Exclusive Ovals

[Mappa]

I played there in the early 2000s. I'm surpised the ground wasn't condemned. It was atrocious ! Macquarie Uni won back to back flags against Sydney Uni on that ground though, so no matter how sandy and bumpy it was, it still holds great memories. Go Kookas !

P.S - I have never once said "I'm off to the NRL tonight". Footy in Sydney is all about branding though, and the AFL believes THEY are the brand, not the game itself. It's always been, and always will be "footy" or "Aussie Rules" to me.

 

[tonk]

It's only taken a century for the worm to turn. Rugby League and Union started locking out footy teams from playing fields when the original battle of the codes actually happened.

How quickly people forget.

 

[Underarm]

Why? It's a good shorthand that identifies the sport instantly, especially up north. No need to be annoyed.

The sport isnt NRL, its Rugby League
The sport isnt NBA or NBL, Its Basketball
The sport isnt MLB, Its Baseball
The sport isnt ICC, Its Cricket.
The sport isnt AFL, Its Australian Rules

 

[SwampCreature]

Additionally I think we need to do this also in Tonga and the Pacific Islands to cement footy as the #1 sport over there.

I've been over there recently and they are just crying out for dedicated footy fields to play on.

Lol at the "subtle" rugby troll

 

[BuffaloRules]

It's only taken a century for the worm to turn. Rugby League and Union started locking out footy teams from playing fields when the original battle of the codes actually happened.

Please post a link where Rugby League ever banned any other code from playing... They never owned any fields to begin witha 100 years ago...

The only sport that banned Aussie Rules from playing on their grounds was Rugby Union.. the same sport that has banned Rugby League from playing on their grounds around the world...

 

[tonk]

Please post a link where Rugby League ever banned any other code from playing... They never owned any fields to begin witha 100 years ago...

The only sport that banned Aussie Rules from playing on their grounds was Rugby Union.. the same sport that has banned Rugby League from playing on their grounds around the world...

Fair point, rugby league barely existed when the rah rah chaps started banning Australian Football from being played on their grounds.

 

[BuffaloRules]

Fair point, rugby league barely existed when the rah rah chaps started banning Australian Football from being played on their grounds.

Exactly right.

The banning that this uninformed person from Fremantle is talking about occurred in the 19th century... Rugby League never commenced in Australia until 1908...

 

[Ice-Wolf]

The sport isnt NRL, its Rugby League
The sport isnt NBA or NBL, Its Basketball
The sport isnt MLB, Its Baseball
The sport isnt ICC, Its Cricket.
The sport isnt AFL, Its Australian Football
The sport isnt NFL, Its American Football
The sport isnt Football, Its Association Football

Edited for Accuracy

 

[grimface_87]

P.S - I have never once said "I'm off to the NRL tonight".

What's wrong with that if you are going to see the Storm? If you just said "rugby" you could have meant the Rebels as well.

I have no problem with someone saying "I am going to watch an AFL game" if they actually are, but if you are going to see local footy then that is just wrong. However, that is how the AFL choose to market the game to the Northerners so there isn't much we can do.

 

[Hoops]

They have fenced and blocked off my local soccer ground.

 

[Ice-Wolf]

They have fenced and blocked off my local soccer ground.

Thats just in the interests of public safety

 

[Hoops]

Despite having just 3000 junior players in western Sydney, councils have developed 44 AFL ovals - one oval for every 68 players

Don't they have any senior games on those ovals or are they all Juniors?

Besides 3000 Juniors isn't bad for Western Sydney. There are less than 2000 Rugby League Players in all age groups male/female for all of Victoria

 

[*Crash*]

There's a womens soccer club just near my place that doesnt allow anyone else to use their field.

Also that sign looks a bit dodgy, wouldn't be surprised if its a Rugby plant to get a story. Why wouldn't it have the clubs name on it or something in case people who see the sign wanna join up to play footy.

Not sure about that one, but I took this pic at Holroyd on Wednesday when I was there for the International Cup. Suspect this article came from a rugby league person who was either stalking the IC or our website to see what the AFL is up to with the IC. Then again maybe just coincidence.

http://www.worldfootynews.com/article.php/20110817185946754

 

[MattyVOK]

Every Oval should be AFL only!!! Keep the rubbish out

 

[Jobe Watson]

Looks like more free publicity for GWS and football in Sydney.

Keep it coming.

 

[SwampCreature]

Every Oval should be AFL only!!! Keep the rubbish out

You guys are seriously pathetic.

