Home Ground - Showground vs SCG

[The J Dog]

I like really watching the Giants, but I don't like going to Olympic Park, for any event, not just footy. I live in the inner west and much prefer the SCG. Not the least of which because it's quicker and cheaper to get to and has a much better vibe.

Given the crowds at the Showgrounds are not great, would fans prefer to play games at the SCG? And I know it's the opposite end from the west, but Olympic Park is in the middle of nowhere and doesn't represent a home fans base. There are a couple of teams in Melbourne playing well away from their home suburb - St Kilda, Essendon - and it's the best option for them.

I think it's time to pull the pin on the nuclear bomb site as the Giants' home ground.

 

[Colonial]

I like really watching the Giants, but I don't like going to Olympic Park, for any event, not just footy. I live in the inner west and much prefer the SCG. Not the least of which because it's quicker and cheaper to get to and has a much better vibe.

Quicker for an easty. Not for anyone else.
Cheaper? No. Vibe?

Given the crowds at the Showgrounds are not great,

If the club can’t be full time up here why would those that aren’t all in already buy in.
Crowds would be much worse at the SCG.

would fans prefer to play games at the SCG? And I know it's the opposite end from the west, but Olympic Park is in the middle of nowhere and doesn't represent a home fans base.

Actually it has the best transport options of any ground in Sydney with more to come.
Plenty of options for food and drink.
The stadium does represent as our home ground. We don’t share it.

There are a couple of teams in Melbourne playing well away from their home suburb - St Kilda, Essendon - and it's the best option for them.

They have had 100 years of history at being at their home.
Sydney isn’t Melbourne, can’t just have a different name and colours and say “we are different”.

I think it's time to pull the pin on the nuclear bomb site as the Giants' home ground.

Kiss my ass.

As your a Brisbane fan with a stadium whose roof keeps falling off you probably shouldn’t judge other clubs grounds.

 

[Bjo187]

Olympic park is gonna boom shortly. With the new train, tram and 25k residents on the door step and the giants are the main party that could cash in on this. They do need a local grassroots club formed in there and a pub or the likes to engage with this new community close to the stadium though, I hope they have plans in place for this.

I do think the scg could be used during that Easter break period and potentially if they get outta Canberra for a few weeks per season, as they may pick up some scg members as new fans. I think long term you wouldn't wanna move any closer to the city though and Olympic park as the home ground will be a good option given time.

 

[The J Dog]

Quicker for an easty. Not for anyone else.
Cheaper? No. Vibe?

If the club can’t be full time up here why would those that aren’t all in already buy in.
Crowds would be much worse at the SCG.

Actually it has the best transport options of any ground in Sydney with more to come.
Plenty of options for food and drink.
The stadium does represent as our home ground. We don’t share it.

They have had 100 years of history at being at their home.
Sydney isn’t Melbourne, can’t just have a different name and colours and say “we are different”.


Kiss my ass.

As your a Brisbane fan with a stadium whose roof keeps falling off you probably shouldn’t judge other clubs grounSCGds.

SCG would be quicker for anyone east of Leichhardt, also for anyone on the North Shore - there are far more AFL and more GWS fans in these areas then there are in western Sydney. You do realise they don't put on the direct train service to Homebush for GWS games? It has to change over at Lidcombe. Once the Sydney West metro opens in 2032 then you can talk.

Average attendance in 2024 12,028. In 2019 it was 12,411. I guarantee if they played at the SCG it would be well above that, probably a low 20k average, which would be a massive difference and help the club get some traction IN SYDNEY.

 

[dlanod]

SCG would be quicker for anyone east of Leichhardt, also for anyone on the North Shore

Well yes. That's the eastern suburbs.

there are far more AFL and more GWS fans in these areas then there are in western Sydney.

Well no. They're all Swans supporters. I've met 100s of them in the junior comps.

You do realise they don't put on the direct train service to Homebush for GWS games? It has to change over at Lidcombe. Once the Sydney West metro opens in 2032 then you can talk.

You do realise that next to none of us go to Olympic Park from Central? We come from Parramatta or Dural or Penrith or Castle Hill. We're not coming from Surry Hills or Redfern or the CBD.

