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NSW Premier League club Rockdale City Suns will this Sunday afternoon officially open its newly covered grandstand with the assistance of state government grant funding in March 2011 at the Rockdale Illinden Sports Centre.
The Suns will take on the red hot high flying Bonnyrigg White Eagles in its round 5 NSW Premier League clash but prior to the game kicking off, local MP for Kogarah Cherie Burton along with former NSW Premier Kristina Kennelly will do the honours in assisting with the opening of the grandstand.
As part of the fine tuning of the Suns’ wonderful facility, drainage works have also been completed with an installed pipe that runs across the field which will ensure more matches are played at the venue especially during the up and coming wet months in Sydney.
I went here last night for Rockdale City Suns v Prospect United in Round 3 of the Waratah Cup. Rockdale won 5-0. Nice use of former SCG seats. The facilities are very good for this level of football. There's some pole action (not the good kind) that gets in the way of viewing, but a proper cantilever roof may have been beyond the budget so I'm not to harsh on them.
There are club rooms to the right (north) of the photo above with four rows of seating in front. The room is licensed to accomodate 320 people, not including space for a bar and dance floor. It'd be the envy of most amateur/semi-professional clubs around. Oh, and $4 for a Tooheys Extra Dry! Bargain. Unfortunately I already booked a venue for my wedding.
I went to see a Winter Super League match between St George and Sydney Uni a couple of weeks ago at St George Stadium. Was a very sorry sight. I don't see why Saints couldn't/wouldn't ground share with Rockdale at the Illinden Centre, considering the two grounds are within walking distance.
A slight annoyance, the "grand" stand that was covered this year was only built in 2010. As with Jubilee, it peeves me when two builds/upgrades are done separately within a few years. A bit of vision could ensure that these things are done at once, which is generally cheaper and provides a better result. However I suppose that doesn't maximize political gain for the ribbon cutters.
It's very political, obviously. Groundsharing raises issues of control, etc. These emotional things often get in the way of what is a sound business move. I udnerstand RCS use Illenden for a lot of communtiy activities on non-match days acting as a de facto Macedonian community centre. St George will never get a replacement grandstand of that size but if their existing, condemned stand was replaced by something similar to what RCS have it would serve them suitably.
