News Gabba Upgrade & Olympics News

[Section 5]

There'd have to be a car park down there, can't see myself getting the train and bus down there every fortnight for 4 years.

I shall assume you have not been to Carrara.
As i and many others have mentioned it is a big hassle to get to and from the ground.
Driving down the M1 and then choosing the next step in the journey.
Then you have free rail and bus shuttles if that is more convenient or somehow quicker.
But taking everything into consideration i think it is the best option for members and the club.

Regarding parking, remember we would be the home team.
The Suns (home team) members get free parking in the Blue carpark according to their website. See below.
Lions people pay for that same Blue carpark when we play away. I have only parked there once.
I believe the Suns members can pay to get into the Red car park but i am not certain. A Suns BF poster may be able to clarify.
However, the Red carpark looks too large to me to be just a players and VIP carpark.

There is also a big carpark in the "Gold Coast Sports & Leasure Centre" but i think it is only for those using the Centre.
I know of one other paid carpark ($10) but it is about a 12-15-minute walk from the ground in Chisholm Road near Red Rooster.
I used to park for free in Chisholm Road but last year the council added that road into the 15-minute precinct parking limit area.
I am sure there are other paid carparks that BF posters will know about.

Image below taken from the Suns website.
The second image from Google Maps showing the cars parked in the Red carpark. There must not have been a game on that day as no cars in Blue carpark.
In the last image the Nerang rail station is circled in green. According to Google Maps it is a walk of 2 km taking 27 minutes.

I drive from Everton Park on the Northside of Brisbane and have tried various parking spots over the years.
For first time visitors i think the easiest is to drive down and park near the rail station and get the shuttle buses.
Would recommend that over rail from Brisbane unless you are drinking and have no designated driver.
Or pay for parking.
................................................................................................................................................................

Parking is free in the Blue Carpark and there are free regular bus, train and light rail services for all ticket holders from 4 hours pre to 4 hours post game.

 

[MSB ROYS]

We need a fleet of hovercrafts to go from Nerang Station to the stadium.

 

[CarterS]

I shall assume you have not been to Carrara.
As i and many others have mentioned it is a big hassle to get to and from the ground.
Driving down the M1 and then choosing the next step in the journey.
Then you have free rail and bus shuttles if that is more convenient or somehow quicker.
But taking everything into consideration i think it is the best option for members and the club.

Regarding parking, remember we would be the home team.
The Suns (home team) members get free parking in the Blue carpark according to their website. See below.
Lions people pay for that same Blue carpark when we play away. I have only parked there once.
I believe the Suns members can pay to get into the Red car park but i am not certain. A Suns BF poster may be able to clarify.
However, the Red carpark looks too large to me to be just a players and VIP carpark.

There is also a big carpark in the "Gold Coast Sports & Leasure Centre" but i think it is only for those using the Centre.
I know of one other paid carpark ($10) but it is about a 12-15-minute walk from the ground in Chisholm Road near Red Rooster.
I used to park for free in Chisholm Road but last year the council added that road into the 15-minute precinct parking limit area.
I am sure there are other paid carparks that BF posters will know about.

Image below taken from the Suns website.
The second image from Google Maps showing the cars parked in the Red carpark. There must not have been a game on that day as no cars in Blue carpark.
In the last image the Nerang rail station is circled in green. According to Google Maps it is a walk of 2 km taking 27 minutes.

I drive from Everton Park on the Northside of Brisbane and have tried various parking spots over the years.
For first time visitors i think the easiest is to drive down and park near the rail station and get the shuttle buses.
Would recommend that over rail from Brisbane unless you are drinking and have no designated driver.
Or pay for parking.
................................................................................................................................................................

Parking is free in the Blue Carpark and there are free regular bus, train and light rail services for all ticket holders from 4 hours pre to 4 hours post game.

View attachment 1864295
View attachment 1864316

I have been down there half a dozen times since the Suns started - each time I drove and caught the train. Thanks for the extensive information firstly.

The fact that this has ended up being the so called best option just shows what a disaster this whole thing has become. You said yourself that many people have said it's a big hassle getting there and back.