Average attendance in 2024 12,028. In 2019 it was 12,411. I guarantee if they played at the SCG it would be well above that, probably a low 20k average, which would be a massive difference and help the club get some traction IN SYDNEY.

If it was at the SCG it would the AFL throwing up the white flag on ever winning over western Sydney in an instant. It sounds like you have no idea how parochial Sydney can be, and especially western Sydney. The only way I'd believe that guarantee was if you were willing to stump up the tens of millions of dollars GWS would walk away from by giving up their current niche by playing to smaller crowds at a ground where they'd be subservient to the other tenant.

 

[Colonial]

SCG would be quicker for anyone east of Leichhardt, also for anyone on the North Shore

Well the majority of the population we want to buy in are west of Leichhardt. Also where the majority of the population of Sydney lives.

- there are far more AFL and more GWS fans in these areas then there are in western Sydney.

Not the point and no there isn’t.
I’ll give you a hint. It’s in the name.

You do realise they don't put on the direct train service to Homebush for GWS games? It has to change over at Lidcombe. Once the Sydney West metro opens in 2032 then you can talk.

I do. Changes nothing to what I’ve said.

Average attendance in 2024 12,028. In 2019 it was 12,411.

Little pandemic happened in between.

I guarantee if they played at the SCG it would be well above that, probably a low 20k average, which would be a massive difference and help the club get some traction IN SYDNEY.

Rubbish. No chance of us getting 20k plus at the SCG, don’t think they will let us play just the Swans for the H&A season.

We aren’t Sydney, we are Western Sydney, or supposed to be. A growing club in a massive new region.
We go all in the fans will over time.

 

[Colonial]

The J Dog you may be coming at this with a good heart, if so I apologise for going hard, although not as hard as usual.

But you need to look at the history of the sport here, the history of all sport in Sydney and the way Sydney is setup as a whole.
Also what the club is supposed to be about, and for me it has forgotten/abandoned in many ways. Generational growth in the most populated region in this country.

Ad a poll and see the response.

 

[Giant Gutsache]

I like really watching the Giants, but I don't like going to Olympic Park, for any event, not just footy. I live in the inner west and much prefer the SCG. Not the least of which because it's quicker and cheaper to get to and has a much better vibe.

Given the crowds at the Showgrounds are not great, would fans prefer to play games at the SCG? And I know it's the opposite end from the west, but Olympic Park is in the middle of nowhere and doesn't represent a home fans base. There are a couple of teams in Melbourne playing well away from their home suburb - St Kilda, Essendon - and it's the best option for them.

I think it's time to pull the pin on the nuclear bomb site as the Giants' home ground.

GWS (& GCS) exist primarily for the tv rights revenue. Anything else is secondary.
I rarely miss a game at Homebush despite finding it a pain in the arse to get to. The experience there makes it worth it.
The SCG is a relic that marketers have romanticised to the point that regulars celebrate its shortcomings. The atmosphere is great when the house is full, but take 10,000 from a Giants home game and I don’t fancy the likely vibe.
The Swans relocated to Sydney in 1982 and Channel 7 was paying the wages of Dermott Brereton to play for Sydney in 1994 when the average Swans home crowd was less than 10,000. Give it time.

 

[Giant YoYo]

Echoing what others have said.

I can understand why playing at the SCG might seem like an attractive option to boost the Giants attendance. While Olympic Park is more or less currently unloved by Sydneysiders and Sydneysiders don't particularly like travelling to Olympic Park, the strategic value and immense potential of this location should not be overlooked.

IMO, Olympic Park is not being utilised to its full potential but it has massive potential. The planned developments will be a game-changer, transforming the precinct and its vibe rapidly. IMO, the club should remain at Olympic Park and continue to ignore any calls to move to the SCG.

The AFL wants new footy fans, greater participation in footy and many more TVs turning on to watch footy in Western Sydney/across Sydney, among other things. It's unlikely we'll get that if the club is playing at the SCG.

