Brookvale Oval

[Frogz]

Made my first trip to Brookie the other night in a fair while.

The old girl is really looking tired and old. I cant beleive when u go around the grounds and see what others have been given that we havent enjoyed teh same luxury.

Leicharrdt - 3 games a year...Win...5 games...OKI ...5 games...Belmore...no games and the list goes on.

I love Brookie Oval but it is really looking a shambles...stands just stuck in places as a few dollars has been received. The new stand on teh northern end is really, IN MY OPINION, a waste of money and looks right out of place.

Peoplee slipping over in the mud on slippery hills...Walking down hills to have to get a near cold beer....it really has lost its spark.

Anyway thats my view having not been there for a while. I just hope something gets sorted out and we keep the ground and get some money for a new lease of life.

 

[Blake]

Where the hell did you manage to find cold beer?

 

[Crusher_Cleal]

The kiosks down the southern end are a bit embarrassing too.

 

[Peter C]

Brookvale Oval is just a political football, everyone just wants to pass it around and do nothing whilst in government.
I agree, there are very few visible improvements, apart from that new addition, to show where the $10 million in grants went to, whereas an injection of around $30 million would have given the north shore and northern beaches something for the future.
The new state government is NOT sympathetic to the improvement of ANY stadiums unless it suits their political need.
Brookvale's only hope is for an Abbott government, which seems a forgone conclusion, but then you have the problem of certain members of the council pushing their own agendas.

 

[Frogz]

Near Cold, I said

 

[Ryan]

As terrible as this sounds, it needs to few class actions brought against the council (i.e. broken legs due to insufficient ground work) etc.

My fear has always been the layout, fire hazard compliance etc. The place is an accident waiting to happen.

I have E-mails from Barry O'Farrell (and follow up E-mails advising such) of his agreement something needs to be done, but now, when in power, nothing.

If the worst were to happen, and since he has been advised of the dangers, the blood would be on his hands, and that fact would be made abundantly clear.

 

[Mals]

Brookie Oval has tons of character but agree she is looking a tad tired... My humble improvement would be a giant balcony beer garden at the scoreboard end ;-)

 

[mdm05]

An ATM would be a good start.

Sure it's falling down around your ears but there's no place I'd rather watch football.

I don't really care about the current state personally/for my needs (keep it grimey as you like), what I do care about is that this isn't accepted or acceptable for the masses and it does need upgrading, for which I hope we don't lose it through lack of funding.

 

[mozgrame]

No wonder our young blokes are leaving. It must be embarrassing for them to have their relatives from out of town come to watch them play.

 

[Fluffy]

indeed mozgrame, they can head to the SFS to watch the roosters play where it is only relatives who come to make a crowd.......

Things i dont understand is the path up to the back of the hill still hasnt been upgraded to concrete, nor a path over the northern end to the kiosks there. Thats where the accident will happen.

Ryan i dont think there are any fire hazard issues, there isnt enough fuel for a fire that would require any further safety distance than onto the ground within 5 minutes.

 

[MrInvisible]

Colour me stupid but I prefer the older grounds.

Concrete prisons like ANZ, SFS, etc are souless, depressing places with drab atmospheres. I compare them to what it would be like if it was always overcast with a slight drizzle of rain.

The Brookie, Belmore, and Leichardt style ovals, whilst they may nt be anywhere near as highbrow, they have character in their age. They tell stories.

They herald back to the great days of Rugby League where legends where made, battles were fought, and heroes were idolised.

Sure they need to comply with current safety standards, and if things like toilets or stands need renovation or a freshen up fair enough, but looking at NRL crowds, there really is no reason why these sub 20k grounds can't host more games!

I can't help but think perhaps the powers that be don't want to spend money on it because land of that size, in that position, in that area, would be worth an absolute mint, and a prime candidate to be bought from the council and turned into.. hmm I don't know .. a private hospital to accompany a nearby medical centre, a nice new block of flats/apartments, or a nice new set of shops.

While it pains me to say that, it is somewhat, a harsh realty.

Slowly going are the days where venues only hosted Rugby League, and had their legends and history forged by our modern game.

 

[Ryan]

Colour me stupid but I prefer the older grounds.

Concrete prisons like ANZ, SFS, etc are souless, depressing places with drab atmospheres. I compare them to what it would be like if it was always overcast with a slight drizzle of rain.

The Brookie, Belmore, and Leichardt style ovals, whilst they may nt be anywhere near as highbrow, they have character in their age. They tell stories.

They herald back to the great days of Rugby League where legends where made, battles were fought, and heroes were idolised.

Sure they need to comply with current safety standards, and if things like toilets or stands need renovation or a freshen up fair enough, but looking at NRL crowds, there really is no reason why these sub 20k grounds can't host more games!

I can't help but think perhaps the powers that be don't want to spend money on it because land of that size, in that position, in that area, would be worth an absolute mint, and a prime candidate to be bought from the council and turned into.. hmm I don't know .. a private hospital to accompany a nearby medical centre, a nice new block of flats/apartments, or a nice new set of shops.

While it pains me to say that, it is somewhat, a harsh realty.