Personally I'd probably switch to a 3 game membership or something. But you don't want to lose access to a good seat when the new one opens.

I just find it insanity that the government makes a big song and dance about the RNA announcement and then includes a little detail in there about how they're only paying for 1/3rd of it. They want the credit without putting in the work. Lions have been asking for a solution for a long time now - here's a half baked solution at the very last minute that you have to pay tens of millions for.

 

[SRH17]

Has Palaszczuk actually ever been to a Lions game at the Gabba or ever shown any interest in the Lions?

If it was the Broncos being displaced you would have seen a solution in place a long time ago.

 

[M Malice]

I have missed only a handful of Lions games at the Gabba this century, if we end up at Metripong I will likely shift to a 3 game membership.... unless full season members get preferential seating arrangements at the new Gabba. If that was the case I would just wear the extra cost(can't take the money with you when you cark it) and see how I feel with the horrid travel factor as to how many games I would go to.

And I am on the inner Southside of Brisbane, Northsiders would be furious with a Metripong solution I would think.

I can not for the life of me see how it makes any sense for a Brisbane sporting team to play 4 years of "home" games in another city.

 

[Section 5]

Wherever the venue ends up being i will go assuming i can get a seat.

I know one thing for certain.
I will hate sitting outside exposed to the conditions.
I would much prefer sitting in an air-conditioned car for 2 hours total being the additional travel time and then sit in relative comfort.

 

[M Malice]

Wherever the venue ends up being i will go assuming i can get a seat.

I know one thing for certain.
I will hate sitting outside exposed to the conditions.
I would much prefer sitting in an air-conditioned car for 2 hours total being the additional travel time and then sit in relative comfort.

If we do end up on the Gold Coast I hope we are going well and most of our games are at night as the Sun is horrendous at Metricon, the whole eastern side of the Ground and the northern end is in full sun.

 

[Cubs2Lions]

If we do end up on the Gold Coast I hope we are going well and most of our games are at night as the Sun is horrendous at Metricon, the whole eastern side of the Ground and the northern end is in full sun.

 

[Section 5]

The Qld. Government announcement made one thing very clear.
They are not going to fully fund a $130 million mostly temporary AFL/Cricket venue.

With that decision made the other stakeholders being AFL Lions/Cricket/BCC & RNA need to decide quickly if they can afford the costs.
To me the answer is clearly no for the Lions and most likely the others too.

Should the Lions and Cricket decide to play politics to win the day they are moving into an area way out of their league.

 

[Section 5]

If we do end up on the Gold Coast I hope we are going well and most of our games are at night as the Sun is horrendous at Metricon, the whole eastern side of the Ground and the northern end is in full sun.

Agree, one of my other posts mentions just twilight and night games submission to the AFL.
To be fair there is a lot of sun exposed seats at The Gabba in a daytime game too.
For some unknown reason the Suns regularly request afternoon then twilight games as a preference.

 

[Cubs2Lions]

For some unknown reason the Suns regularly request afternoon then twilight games as a preference.

To be fair, afternoon games are usually better for families to attend (providing non-sport commitments) than night games especially at a stadium with lack of quality of transport options.

Also GWS usually preference Saturday twilight home matches in Sydney, as it’s more beneficial for families and people to come watch than any other time (even if their attendances are still low).

In saying that, the sun (pun intended) can be quite an annoying factor for any ground when watching sport live.

 

[M Malice]

We were in direct sunlight at the Grand Final and apart from the heat it wasn't that annoying, the sun was overhead unlike at Metricon where the setting sun is directly in your eyes.

I'll stop being a whining old man now.

 

[briztoon]

If it was the Broncos being displaced you would have seen a solution in place a long time ago.

Much easier to find a rectangle field, with a large enough stadium in Brisbane. QEII.

 

[Section 5]

I think we need to take off our AFL & Lions hats for a moment.
Review what the Lions have gained funding wise from Governments over the last 5 years. And what's coming in the future.

People involved in Rugby, Soccer, Baseball, Netball, Basketball would be chocking on their cornflakes when reading how badly the Lions will be affected for 4 years.