Sydney Olympic Park:

• will be one of the most connected regions outside of Sydney CBD once the transport infrastructure is built. The beauty is, it's currently being built so it's not some pie in the sky stuff.
• Will be incredibly quick and easy to get to via the metro, approximately 3 minutes from Parramatta and 15 minutes or so from Sydney CBD. The region is likely to become incredibly embraced by Sydneysiders.
• Is more or less much closer to geographical centre of Sydney, the Giants/Olympic Park catchment radiates outwards and combined with transport infrastructure will have a large catchment that is reasonably easy to get to. The entire precinct and attendance rates of Sydneysiders will change
• Venues will open up as the infrastructure is built, it'll become an entertainment precinct in its own right. For anyone that remembers the Entertainment Quarter before, it was incredibly quiet and the opening of the tram has only further spurred its growth as an entertainment precinct. Sydney Olympic Park will likely become many times bigger than that and Sydneysiders will likely attend events regularly and be much more likely to attend footy games there. Darling Park, has also seen a revitalisation and major changes. Similar will occur in Olympic Park
• Will likely become an 18 hour per day, 7 days a week precinct / entertainment precinct. Food / beverage venues will likely spring up in much larger numbers fueling further growth in attendance
• Was built to handle crowds and people, this is where it shines and the downside to that is, when there's not a lot of people at present the vibe isn't good at all as the precinct seems more or less dead. This will change, in time.
• In addition to the above, the metro will be able to move 40k people an hour in and out of the precinct.
• Is not as constrained and will allow Showgrounds stadium much more room to grow as required.

If the club needs to play games at the SCG while Engie is unavailable for the Easter Show, I can support that. However, moving to the SCG permanently wouldn't be the best move, IMO, and would compete directly with the Swans. I personally prefer the sightlines at Engie rather than SCG.

The Swans can continue their focus and growth out east unimpeded by the Giants while the Giants focus on doing the same out west. This will go some way to rebalance the currently lopsided footy interest across Sydney* and aligning with the AFL's broader goals.

*with the east obviously containing the greatest interest, I can't see this changing although the footy interest spread will be across a much broader region than at present.

 

[Bjo187]

Echoing what others have said.

I can understand why playing at the SCG might seem like an attractive option to boost the Giants attendance. While Olympic Park is more or less currently unloved by Sydneysiders and Sydneysiders don't particularly like travelling to Olympic Park, the strategic value and immense potential of this location should not be overlooked.

IMO, Olympic Park is not being utilised to its full potential but it has massive potential. The planned developments will be a game-changer, transforming the precinct and its vibe rapidly. IMO, the club should remain at Olympic Park and continue to ignore any calls to move to the SCG.

The AFL wants new footy fans, greater participation in footy and many more TVs turning on to watch footy in Western Sydney/across Sydney, among other things. It's unlikely we'll get that if the club is playing at the SCG.

Sydney Olympic Park:

• will be one of the most connected regions outside of Sydney CBD once the transport infrastructure is built. The beauty is, it's currently being built so it's not some pie in the sky stuff.
• Will be incredibly quick and easy to get to via the metro, approximately 3 minutes from Parramatta and 15 minutes or so from Sydney CBD. The region is likely to become incredibly embraced by Sydneysiders.
• Is more or less much closer to geographical centre of Sydney, the Giants/Olympic Park catchment radiates outwards and combined with transport infrastructure will have a large catchment that is reasonably easy to get to. The entire precinct and attendance rates of Sydneysiders will change
• Venues will open up as the infrastructure is built, it'll become an entertainment precinct in its own right. For anyone that remembers the Entertainment Quarter before, it was incredibly quiet and the opening of the tram has only further spurred its growth as an entertainment precinct. Sydney Olympic Park will likely become many times bigger than that and Sydneysiders will likely attend events regularly and be much more likely to attend footy games there. Darling Park, has also seen a revitalisation and major changes. Similar will occur in Olympic Park
• Will likely become an 18 hour per day, 7 days a week precinct / entertainment precinct. Food / beverage venues will likely spring up in much larger numbers fueling further growth in attendance
• Was built to handle crowds and people, this is where it shines and the downside to that is, when there's not a lot of people at present the vibe isn't good at all as the precinct seems more or less dead. This will change, in time.
• In addition to the above, the metro will be able to move 40k people an hour in and out of the precinct.
• Is not as constrained and will allow Showgrounds stadium much more room to grow as required.

