negotiations fail – Michmutters
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Wests Tigers, video of Leichhardt Oval grandstand collapsing amid NSW stadium funding standoff

Calls for several local stadiums in Sydney to be upgraded will only grow louder after shocking footage emerged of a grandstand collapsing at Leichhardt Oval.

Radio host Ryan ‘Fitzy’ Fitzgerald was attending a high school rugby union match between St Joseph’s College and Riverview on Saturday and he shared a video of an ugly incident on Twitter.

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In the clip, a Joeys player goes over for a try to the delight of the packed crowd in attendance.

But the video then shows a railing at the front of a small grandstand collapse under the weight of the fans, causing a number of them to faceplant onto concrete meters below.

Fitzgerald wrote: “Do you reckon Leichardt Oval needs an upgrade?”

It’s unclear if any of the spectators were injured. Channel 9 reports paramedics are at the scene.

The collapse happened in front of a crowd of around 15,000 and brought the game to a standstill.

The unfortunate incident will only heap more pressure on the NSW government to commit to funding upgrades to three Sydney stadiums including Leichhardt Oval, the traditional home of the Wests Tigers.

A grandstand at Leichhardt Oval suffered a mini collapse. Photo: Twitter.Source: Twitter

This week it emerged Sydney is on the brink of losing the NRL Grand Final after the state government reportedly walked away from an $800 million pledge.

The agreed upon deal, reportedly struck in May, is on the brink of collapsing and ARLC chairman Peter V’landys is said to be fuming.

The agreement would see Brookvale Oval ($100m), Leichhardt Oval ($50m) and Cronulla’s Shark Park ($100m) receive significant upgrades — and if delivered, the Grand Final would remain in Sydney for the next 20 years until 2042 on the proviso the Olympic venue would receive an $800m upgrade.

Those plans were scrapped during the pandemic with the NRL moving to shift those funds to suburban grounds and V’landys claiming he had received verbal confirmations from NSW Premiers Gladys Berejiklian and Dominic Perrottet for between $250 and $350 million.

Penrith Stadium was also in the agreement, however $300m has reportedly been ticked off to upgrade the grounds.

“We are in delicate negotiations with the NSW government,” V’landys said.

“All options will be on the table if these negotiations fail.”

A deadline on Tuesday passed with the two parties still staring each other down with reports Perrottet is set to walk away from a $250 million pledge to upgrade grounds, according to The Daily Telegraph.

2GB host Ben Fordham grilled NSW Sports Minister Stuart Ayres, who has since resigned from his ministerial posts for separate reasons, over why Penrith Stadium had received funding but the other grounds had not.

Penrith fans will be enjoying an upgrade at Penrith Stadium. (Photo by Matt Blyth/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images

“You’re the Sports Minister, your home ground is Penrith, you’re a Panthers fan and for all I know you’re probably the number one ticket holder,” Fordham said.

“So they got the $300 million, so what about Brookvale, Shark Park, Leichhardt Oval… I would be seriously surprised if you don’t know the answer I am posing to you.

“Why did your home ground get the money at your home ground and the others didn’t?

“Ben, there’s a long-term strategy,” Ayres said.

“We made decisions in what was the best interests of the public.

“We’ve had a long-term stadia strategy that we’ve been delivering since 2015. We’ve rebuilt Parramatta Stadium, we’re just about to open the new Sydney Football stadium.

“We’re committed to a stadium in Penrith, it reflects our three city strategy.

“We’ve invested well in excess of $1.5b dollars, part of that is, we’d like to have a long-term commitment from the NRL for the grand finale.

“We’ve just had Covid, we’ve had substantial flood impacts that have put more pressure on the budget.”

The Queensland government is now readying a bid to claim to NRL grand final for years to come.

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Categories
Sports

NRL 2022: Leichhardt Oval grandstand collapsing video, NSW stadium funding standoff

Calls for several local stadiums in Sydney to be upgraded will only grow louder after shocking footage emerged of a grandstand collapsing at Leichhardt Oval.

Radio host Ryan ‘Fitzy’ Fitzgerald was attending a high school rugby union match between St Joseph’s College and Riverview on Saturday and he shared a video of an ugly incident on Twitter.

Stream every game of every round of the 2022 NRL Telstra Premiership Season Live & Ad-Break Free During Play on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >

In the clip, a Joeys player goes over for a try to the delight of the packed crowd in attendance.

But the video then shows a railing at the front of a small grandstand collapse under the weight of the fans, causing a number of them to faceplant onto concrete meters below.

Fitzgerald wrote: “Do you reckon Leichardt Oval needs an upgrade?”

It’s unclear if any of the spectators were injured. Channel 9 reported paramedics were at the scene.

The collapse happened in front of a crowd of around 15,000 and brought the game to a standstill.

The unfortunate incident will only heap more pressure on the NSW government to commit to funding upgrades to three Sydney stadiums including Leichhardt Oval, the traditional home of the Wests Tigers.

This week it emerged Sydney is on the brink of losing the NRL Grand Final after the state government reportedly walked away from an $800 million pledge.

The agreed upon deal, reportedly struck in May, is on the brink of collapsing and ARLC chairman Peter V’landys is said to be fuming.

The agreement would see Brookvale Oval ($100m), Leichhardt Oval ($50m) and Cronulla’s Shark Park ($100m) receive significant upgrades — and if delivered, the Grand Final would remain in Sydney for the next 20 years until 2042 on the proviso the Olympic venue would receive an $800m upgrade.

