Journalists James Hooper and Paul Kent have clashed over the future of Leichhardt Oval on Monday night’s episode of NRL 360 on the back of Tigers’ CEO Shane Richardson’s plea to the NSW government for funding to save the famous ground.
Hooper believes the Tigers need to do everything in their power to keep one of the club’s “spiritual homes” and while Kent says it’s a special ground, the best move for the Tigers financially would be to not play games there.
The NRL 360 panel discussed the matter on the back of a press conference Richardson fronted on Monday.
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Richardson told reporters a “decayed” Leichhardt Oval needs a facelift, and he’s made a case to the NSW government to help the club do it, potentially beginning a stadium war with the Panthers in the process.
Richardson and Inner West Council Mayor Darcy Byrne appealed to NSW Premier Chris Minns to allocate 10% of the proposed $309 million budget to upgrade Panthers Stadium.
The Panthers are set to start renovations on their home ground after his season, which will mean the club won’t play any games there in 2025.
Byrne told reporters that fans and the club deserved the Tigers’ spiritual home to be revamped instead of torn down.
“Leichhardt Oval hasn’t received any funding from the state government since Benji Marshall was in nappies,” Byrne said.
“There’s no good reason Penrith’s stadium should have gold-plated urinals, while famous Leichhardt Oval is forced to close through neglect.”
Richardson says the time is ticking on the NSW government, with the decorated sports administrator stressing a decision on whether the ground is allocated funding has to be made soon.
“We’ll be making that decision over the next 60 to 90 days,” Richardson said.
“I’ve told our different stakeholders, but we’ll make a decision that is best for the club.
“It’s a great rugby league ground, but it’s decayed.
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“I haven’t seen any of the costing (for the proposal), all I’ve seen is their plan which I think is a good one.
“The reality is until there is money for it, you don’t know when it’s going to be and if it’s going to be five years away, it’ll be dead. We won’t be here.”
Hooper isn’t buying Richardson’s comments, believing the Tigers CEO is angling to have more home games played at Accor Stadium in the future.
“This is a disgrace that the Tigers want to move away from one of their spiritual homes,” Hooper said.
“If we’ve seen this radio before. You are praising Richo for the performance he’s put on today. I’m not cause I’ve seen this before.
“When he was at Souths, he took them out to Accor Stadium. Yes, there is a financial windfall involved and it is a win for the club but is it worth it?
“I don’t think it’s worth it. They only play five games a year but there is also a lot of women’s sport played there.
“My view is that Richo has existing contacts at Accor Stadium and that’s his play here.
‘He’s put a strategic plan to the board (already).
“It’s soulless. If they play that game at Accor, it doesn’t have anywhere near the level of atmosphere.”
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Kent said that while the atmosphere at Leichhardt is unmatched, the facilities are poor and if the club was thinking of their bottom line, playing more games at the bigger stadiums such as CommBank and Accor is the way to go.
“You look at it this way, 14,000 and you say how terrific it was. If you go 30,000 in a 50,000 seat feels empty, but the reality for the club is that that’s 16,000 extra fans through the gate,” Kent said.
“Financially, the best thing for the Tigers is to get out of Leichhardt.
“I was there Saturday night and on the hill, and it took 25 minutes to line up for a beer. That’a quarter of the game standing in line.
“As far as Shane Richardson goes, he should get some more facilities installed in terms of services and toilets.
“Start putting little stations around the place. It’s terribly frustrating for the fans.”
“It’s all good Kenty. Fans there paid $55 for a ticket to stand on the hill. That’s telling you something,” Hooper responded.
“The tribalism is alive and well.”
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Regarding the request to take a slice of the funds allocated to the Panthers’ home ground, Richardson couldn’t help but make a dig towards Penrith in his press conference.
“Good luck to them. I was CEO at Penrith and it’s great for them, but it’s not a bad stadium as it is but $300 million?” he said.
“I’m looking forward to the gold taps on the thing.”
Last Saturday night’s home game against the Sharks at Leichhardt was nearly all the ammunition the Tigers needed to save the famous suburban ground.
16,000 fans packed in to watch their team put on a performance for the ages and deliver Marshall his first win as head coach.
“Saturday night (against the Sharks) was an example of where people get carried away with the hysteria of the crowd and the atmosphere and forget all about the conditions (of the ground),” Richardson said.
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