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kaypee
All Australian
From a policy point of view the NSW govt would consider this: AFL crowds over the past 30 years have effectively quadrupled, and the code invests in the community, even when the community is hostile. THere is no reason to think AFL won't grow still. rugby on the other hand simply says crowds will come if you build us a flash stadium. This is nonsense. I wouldn't invest my money in that, and nor should the NSW gubbermintI don't know what to make of this. Is the AFL being crafty and sneaky in trying to screw RL over? As others have mentioned above, the SCG is more than ample for the Swans, as is spotless for the Giants. There are very few occasions where you would expect an AFL match in Sydney to significantly beat a capacity SCG (i.e. >50k). A Sydney Derby in a final, and Swans final, probably a prelim, against a big Victorian team. These scenarios would eventuate once in a blue moon. Yes, there Swans did get a pair of 70k+ crowds last decade, but those days seem a long time ago now.
GWS chairman, and chair of the SCG Trust of course, Tony Shepherd, has also long advocated keeping ANZ in its oval form, so I think you are right about saving the dollars for completing the upgrades to the SCG (which I assume will bump capacity to 50k+).
With Channel 9 and Foxtel actively pushing for more games in smaller stadiums, not to mention NRL crowds dropping DESPITE more games being played in large stadia, how on earth is an upgrade to ANZ justified?