I'm starting to think that as well. As good as it is that they are finally doing something with this gift of a floodplain, there are deeper structural problems that need to be addressed.

The Daily Telegraph's sports editor Phil Rothfield is a massive Sharks fan. Always talks them up. His report today says that the Sharks will get $2m up front and projected revenue of $1m p.a. ongoing when this delivers coin. Even if that $1m is adjusted for CPI, it's only the equivalent of an extra major sponsor and does not make up the shortfall in revenue Cronulla has against other clubs. I.e. they turn over way more than $1m less than other clubs. And Rothfield says they are $12m in the red.

I think things are so delicately poised that the slightest delay in construction or projected revenue could send things tits up. The land could flood, we could have a very wet winter delaying construction or people may not be in a big rush to buy/set up business in Woolooware, so far away from the main commercial axis of Kingsway.

As always, the devil is in the detail. A lot of people will read headlines that have "$300m" in them and assume the Sharks will be swimming in money for decades to come. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The simple fact is that the Sharks have a very limited audience. This would have been fine if the NRL had remained a suburban Sydney comp, but the league has outgrown that. I think Manly are in the same boat - they just haven't had quite the same level of scrutiny...yet.

It's more than the size of your catchment. The Roosters have a smaller catchment than anybody yet nobody talks about them as being threatened. They have a goods business model. They have survived some pretty low times in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 1990 they even took games to Henson Park, that shithole, instead of the SFS but they picked themselves up from that with the help of some millionaires.

I've always thought of this development as very Graham Park-esque.

Meaning Cronulla will 'merge' with their most hated rivals and then quietly slip from view whilst the ground built for them is taken over by an A-League team? Maybe Sydney FC could play there instead of the SFS?

do you hate Sydney FC that much?

It's a shame no journos have addressed the points above in any serious detail. People are making it out to be the big saving of the club when it is nothing more than a short reprieve.

No, its not about hating SFC, its a rejoinder to the comment about Graham park, which I believed to be the fiasco regarding the North Sydney Bears DRLFC -> Northern Eagles, leaving the wonderful Bluetongue Stadium with only the CC Mariners as the senior tenant. Anyone that knows anything about football in Australia knows SFC is a small (almost imperceptible) blip on the "hate radar" a long way behind those tards from the bubble dome! If Sydney could actually draw a crowd and win as regularly as they believe they should, they might emerge from the shadow:)

I think Bazza's point is that nobody outside the Shore actually goes there. SFC's crowds figure are in enough trouble already without inflicting this idea on them...

Thank you, so does that mean only Shire residents currently go to Sharks games? is there no PT to the stadium? What about 'away' fans

It is one of the hardest grounds in Sydney to get to for 80% of Sydneysiders. I would estimate that 80% of people in Sydney are over 30 minutes drive from the ground

1. It is at the southern extermity of the city
2. It isn't walking distance to anything of note
3. The viewing at the ground itself is mostly poor
4. The entry prices are higher than for better grounds
5. It is about 15 minutes walk to the nearset railway station
6. It isn't even the best location for people that live in the shire

Does anyone know why they built there then.. the only available land? Have the above reasons significantly contributed to Cronulla's financial shakiness? I'm particularly interested in the reason "4. The entry prices are higher than for better grounds"I know the AFL regulates the cost of entry to all games..does the NRL not do this? seems strange/different to me.

btw thanks for the previous info.

I don't know why they built there. Haven't read their club history. They played their first season at Sutherland Oval which had a grandstand in one corner but was otherwise undeveloped with a lack of parking. Endeavour Field where they play now, allowed them to own property, develop a rectangular ground, adjoining Leagues Club and car park. In that sense it did have its plusses compared to Sutherland. Also, at the time, most development was on the railway line so the location wasn't that bad for locals. Now, a lot of new suburbs in the catchment are west and south of Sutherland, which is away from Woolooware. I don't think a new ground is the answer. The place is fine for their home fans. When they've played well, people have attended.

Entry prices are a couple of bucks dearer than other venues but nothing too outrageous. Why it seems a rip off is that you are paying slightly more for a view that is slightly worse. I remember going there in high school and they were the only ground that didn't have a student concession. 16 year olds paid the same as adults. Don't know what the story is now.

Which are all reasons why Cronulla do not have a long term future in the NRL. They can't possibly grow their 'business', which means they will fall further and further behind all the other teams.

LOL, where did you get this?
Go and have a look at the wildly varying admission prices around the country. Footy in Melbourne is generally much cheaper than elsewhere.