First thoughts about the stadium...

[ism22]

I don't wanna go down the path of stadium hating or linking the stadium to the result (I respect this mighta influenced my initial opinion) but IMO a few things need to be said about our home. Will try to stick to 3 or 4 good / bad things.

The good...

- It's new and we have a home for the next 25 years. Above all, I think this needs respect. While I don't have access to it, it clearly has modern offices and camera gear that the people working there (including TV dudes, players, coaches, executives and sponsors) can benefit from.

- The lines for beers and bathrooms were pretty good. One can whinge about the price of beers but we used to have VB in a cup for ~$10 or more. You now get a Wood & Stone or a Young Henry's for about $14. Not the cheapest drinks in town but there was no queue and I quite comfortable had 4 of them during the game without breaking the bank. Again... there was no queue and not much of a queue for the gents either.

- You're definitely closer to the players. I don't credit the 'squareness' for this or buy into the theory that 'being square' gives everybody a better view but the front rows are definitely closer to the players.

- The walk home was better because people can't park all their cars in Moore Park (was always a safety issue IMO). As such, I could just walk across it. I stayed until the end and the walk home only took about 5 minutes (with no Souffs fans as they were still at the stadium celebrating how they 'won despite having 11 on the field at one stage' - way to go celebrating the fact you cheated and rubbed two of our best players outta the game in order to win. Souffs have absolutely no class.

The bad...

- OMG the place echoes! Guessing intentionally but my head hurt from all the 'cheering' and I literally couldn't hear anybody else (including Souffs fans trying to heckle me, the people at the drink bar, the ticket attendants...etc).

- The seats are no better or worse IMO (same plastic, stadium seats where you're sandwiched in if the person next to you is careying a bit of weight). I didn't feel the viewing experience was 'enhanced' and you're still in crappy, plastic seats. Which BTW... they completely ****ed up the numbering on!!! I was bay 34 seat C17. When I walked down to row C there was a label on the ground saying '15 to 28' (or similar). However, the seat on the side was 11. Thus I had a long conversation with a family of Souffs fans (who had actually stolen my seat) about how the sticker said 15 to 28 so they MUST be in my seat. They refused to show me their tickets or stand and show me the seat numbers + tried convincing me I was on the other side (there's no numbers once people are sitting) so I just had to be stubborn. Turns out (after asking the Easts fans behind them what their numbers were) 17 wasn't the seat I was thinking but it was still like 'fark you guys!!! WTF are you doing in the Easts members area anyway?!?!?' They then just took the seats they could get and stayed, constantly howling about how Souffs 'never got any penalties' the whole farking game (even when they were winning and getting penalties the whole time). IMO they needed more staff and adequate numbering to get rid of those clowns. They also farked up the gate numbers IMO! Whoever did the numbering is a deadset fool - they need fixing (as do the gate suggestions).

- I didn't notice the crowd engagement enough. There were no [thud thud thud EASTS] chants other than a few REALLY quiet ones that were started by a loudspeaker behind the goalposts. Even Souffs weren't really cheering. All they did was whinge about not getting penalties and boo every time one of their players lay down (which was every few minutes). In short, it didn't feel like a home game in the same way that a Faders game is definitely a Faders game (and BTW... despite the Faders having a ratty old stadium with oval seating, you're just as close if not closer to the players). New doesn't build a 'feeling' and I suspect this stadium needs a bit of wearing in as it honestly coulda been anybody's stadium yesterday arvo. I say this partly because when the screens (wow there's a lot of screens) all turn into Souffs banners when the game isn't going our way. EXPLAIN THAT!!! I swear... go to ANY local ground (we'll use the Faders' old stadium as I know it well) and it doesn't matter if the away team's up 50-0... the Faders will have green everywhere and that bloody horn / viking clap will be playing the whole time. I'm not saying we copy them, but I think we could do a better job of making it 'our home'.

[doves07]

I don't mind it, food beer toilets were no problem or wait,
we had shit seats but that's our fault for waiting to get tickets, at the south end row x lol . access into and out of the stadium was better than the old one ,the only thing i didnt like was the loud music in-between play other than that il be happy over in the pen next year ,actually taken the day off ,still pissed off

[Mad_Rooster_in_GraceLand]

Its an NRL finals game, its not a home game. We got the home ground by finishing 6th but that is about all.

You say say you are a lawyer dude but you really don't have a friggin clue about anything do you?

14 bucks for a mid strength Great Northern (which is watery rubbish), lucky you are a lawyer, it would break the bank of many people with families if they take them to a game.

Perhaps go to one of our proper home games early next year dude and hopefully we are able to make it feel more like a home game, which I expect it will.