They will be thinking or saying something like:
We can only dream of being in the same position as the Lions find themselves in.

The Lions and AFL only put in $10 million of the $82 million cost for BHA.
The balance came from Ipswich City Council, Qld. Government and the Federal Government.
They will get more State and Federal funding for ground improvements for Olympics Modern Pentathlon.
The Lions now own quite an asset and only contributed 12.2% of the costs. Possibly only 6.2% allowing for the AFL contribution.

Lions are getting a new $2.7 billion state of the art arena to play future games.

There is an existing AFL ground just 1 hour 15 minutes away. Thats about 50 minutes x 2 more than travelling to The Gabba.
Surely professional athletes and fans can put up with that for 4 years knowing the end prize.

The Lions are now complaining about partially funding an RNA upgrade because they don't want to travel to Carrara.
That RNA upgrade includes temporary seating which will be pulled down after 4 years. What a waste of money.
Looks like they expected the taxpayer & rate payer to contribute another big sum to get a temporary venue.
I think they have received enough of taxpayers/ratepayers money recently.

 

[Billy ray]

Re blue carpark - im a silver 11 (well 9 or 10) home game member. Blue carpark isnt free.

 

[Elixuh]

Re blue carpark - im a silver 11 (well 9 or 10) home game member. Blue carpark isnt free.

Isn’t it like 10 bucks? That’s cheaper than admission to Draculas

 

[Teen Wolf]

So if the BCC, AFL, cricket etc don't stump up the cash to get to the $137m, no redevelopment of the showgrounds takes place, and the Olympics' equestrian events will just be held in Stockholm? Yeahhh didn't think so.

The Qld. Government announcement made one thing very clear.
They are not going to fully fund a $130 million mostly temporary AFL/Cricket venue.

With that decision made the other stakeholders being AFL Lions/Cricket/BCC & RNA need to decide quickly if they can afford the costs.
To me the answer is clearly no for the Lions and most likely the others too.

Should the Lions and Cricket decide to play politics to win the day they are moving into an area way out of their league.

Only one mob is playing politics, and their position is not as strong as you seem to think. We saw yesterday how flimsy the state govt's hand is with Hinchliffe resorting to dumb props.

Two things are obvious: 1) the onus is on the state govt to ensure the venue is upgraded for the Olympics, and 2) the venue doesn't need a $137m upgrade to temporarily host AFL and cricket.

Also, the AFL and cricket don't need to "decide quickly if they can afford the costs". It's already known that cricket is broke, and of course the AFL isn't going to pay for something that cricket gets for free.

 

[Section 5]

Re blue carpark - im a silver 11 (well 9 or 10) home game member. Blue carpark isnt free.

Thanks for that i got the information on a google search that came up as indicated on my post and was a Suns site. Maybe many years ago. Did it again see below. Mentioned Heritage Bank so i assumed it was current.




Just had a look at the Suns membership Platinum, Gold & Silver and yes there is no free parking included in any package.
Thanks, i will edit my original post.

Do you know if suns members can also park in the Red carpark

 

[Section 5]

So if the BCC, AFL, cricket etc don't stump up the cash to get to the $137m, no redevelopment of the showgrounds takes place, and the Olympics' equestrian events will just be held in Stockholm? Yeahhh didn't think so.


Only one mob is playing politics, and their position is not as strong as you seem to think. We saw yesterday how flimsy the state govt's hand is with Hinchliffe resorting to dumb props.

Two things are obvious: 1) the onus is on the state govt to ensure the venue is upgraded for the Olympics, and 2) the venue doesn't need a $137m upgrade to temporarily host AFL and cricket.

Also, the AFL and cricket don't need to "decide quickly if they can afford the costs". It's already known that cricket is broke, and of course the AFL isn't going to pay for something that cricket gets for free.

It is an election year.
The Qld government will eat the Lions and AFL alive for being so greedy after what they have both received and will get in the future.

Funds are already allocated for the Equestrian upgrade. So, your first paragraph is just nowhere near correct.
Nothing to do with the additional funds for the AFL/Cricket upgrade.