Those plans were scrapped during the pandemic with the NRL moving to shift those funds to suburban grounds and V’landys claiming he had received verbal confirmations from NSW Premiers Gladys Berejiklian and Dominic Perrottet for between $250 and $350 million.

Penrith Stadium was also in the agreement, however $300m has reportedly been ticked off to upgrade the grounds.

“We are in delicate negotiations with the NSW government,” V’landys said.

“All options will be on the table if these negotiations fail.”

A deadline on Tuesday passed with the two parties still staring each other down with reports Perrottet is set to walk away from a $250 million pledge to upgrade grounds, according to The Daily Telegraph.

2GB host Ben Fordham grilled NSW Sports Minister Stuart Ayres, who has since resigned from his ministerial posts for separate reasons, over why Penrith Stadium had received funding but the other grounds had not.

“You’re the Sports Minister, your home ground is Penrith, you’re a Panthers fan and for all I know you’re probably the number one ticket holder,” Fordham said.

“So they got the $300 million, so what about Brookvale, Shark Park, Leichhardt Oval… I would be seriously surprised if you don’t know the answer I am posing to you.

“Why did your home ground get the money at your home ground and the others didn’t?

“Ben, there’s a long-term strategy,” Ayres said.

“We made decisions in what was the best interests of the public.

“We’ve had a long-term stadia strategy that we’ve been delivering since 2015. We’ve rebuilt Parramatta Stadium, we’re just about to open the new Sydney Football stadium.

“We’re committed to a stadium in Penrith, it reflects our three city strategy.

“We’ve invested well in excess of $1.5b dollars, part of that is, we’d like to have a long-term commitment from the NRL for the grand finale.

“We’ve just had Covid, we’ve had substantial flood impacts that have put more pressure on the budget.”

The Queensland government is now readying a bid to claim to NRL grand final for years to come.

Read related topics:sydney

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Categories
Sports

ARLC chairman Peter V’landys, suburban stadium upgrades NRL, Penrith Stadium, Shark Park, NSW Government, Dominic Perrottet, news, Queensland grand final

Sydney is at risk of losing the NRL grand final to its northern rivals unless the NSW Government delivers on its promise to upgrade suburban stadiums.

ARLC chairman Peter V’landys had a meeting with Premier Dominic Perrottet on Monday night, hoping to guarantee the deal to revamp four stadiums would be honored.

The agreement would see Brookvale Oval, Leichhardt Oval, Penrith Stadium and Shark Park receive significant upgrades — and if delivered, the grand finale would remain in Sydney for the next 20 years until 2042.

Stream every game of every round of the 2022 NRL Telstra Premiership Season Live & Ad-Break Free During Play on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >

But, according to The Daily Telegraph, V’landys is fuming as the initial deal struck in May to spend $800 million on stadium improvements is now in doubt.

“We are in delicate negotiations with the NSW government,” V’landys said.

“All options will be on the table if these negotiations fail.”

Last year, the Queensland government allowed the competition to continue, relocating all teams into the ‘Sunshine State’ due to Covid-19.

As a result, the end-of-year spectacle was played at Suncorp Stadium and now V’landys has left the door open for Queensland to host the grand final again if no deal is confirmed with the NSW government.

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Meanwhile, the only stadium given confirmation of a $300 million upgrade has been Penrith’s — in the electorate of sports minister Stuart Ayres.

Mr Ayres told 2GB on Tuesday that the Premier’s negotiations are “ongoing” with the NRL, but explained there were “limitations” to the budget.

“We have been really clear with the NRL about the limitations that exist on our budget,” he said.

“We have invested well in excess of $1.5 billion. Part of that is to say that we would like to have a long-term commitment from the NRL for the grand finale.

“I think there comes a point where you have got to say we have invested enough in that sporting infrastructure and when we have got the capacity to invest in more sporting infrastructure in the future there is no reason why we won’t do that.”

During the Covid pandemic, the $800 million upgrade of Accor Stadium was scrapped and the NRL moved to shift those funds to suburban grounds — and as a result the grand finale would remain in Sydney.

But now, that money which was said to be allocated towards Brookvale, Leichhardt and Sharks Park is unlikely to be put towards upgrades.

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The Queensland government is now readying a bid to claim to NRL grand final for years to come.

2GB’S Ben Fordham questioned Mr Ayres surrounding the Panthers upgrade being approved, while other grounds are looking unlikely to receive any funding.

“You’re the Sports Minister, your home ground is Penrith, you’re a Panthers fan and for all I know you’re probably the number one ticket holder,” Fordham said.

“So they got the $300 million, so what about Brookvale, Shark Park, Leichhardt Oval… I would be seriously surprised if you don’t know the answer I am posing to you.

“Why did your home ground get the money at your home ground and the others didn’t?

“Why don’t we just tell the listeners now, those other grounds aren’t getting their redevelopments?”

“Ben, there’s a long-term strategy,” Ayres said.

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“We made decisions in what was the best interests of the public.

“We’ve had a long-term stadia strategy that we’ve been delivering since 2015. We’ve rebuilt Parramatta Stadium, we’re just about to open the new Sydney Football stadium.

“We’re committed to a stadium in Penrith, it reflects our three city strategy.

“We’ve invested well in excess of $1.5b dollars, part of that is, we’d like to have a long-term commitment from the NRL for the grand finale.

“We’ve just had Covid, we’ve had substantial flood impacts that have put more pressure on the budget.”

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