Egate Stadium (never built)

[Rob]

Like the training facility the NSW govt funded for GWS that they abandoned weeks into their first season?

LOL, you mean the little ground in Blacktown? That continues to get a shitload of use, including as home ground of GWS reserves team and plenty of cricket. There's a shield match scheduled for the ground later this month.

Are you suggesting that particular facility is somehow underused? Or that other sports, which are also adequately catered for as part of the complex, didn't receive government funding to pay for their respective facilities there?

I'm not even sure what your point is.

[Adelaide_United_Red]

Like the training facility the NSW govt funded for GWS that they abandoned weeks into their first season?

LOL, you mean the little ground in Blacktown? That continues to get a shitload of use, including as home ground of GWS reserves team and plenty of cricket. There's a shield match scheduled for the ground later this month.

Are you suggesting that particular facility is somehow underused? Or that other sports, which are also adequately catered for as part of the complex, didn't receive government funding to pay for their respective facilities there?

I'm not even sure what your point is.

Look, whatever spin you want to give it, the fact is it was built for GWS's first team to use on the NSW taxpayers coin and the Giants didn’t even spend a season there. AFL fans are always so quick to cry out when the round ball or Rugby has any money spent on it, but the fact remains, Aussie rules is often a beneficiary of similar amounts of funding, with barely a fraction of the participation numbers and zero of the international connections that football and rugby can offer to govts.

[Boba Fett]

Look, whatever spin you want to give it, the fact is it was built for GWS's first team to use on the NSW taxpayers coin and the Giants didn’t even spend a season there.

Nope, that's simply not true. GWS used the facility, that's true, but it was not developed for them.

[Adelaide_United_Red]

Look, whatever spin you want to give it, the fact is it was built for GWS's first team to use on the NSW taxpayers coin and the Giants didn’t even spend a season there.

Nope, that's simply not true. GWS used the facility, that's true, but it was not developed for them.

So the NSW govt spent million(s) upgrading/building a facility for an AFL reserves team and a district cricket team? sounds fishy to me.

[Boba Fett]

Look, whatever spin you want to give it, the fact is it was built for GWS's first team to use on the NSW taxpayers coin and the Giants didn’t even spend a season there.

Nope, that's simply not true. GWS used the facility, that's true, but it was not developed for them.

So the NSW govt spent million(s) upgrading/building a facility for an AFL reserves team and a district cricket team? sounds fishy to me.

It's called pork-barreling!

That site has been earmarked for sports facilities for years. The Olympics kickstarted it into action. If the World Cup bid had come off there would have been a rectangular stadium added to the complex as well. Still might happen some time in the (long way off) future I guess.

And as Rob said earlier, the whole complex gets used regularly by a whole range of users. In some ways it's actually a far better spend of government money than on fancy stadiums, because the community actually uses it regularly.

[Adelaide_United_Red]

Pork Barreling??

No wonder New South Fails is broke arse poor.

[Rob]

Look, whatever spin you want to give it, the fact is it was built for GWS's first team to use on the NSW taxpayers coin and the Giants didn’t even spend a season there. AFL fans are always so quick to cry out when the round ball or Rugby has any money spent on it, but the fact remains, Aussie rules is often a beneficiary of similar amounts of funding, with barely a fraction of the participation numbers and zero of the international connections that football and rugby can offer to govts.

Have you actually seen the venue you're talking about? It was built predominantly as a community facility for both cricket and football (who also kicked in a couple of million each - you don't mention that), mainly to be used as a 2nd tier ground - and it is. It hosts state level cricket (both mens and womens), NAB Cup and NEAFL matches. It also has hosted national underage football carnivals, and I believe grade cricket is also played there. Hell, cricket has use of the venue 6 months of the year! How the hell was GWS supposed to use it as their full time training headquarters when that was always the case? I think you've been sucked in again AUR.

And you seem to be confused about the relationship between the need for spectator infrastructure and participation numbers. In that you think that there is one. Athletics has huge participation figures, so we should spend a billion on a 100,000 seater to host the city to surf? Stadiums are built for spectators, not players.

[the crow]

Look, whatever spin you want to give it, the fact is it was built for GWS's first team to use on the NSW taxpayers coin and the Giants didn’t even spend a season there.

Nope, that's simply not true. GWS used the facility, that's true, but it was not developed for them.

That is straight up bullshit.....

[Adelaide_United_Red]

Look, whatever spin you want to give it, the fact is it was built for GWS's first team to use on the NSW taxpayers coin and the Giants didn’t even spend a season there.

Nope, that's simply not true. GWS used the facility, that's true, but it was not developed for them.

That is straight up bullshit.....

Ahh thought so[/12th man taxi driver voice]

[yob]

If GWS plays at Blacktown it's because it's a world class sporting complex and an incursion in to the heart of rugby league.

If GWS doesn't play at Blacktown it's because it's a quaint facility for the local community.

[Simmo79]

It's a district cricket ground. There's scores of them in Sydney and Blacktown didn't have one till this one was built. It's important to NSWAFL because most other fields in Sydney aren't large enough for anything other than 15-a-side AF games.

[NRLandMore]

I live in the area & had the privilege of attending the opening of the stadium. It was definitely built for the AFL with cricket jumping into the planning late as they saw an opportunity. It was also built in mind of being GWS' home ground and to be used more than it has been used.

I believe, can't be 100%, that funds were taken away from the ground about halfway through its progress when it became apparent that GWS weren't committed to "their" community.

[Rob]

I live in the area & had the privilege of attending the opening of the stadium. It was definitely built for the AFL with cricket jumping into the planning late as they saw an opportunity. It was also built in mind of being GWS' home ground and to be used more than it has been used.

It was built originally as a joint venture between the AFL and Cricket Australia - both of which committed funding to it. The original idea probably came from the AFL, although bear in mind that the ground was planned before GWS came about. And in any case, cricket has rights to the ground for half the year - if it was meant to be GWS home ground, what were they going to do in summer? That's where AUR's argument completely falls to pieces.

Fair dinkum, you only have to have a look at it to know that the ground was never intended to be any sort of major stadium. It could be compared with Tony Ireland stadium in Townsville - i'm surprised AUR hasn't had a rant about that as well.

[QOUTE]
I believe, can't be 100%, that funds were taken away from the ground about halfway through its progress when it became apparent that GWS weren't committed to "their" community.[/quote]

Complete rubbish. I've never seen any plans for the ground greater than what was built. There was talk that the ground could be developed to host regular AFL games but nothing ever went beyond that, let alone funding granted for it to be removed.

I'm really not sure where you and AUR are going with this. Are you suggesting this ground is somehow underutilised?

[yob]

GWS are taking over the central west of Sydney and Canberra, and the GWS reserves are taking over Blacktown.

[NRLandMore]

It was meant to GWS' home ground during the winter and used for local cricket (second field) and the main field used for some Sheffield sheild games and women's games. However, what's been provided is an expensive peice of unneeded metal that's underused. A great investment by the taxpayers that!

p.s Job is funny.