Regarding the cost i have no idea if that is reasonable or farfetched.
Basically, the Government does not want to do it, but stakeholders have pushed for a Brisbane venue.
The Lions and Cricket can spend money and get their own plans and budget if they wish but it won't come cheap or change anything.
That will just be adding another costs and delay to a project neither want to pay for or can afford.

 

[Billy ray]

Thanks for that i got the information on a google search that came up as indicated on my post and was a Suns site. Maybe many years ago. Did it again see below. Mentioned Heritage Bank so i assumed it was current.

View attachment 1864584


Just had a look at the Suns membership Platinum, Gold & Silver and yes there is no free parking included in any package.
Thanks, i will edit my original post.

Do you know if suns members can also park in the Red carpark

Not sure re red

I personally drive and park near nerang station and walk the 25 mins. Allows me to listen to a game that is usually on before SUNS game and then after the game allows me to cool down and vent before driving (so i dont drive angry after getting shafted by umpiring).
But I realise not everyone can walk that far particularly if warm weather too.

 

[M Malice]

Not sure re red

I personally drive and park near nerang station and walk the 25 mins. Allows me to listen to a game that is usually on before SUNS game and then after the game allows me to cool down and vent before driving (so i dont drive angry after getting shafted by umpiring).
But I realise not everyone can walk that far particularly if warm weather too.

Early 2011 footage of Billy walking back to his car.

 

[Billy ray]

Early 2011 footage of Billy walking back to his car.

You were there!

 

[Teen Wolf]

It is an election year.
The Qld government will eat the Lions and AFL alive for being so greedy after what they have both received and will get in the future.

I don't doubt Annastacia Puddingguts' eating ability. But it seems to me that if we're worried about the AFL and cricket looking greedy, your alternate proposal of asking for another $45m to upgrade Carrara is just as problematic.

Funds are already allocated for the Equestrian upgrade. So, your first paragraph is just nowhere near correct.
Nothing to do with the additional funds for the AFL/Cricket upgrade.

The upgrades absolutely are all related (short of the new floodlights and drop-in pitch, both of which footy can survive without), that's the point. Regardless of cost and who funds it, the result will be an improved 130m x 170m surface with 20k seats and new broadcasting facilities. This is happening, and any talk about Carrara as an option now is a bit delusional.

 

[Section 5]

May as well put up the membership seating for the Suns and see what they classify as Platinum, Gold, Silver etc.
The members grandstand is on the left. The sun sets behind the grandstand.
Had trouble finding the expensive Green Platinum section. On left section 133.
I am assuming the dark grey sections is for opposition team supporters.
If we end up at Carrara, they would be reclassified to mostly a Lions membership category.

It looks like the light grey sections on the left in the members grandstand are some corporate sections.
The large top light grey area is marked as:
Corporate Facilities, Chairman’s Club, The Lounge Corporate Suites, Pirate Life Deck, The Rooftop.

Below the full season prices and category for season 2024
A couple of others but not in detail.
Flexi 12 adult from $299
6 Game adult from $145
3 game adult from $115

Membership Category	Adult Price	Concession Price	Child Price
Platinum	$809	$809	$809
Gold	$559	$459	$355
Silver	$309	$255	$205
Bronze looks like is now GA	$215	$175	$142
Sunscreamers	$215	$175	$142

 

[Section 5]

I don't doubt Annastacia Puddingguts' eating ability. But it seems to me that if we're worried about the AFL and cricket looking greedy, your alternate proposal of asking for another $45m to upgrade Carrara is just as problematic.


The upgrades absolutely are all related (short of the new floodlights and drop-in pitch, both of which footy can survive without), that's the point. Regardless of cost and who funds it, the result will be an improved 130m x 170m surface with 20k seats and new broadcasting facilities. This is happening, and any talk about Carrara as an option now is a bit delusional.

My last reply to you on this subject as a visitor to the Lions board.

You need to read peoples post properly before making statements.

You don't appear to understand the funding model regarding the Brisbane Olympic Games.