance the stadium at barton gets built, they offer expansion via manchester

that leaves wakey vs cas.

cas are the stronger club.

junior development - both clubs benefit from pretty much the same junior development so it cancels out

cas much larger crowds put them in front of wakey, given neither will get their ground started within a year

if it takes relegation for people to open their eyes so be it

a ground share doesnt mean a merger.

it seems cas proposal is more advanced and closer to completion so it makes more sense for wakey to share with them

by sharing i mean on equal terms as cas, not as their tenants.

either way the distances arent very large and its just ego as to where the stadium is built

if i were a wakey fan, i wouldnt care if my club had to ground share at glasshoughten if it meant the clubs SL status remains,

I think Wakefield feel they are at a much stronger position.

Dont forget Dally the license criteria points were more complex than 'crowds and juniors'.

If we take the ten points highlighted on sky and apply them up to the end of 09 so to speak i'd have Wakey 5-4, what about anyone else?

In planning terms, Cas are in a stronger position due to them having outline PP. In funding terms Wakefield are in a stronger position because that is all accounted for and indeed if they are able to secure further funding can boost capacity to 15K.

We’ll find out this year whether or not the Stanely stadium will get the go ahead, if/when it does they can more or less crack on with construction.