If the club needs to play games at the SCG while Engie is unavailable for the Easter Show, I can support that. However, moving to the SCG permanently wouldn't be the best move, IMO, and would compete directly with the Swans. I personally prefer the sightlines at Engie rather than SCG.

The Swans can continue their focus and growth out east unimpeded by the Giants while the Giants focus on doing the same out west. This will go some way to rebalance the currently lopsided footy interest across Sydney* and aligning with the AFL's broader goals.

*with the east obviously containing the greatest interest, I can't see this changing although the footy interest spread will be across a much broader region than at present.

The funny thing about this is, I think at the time Olympic park was a poor choice, but through sheer dumb luck they'll likely end up in the perfect location, when all the development is complete. Unless of course these plans for all the transport and new residents were known at the time.

 

[Giant Pete]

https://www.sydneyolympicpark.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/2024-11/MP2050_Summary_web.pdf

 

[Giant YoYo]

https://www.sydneyolympicpark.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/2024-11/MP2050_Summary_web.pdf

If anyone wants the long version at 355 pages long

https://shared-drupal-s3fs.s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/master-test/fapub_pdf/NSW%2BPlanning%2BPortal%2BDocuments/Sydney+Olympic+Park+Masterplan+2050_241002.pdf

 

[PaythePerryman]

I am also in the camp that playing at the SCG would be massive no go.
It's 10x easier for me to get to but that not what the club was built for.

I am still very worried about the Easter show continuing to hamper the turf and the schedule for us. Makes it a very hard start to the year. I think Green Day are playing at Engie this year a week before round 0.

IF the AFL were to build a new stadium for the Giants....I'd love it to be in Parramatta. Maybe in conjunction with cricket. I just feel like that's the true centre hub for people to get to and from.
However perhaps these new rail upgrades will fix my worries.
The overall vibe at Olympic Park is tough though. No restaurants and maybe 3 bars to choose from...

The stadium itself.....I love. Small and when it's packed it's rocking.

 

[GWS Goose]

SCG would be quicker for anyone east of Leichhardt, also for anyone on the North Shore - there are far more AFL and more GWS fans in these areas then there are in western Sydney. You do realise they don't put on the direct train service to Homebush for GWS games? It has to change over at Lidcombe. Once the Sydney West metro opens in 2032 then you can talk.

Average attendance in 2024 12,028. In 2019 it was 12,411. I guarantee if they played at the SCG it would be well above that, probably a low 20k average, which would be a massive difference and help the club get some traction IN SYDNEY.

East of Leichhardt! I know that they call themselves inner west and it is West of the CBD, but its 6.4Km from George St. It aint west of much.
Those east of Leichardt and on the North shore have their team.
The rest of us want a team as well.

Until the Giants, wasn't an AFL fan, I was a sports fan who would cheer the Swans in the finals.

The Giants represent my local area and I now have a team I support, I m a sponsor and avid supporter and have had my little one play Auskick, purely because they are Western Sydney based. I have a number of mates who are members and support the team because they are Western Sydney. They are Western Sydney Sports fans as opposed to AFL fans. Those are the people that the AFL was trying to attract by putting a team here.

Having 2 teams based in the East simply has the same fans going to a couple more games potentially. It doesn't grow your game.

If anything I'd like the Giants to do more in the West, not less.

 

[Colonial]

East of Leichhardt! I know that they call themselves inner west and it is West of the CBD, but its 6.4Km from George St. It aint west of much.
Those east of Leichardt and on the North shore have their team.
The rest of us want a team as well.

Until the Giants, wasn't an AFL fan, I was a sports fan who would cheer the Swans in the finals.

The Giants represent my local area and I now have a team I support, I m a sponsor and avid supporter and have had my little one play Auskick, purely because they are Western Sydney based. I have a number of mates who are members and support the team because they are Western Sydney. They are Western Sydney Sports fans as opposed to AFL fans. Those are the people that the AFL was trying to attract by putting a team here.