[Andrew Walker]

1st thing noticed was how shitty the seats were Second thing you are a lot closer 3rd thing I still missed the old ground even though I sat ina spot where I spent a few years sitting where now you are closer to the action Finally the continual music at every stoppage really annoyed the shit out of me and having noticed how that has crept in at games over the last few years and that I dont really like the rules of the game Id prefer to stay at home

[Easts75]

Why the fark dont they have cup holders built into the seats like they do at other stadiums around the world

[weplayforprems]

I loved it. Would be a fantastic stadium to see a rock concert at too.

[Vasco]

Getting from your seat to the aisles is like walking on a tightrope. Someone is going to have a serious tumble for sure.

[Danish]

The view is the same as the old stadium (with a few extra LEDs). If you are in the members or the posh seats on level 2 it’s far superior to the old SFS, but seems stupid to spend $850m on that considering the members was half empty last night.

main thing I hate about the new stadium is the club royally ****ed over existing members to save the good seats for new ones, with no recourse on changing seats. It’s utter crap

[milanja]

As an out of towner, the stadium doesn’t entice me to make any more trips than what I did with the SFS or the cricket ground, we come up to the games whenever we can.


I loved the concourse level at the new ground, if you have an ordinary seat, it was a good place to wander around and see the game from different spots. Food options were pretty good too.

I didn’t think there would be so many people saying they had ordinary seats, thought that was the selling point, that there was not a bad seat in the house.

Comparing Allianz to BankWest, I think BankWest had a better feel to it straight away when I went there this year.

[Jacks Fur Coat]

It's a great stadium, the pick of the big ones...shits all over the Wankbest version.

Love the fact you can get a proper beer with mimimal wait even with a packed house. That is almost inconceivable at other similar gigs.

And even if your not happy with your seat, you can still get a great view anywhere around the perimeter standing up. Options are so important.

Only thing that terrifies me is looking at that top tier seating on the side views...simply couldn't handle that. My nightmare.

And the grubs a definite upgrade on the old SFS.

[weplayforprems]

As an out of towner, the stadium doesn’t entice me to make any more trips than what I did with the SFS or the cricket ground, we come up to the games whenever we can.


I loved the concourse level at the new ground, if you have an ordinary seat, it was a good place to wander around and see the game from different spots. Food options were pretty good too.

I didn’t think there would be so many people saying they had ordinary seats, thought that was the selling point, that there was not a bad seat in the house.

Comparing Allianz to BankWest, I think BankWest had a better feel to it straight away when I went there this year.

It absolutely will sway my decision on a three-hour drive over watching footy at the god awful SCG

[ism22]

Its an NRL finals game, its not a home game. We got the home ground by finishing 6th but that is about all.

You say say you are a lawyer dude but you really don't have a friggin clue about anything do you?

14 bucks for a mid strength Great Northern (which is watery rubbish), lucky you are a lawyer, it would break the bank of many people with families if they take them to a game.

Perhaps go to one of our proper home games early next year dude and hopefully we are able to make it feel more like a home game, which I expect it will.

As noted, it was ~$14 for a Young Henry's Newtowner... not a Great Northern (which I believe was more like ~$10 or $11). Never said the beers were cheap but IMO these are pretty bog standard 'venue' prices for craft beers. I'm glad they weren't serving VB!!! IMO the beers were an improvement on this basis (they were never cheap).

While I've mentioned my profession (and it apparently makes you feel insecure), I've never made the representation that doing the said job makes me smarter than anybody. Completing the training and finding a way forward with my life (which was a shambles at the time) was a decent achievement IMO. You don't have to agree (feel free to sledge me + say I know nothing). I may well know nothing, but I have a right to be proud of my little achievements in life. Thanks for trying to put me down about them when I'm talking about a farking footy stadium!

[milanja]

It absolutely will sway my decision on a three-hour drive over watching footy at the god awful SCG

Not for me, the cricket ground was ordinary, but I’m still glad I went to watch us beat Souths and storm in 2019.

if we are in a home final, the venue doesn’t matter, and the new stadium doesn’t make me want to drive 3hrs to watch the knights,tigers and co in a regular season game, any more than the other grounds did.

I don’t do day trips to Sydney anymore, so for me, it’s always an overnighter, the footy ends up being a bonus with a day/night out.

[ChookMaster]

I love the new stadium.. great views and very close to the action. The food is good and fast, and I actually didn’t mind standing up at the top of the aisle yesterday to watch parts of the game. Either way you could have a good clear view.


Only issues are - When I stood up to cheer the boys I knocked over my beer TWICE as I placed it on the floor beneath the seat but unfortunately as I sat down most of freakin kicked them over.

How tight it is getting up out of your seat to go for a piss or get something, it’s almost like you dread it because the amount of legs and people you have to squeeze by is a nightmare. Someone even complained yesterday I overhead them saying “ They made the aisles narrower! What dopes “

Overall, I love it.

[SamKerrSimp]

Young Henry’s are associated with South Sydney f**k them