Slowly going are the days where venues only hosted Rugby League, and had their legends and history forged by our modern game.

Mate, you can have a "family feel" to it, and still be modern, inviting and produce decent investment $$$. At the end of the day, Manly need to attract corporate sponsorship. They need to entertain potential stakeholders and investors.

Lets be fair, Brookvale Oval, while steeped in history, vibe, and passion, is just not up to scratch, and why? Too liberal oriented. And too many people like Kristina Kirsch holding up progression on the basis of talking on behalf of the local nursing home.

Without a doubt, there needs to be an overhaul. There were a number of plans submitted that looked quite nice. What happened to those?

I bet Mr Abbott turns up on our doorstep again with promises when the election is on. Then again, he is a local member, and look how delapitated all the infrastructure is in our area. Hell, O'Farrell is the state leader - and he laps up all the lime-light the league provides him, but he gives us what, nothing !

 

[The Who]

I love Brookie Oval. Watching it from The Hill is not as uncomfortable as it seems, and the view is amazing. Just like Leichhardt, if we played more on a Sunday afternoon we'd get close to 20,000 most matches.
I think the 'dinky' stand was a waste of money, and certainly a pathway from the hill leading to the toilets would be sensible - but I have been sliding/running/falling down that for 50 years and, again, it's part of the charm.
I wished, as I watched $168-M being spent on the SCG and $68-M on the Showground, that a fraction of that could be spent on the 'old girl' to tart it up. Bit of Botox here and there - nothing too dramatic or else it will lose its suburban charm.

 

[bob dylan]

I got there for the first time this year.

I thought it was great at night, my first ever night game at Brookie.

A lot has improved over the 30 years I have been going there, maybe I just love the place.

When I left I was thinking about my past heroes I loved watching there Randall, Eadie, Krilich, Gartner, Thompson, Boyd, Vautin, Cleal, Shearer, O'Connor, Toovey, Spud (he was there Monday night) etc etc and comparing them to todays champions like Lyon, Stewarts, Foran, Matai, Watmough, Kite, King, Wolf and DCE. The current guys dont lose an inch to yesterdays champs in my mind.

Man I am just so lucky to be a Manly supporter.

 

[patorick2010]

Those holding out hope for $20-30 million from O'Farrell/Abbott are in for a long wait, methinks.

Promises will come, but will they be "core promises"?

 

[Kiwi Eagle]

Love the place

Don't give a stuff about the facilities around me, just want to watch the game, and for $25 can stand right on halfway extremely close to the action, can't be beaten

Have grown up going to games at a world class 30,000+ seat stadium, and have had some great times there and the atmosphere has been awesome, but it just can't beat the Brookvale experience. Well it can't anymore anyway coz it is stuffed after the quakes lol

On a side note, went to the All Blacks test last weekend, at a stadium built from scaffolding within a few months, holding 25,000. Built close to the sideline and again the atmosphere was top notch

 

[tookey]

Those holding out hope for $20-30 million from O'Farrell/Abbott are in for a long wait, methinks.

Promises will come, but will they be "core promises"?

Isn't Barry going to use some of the money that he has recently taken off the sick and injured workers to fund Brookie oval?

Maybe Tony won't be able to roll back the carbon tax until he saves enough money to renovate brookie?

 

[Mals]

Love the place

Don't give a stuff about the facilities around me, just want to watch the game, and for $25 can stand right on halfway extremely close to the action, can't be beaten

Have grown up going to games at a world class 30,000+ seat stadium, and have had some great times there and the atmosphere has been awesome, but it just can't beat the Brookvale experience. Well it can't anymore anyway coz it is stuffed after the quakes lol

On a side note, went to the All Blacks test last weekend, at a stadium built from scaffolding within a few months, holding 25,000. Built close to the sideline and again the atmosphere was top notch

KE - what is the go with AMI Stadium, will it be torn down? Is the Insurer going to pay up for a rebuild?!?!

 

[mmmdl]

I wanna know how the Dragons have been given ANOTHER 5 million to fix up the southern stand in Wollongong.

 

[Kiwi Eagle]

Love the place

Don't give a stuff about the facilities around me, just want to watch the game, and for $25 can stand right on halfway extremely close to the action, can't be beaten

Have grown up going to games at a world class 30,000+ seat stadium, and have had some great times there and the atmosphere has been awesome, but it just can't beat the Brookvale experience. Well it can't anymore anyway coz it is stuffed after the quakes lol

On a side note, went to the All Blacks test last weekend, at a stadium built from scaffolding within a few months, holding 25,000. Built close to the sideline and again the atmosphere was top notch

KE - what is the go with AMI Stadium, will it be torn down? Is the Insurer going to pay up for a rebuild?!?!

Still nothing confirmed as yet

What we do know is that the Hadlee Stand is already coming down, and the 2 big new stands have both sunk. They have been looking at ways they can possibly try to lift them up, but they would be ground breaking and expensive

There are a few plans out, 1 is for a 35,000 seat stadium and another is for a covered 30,000. The site of that is unknown, is a chance it could be at the existing site but there are rumours around as well that about 5-10m below the playing surface there is a big hole

The temporary effort we have now is great, reminds me of a mini skilled stadium