Having 2 teams based in the East simply has the same fans going to a couple more games potentially. It doesn't grow your game.

If anything I'd like the Giants to do more in the West, not less.

 

[The J Dog]

The J Dog you may be coming at this with a good heart, if so I apologise for going hard, although not as hard as usual.

But you need to look at the history of the sport here, the history of all sport in Sydney and the way Sydney is setup as a whole.
Also what the club is supposed to be about, and for me it has forgotten/abandoned in many ways. Generational growth in the most populated region in this country.

Ad a poll and see the response.

Fair play. I want GWS and AFL to succeed in Sydney. I've lived in here for 15 years and gone to a lot of Swans games, including when they played at Olympic Park - when they had direct trains and even dedicated buses through the inner west and north! I like the Giants, and I'd like to go to more of their games. GWS have been a very successful club on field since 2016. If they can't get the crowd average above 12k when they are successful then I'm worried about what happens in the future. Showground capacity is 23.5k. in 2024 they got 21k vs Pies and 12k vs Carlton. I bet my life those crowds would have been much bigger at the SCG. In 2023 they got just 10k vs Essendon and Carlton which is embarrassing for all concerned.

And here's a reality we all have to face - the west of Sydney is league territory and always will be during our lifetimes. I promise you there are AFL fans on the north shore and in south Sydney (I know them and work with them) who don't like the Swans and many of these fans would embrace GWS if they played at the SCG.

 

[Giant YoYo]

I promise you there are AFL fans on the north shore and in south Sydney (I know them and work with them) who don't like the Swans and many of these fans would embrace GWS if they played at the SCG.

I'd be curious about any indications whether these people currently attend the derby at the SCG, even as neutrals. Do you know whether they attend the derby at the SCG?

Showgrounds being unavailable for the Easter show won't go away, so in due course a solution will need to be found if and when the Giants play all of their home games in Sydney. This could give some insights into openness to attending games at the SCG, in the event any home games were ever played there during the time showgrounds was unavailable.

The larger cost alone of playing in large stadiums without a larger turnout would be prohibitive, notwithstanding the current exclusivity clause the Swans have with the SCG. It was also reported that club would also require the Swans permission so whether that's something the Swans would open to in future remains to be seen but it wasn't based on the previous reports. A small number of games may get over the line for the Easter show, but may take a fair bit to get it over the line, IMO.

 

[Colonial]

Fair play. I want GWS and AFL to succeed in Sydney. I've lived in here for 15 years and gone to a lot of Swans games, including when they played at Olympic Park - when they had direct trains and even dedicated buses through the inner west and north! I like the Giants, and I'd like to go to more of their games. GWS have been a very successful club on field since 2016. If they can't get the crowd average above 12k when they are successful then I'm worried about what happens in the future.

I’ve said my reasoning for this in many a thread, fellow Giants fans are over me saying it.
Besides the well known excuse from me, crowds were trending upwards before covid, then we lost a lot, then has been slowly building each year again.

Showground capacity is 23.5k. in 2024 they got 21k vs Pies and 12k vs Carlton. I bet my life those crowds would have been much bigger at the SCG. In 2023 they got just 10k vs Essendon and Carlton which is embarrassing for all concerned.

You would lose your life.
Western Sydney fans won’t travel to the SCG, it isnt quicker or easier.

And here's a reality we all have to face - the west of Sydney is league territory and always will be during our lifetimes.

Heard the same thing against the Swans and Lions, put in a concerted effort and time and we will carve out our niche.

I promise you there are AFL fans on the north shore and in south Sydney (I know them and work with them) who don't like the Swans and many of these fans would embrace GWS if they played at the SCG.

You can’t promise me that, it’s a rubbish statement. “You have friends who would jump on”? Really? 30k of them?
The club is Western Sydney not North Shore.
I could promise you if we played full time in Sydney, with 99% at Showgrounds, then we would get bigger crowds to. But you would not believe me.
A team called GWS playing at the SCG would be a disaster. A massive one.

 

[sydney_gws]

The Sydney region needs to be divided fairly, like for the big bash.in terms of junior clubs.