 

[RUNVS]

There are nearly 40 New South Welshmen in the AFL at the moment (and that number is only going to increase in the next 5 to 10 years) so it is time that Rugby League fans accept that Aussie Rules Football is here to stay.

 

[Rex]

There are nearly 40 New South Welshmen in the AFL at the moment (and that number is only going to increase in the next 5 to 10 years) so it is time that Rugby League fans accept that Aussie Rules Football is here to stay.

That comment really annoys me. We have been in Sydney for 30 years now and all of Sydney know what footy is whether they like it or not. It's not a matter of accepting us. We are part of the fabric of the city and that was only further enhanced in 1996 & 2005. The biggest sporting club in NSW is the Swans. Nobody can argue that.

 

[Cleavy]

if all their Aussie rules ovals are going to end up with rubbish surfaces like Homebush Stadium, then they are within their rights to protect their grounds

 

[Maddhew]

If you live in Melb, SA, WA etc.. you wouldn't say lets got to the Aussie Rules, I play Aussie Rules, you would just say i play football/footy.

In NSW if you said i play football/footy, people would assume you meant soccer,league or union.

Therefore it is easily clarified by saying i play AFL.

Who cares

 

[RogersResults]

The sport isnt NRL, its Rugby League
The sport isnt NBA or NBL, Its Basketball
The sport isnt MLB, Its Baseball
The sport isnt ICC, Its Cricket.
The sport isnt AFL, Its Australian Rules

AFL is not Australian "Rules". NOT. Never was.

The Australian Football League administers and plays Australian Football.

The official title of the game is Australian Football as decreed by the senior controlling body of the sport, The Australian Football League.

"Australian rules", has its orgins in a cringing Sydney establishment that saw anything Australian as second rate to anything that was produced and devised in England. "Australian rules" implies that the game is just a local variant of English football and not a unique and superior game to those from the "old country".

The AFL's predecessor in overseeing the sport, The Australian National Football Council for decades last century strove to educate the people of Australia about what it saw should be the country's national game. Early on, the name Australian Football was adopted to dispel the nonsense that the term "Australian Rules" implied.

Their campaign was never entirely successful. The term "Australian rules" was still used by lazy and ignorant journalists in all parts of the country and today is maintained by vested interests in the press in Sydney and Brisbane.

Hopefully now a few more people know better.

 

[SydneyGoose]

Aren't the ovals in question the Homes of GWS, Holroyd-Parramatta Goannas, and East-Coast Eagles? Obviously BOP is closed, I can't just walk onto the SCG whenever I like. And I thought East-Coast owned their oval, so they can do what they like. As for Holroyd, if the AFL put the money into it they should have a say, but that is a bit extreme if they are banning summer sports as well.

 

[fabulousphil]

The three grounds in the article – Gipps Rd Oval at Greystanes, Bruce Purser Reserve at Rouse Hill and Blacktown Olympic Park – were all venues used by the AFL International Cup. This weekend, all three grounds will be used for Sydney divisional finals.
The AFL have paid for hire of those grounds for a continuous period; and would have put the signs up to protect their booking. Although except when there are games or training sessions taking place, it would be hard to enforce.

If me and a few mates felt like a casual game of cricket, we can’t go down to the Oval, remove the covers from the wicket square and plant our own stumps. The cricket club has the ground continuously booked to protect the ground for the weekend’s game. This is no different.

http://www.theroar.com.au/2011/08/23/has-sporting-apartheid-arrived-in-sydney/


Pretty simple explantion really.

 

[.Shotties.]

Anyone who thinks this exclusivity is referring to people just having a casual kick or throw around on the grass is an absolute moron.

 

[Giants FC]

To use the term "sporting apartheid" is a rather disgusting, grubby cheap shot; conceived in malice and born in ignorance.

If I were to wander down to a grade cricket oval during summer with a few mates, pull up the pitch covers, put our own stumps in and start playing our own unofficial game of cricket, we wouldn't last long before getting in deep shit. The cricket club has a continuous booking, and the oval is off-limits; the pitch kept in condition for the weekend's cricket match.
This is exactly the same. The AFL has a booking over those ovals. Gipps Rd, Bruce Purser and Blacktown were booked for the AFL International Cup, and remain booked to host this weekend's Sydney AFL finals. It's not about favouring one code over another, it's about protecting grounds to honour their pre-existing reservations.

But why let the facts get in the way of a good rant? Anything to whip up a baseless paranoia that the big bad AFL is coming to eat your babies.