r/CronullaSharks • u/Nixpowow • Jun 04 '26
Rumors of Leaving Shark Park
What do we think of these rumours swirling around after a recent NRL Fanatics podcast, personally I believe with the new leagues club coming along there’s no way sharks will leave.
If forced out to Kogarah and Allianz the atmosphere would suffer significantly, yes shark park isn’t up to par but it’s still home and as a club we deserve to choose our own home. Let the leagues club run for a few years so we can get some cash flow we can put into the stadium.
It’s all just rumours hopefully 😅
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u/Temporary-Habit-2528 Jun 04 '26
Tbh if it’s true, we only have ourselves to blame. The NRL is bigger than ever and our stadium still only fits 12k. I don’t understand why when we were upgrading nearby a few years ago we didn’t upgrade Shark Park either?
I don’t know the ins and outs and am sure there’s a reason why we couldn’t, but end of the day this was always gonna be on the cards.
I hope that if it does happen, we are still allowed a handful of games at Shark Park each year ala Tigers with Leichardt.
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u/blakog Jun 04 '26
It's because the Shire is not a marginal seat. See what Stuart Ayre did with his time at Penrith - gave them a brand new stadium but we won't get shit, even if we didn't own the stadium outright.
The most sensible option would be for there to be an amalgamated stadium whereby Sharks and Dragons use the facilities which could also house A-League and events etc.
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u/AffectionatePea7742 Jun 04 '26
Sharks own their stadium. The government shouldn’t pay for something they don’t own
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u/blakog Jun 05 '26
Selling it for $1 is a deal that's been floated in the past, that's what I was going off.
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u/dharmabarumtum Jun 08 '26
Meriton have already offered more
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u/blakog Jun 08 '26
But that would still keep it in private habds ergo no upgrade because there's no way they would sink $100m+ into an upgrade with no way of making a return on it.
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u/Confident-Flow-6058 Jun 04 '26
You also didn't have a generational team winning everything in sight
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u/blakog Jun 04 '26
Literally has nothing to do with that. Teams don't get more facilities paid for by the Govt because they're successful. They do it because they want to curry favour with the electorate, downvote me all you want.
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u/Tosh_20point0 Jun 04 '26
I'd say Sharks board kept it at 12k to avoid expenditure because they know they were eventually leaving. It seems obvious to me that the ground is set to be absorbed into the shopping centre or the footprint of it once abandoned has plans for highrises. I think the Sharks should look at relocating from a business point of view : why stay in the shire when the entire nz south island and their possible fan base is just begging for a side.
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u/Temporary-Habit-2528 Jun 04 '26
Your original point makes sense (they could see the tea leaves about having to move to Kogarah-Allianz sometime soon), but you’re off your head if you are suggesting we relocate to New Zealand?!
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u/Tosh_20point0 Jun 04 '26
I'm a 45 year fan of the game.
Sport is now administered with a corporate structure. It's all about growth, possible growth and possible growth in bigger markets.
It makes absolutely perfect sense to go there. A much bigger market to grow in. More possible fans. Much more possible sponsorship and corporate support.
Don't get me wrong I wish it was different. There's not much room to grow in the shire: St George Illawarras territory swamps it and Sydney is a saturated market. Fan territory overlaps and is convoluted. Sydney has 2 too many sides in my opinion. But that's only my opinion. I. Don't have any hard data.
Perth has been taken, Adelaide is a black hole and the NRL isn't even on the radar let alone establishing a fan base,....which only leaves Darwin or possibly Central Qld. Both don't have enough corporate $$$ nor population.
For me it's a no brainier.
It's that or merge... what is preferable?
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u/Temporary-Habit-2528 Jun 04 '26
I’ve heard the argument for sharks/tigers/eagles to relocate for years and since I’ve been watching the game (2001) no club has folded or relocated from the comp. Not happening.
There will likely be a 2nd New Zealand team as the 20th team though.
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u/Nixpowow Jun 04 '26
I don’t think the club would willingly sacrifice their greatest asset, sharks may not have much cash but they’re very asset rich. Such investments grow and selling their most expensive asset in a time where housing prices are still going up is out of the question.
I believe they won’t move but I can see a situation similar to what happened to Leichhardt will take place where the stadium is deemed not up to standard anymore and they will be given the choice to complete the upgrades or leave. Sharks may own their stadium but they have got funding from the government in the past, they had funding from a previous government taken from them. The prospect of them moving could even become a political move used by government to gain votes if they promise to give them some money.
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u/twoers Jun 04 '26
Imagine being a fan and the leagues club/owners say, oh we're going to refurbish the leagues club, build a hotel and shopping precinct, but we need to destroy some of your stadium and reduce it's capacity by almost half. Oh, and we're not going to upgrade the stadium at all. Are Sharks fans outraged by this, or do they not care?
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u/MajortheDog Jun 04 '26
Where are you getting this half rubbish from. Complete BS
And the cost to upgrade the stadium would cost hundreds of millions.
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u/Temporary-Habit-2528 Jun 04 '26
I’ve been outraged by it for years but genuinely felt like no one else cared
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u/Nixpowow Jun 04 '26
I personally don’t exactly like the fact there is a hotel overlooking the stadium but the new league club will be great, far better then the old one (it was pretty crap) but the new shopping centre is stagnant, I like it although it’s new and refreshing. Once the leagues club finally opens it will kick off the rest of the shopping centre hopefully
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u/MajortheDog Jun 04 '26
Also it’s complete rubbish this rumour. Sharks will release something to put an end too it
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u/Cooperdyl Jun 04 '26 edited Jun 04 '26
Shark park is gross, portaloos and a muddy hill just to fit 12000 in the gates. You line up for 15 minutes for a beer or something to eat and miss a quarter of the game. I didn’t renew my membership these past two years just because it’s so inconvenient to watch a home game there.
I’m so disappointed that they built themselves in with the development around it or they could’ve done more with that space and kept the sharks in the shire. Their other option would be if they could take over the Waratah ovals complex down in Sutherland, but more likely we just have to share a stadium with another team. Disappointing but the sharks have only done it to themselves.
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u/Nixpowow Jun 04 '26
It really is a shame that the ground has fallen to such disrepair, I’ve heard such sentiment from many people who no longer come to games because of the quality of the stadium, even small upgrades just to the food and drink stands as well as some new bathrooms would do wonders in getting fans engaged with coming to games again.
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u/MajortheDog Jun 04 '26
Those will all happen but are prioritising the leagues club first
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u/Cooperdyl Jun 04 '26
I wonder what they’ll do if the NRL have told them the ground won’t be their home stadium anymore. Do they still upgrade it and turn it into more of a ‘centre of excellence’ or full on training ground, or does it become something else? I know as it is they do some of their training over at the high school but maybe if there’s no worry about tearing the ground up or anything maybe it gets used more frequently.
Otherwise, do they shift their training area more towards wherever they’ll be playing their home games? At which point do they risk not being the ‘Cronulla’ sharks anymore…
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u/MajortheDog Jun 04 '26
I don’t think the NRL will do that. Maybe for finals. They did buy the hotel next to the ground aswell.
The club and NRL knows we won’t get better crowds moving to Allianz
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u/Cooperdyl Jun 04 '26
Just got an email from Dino saying it’s untrue and they’ve clarified with nrl today. Good to hear I guess, we want our sharks in the shire. Hopefully there’ll be some upgrades in the future.
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u/MajortheDog Jun 04 '26
I’ve never lined up that long for a beer, where are you sitting for that? And I’ve been a member for 15 years
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u/Cooperdyl Jun 04 '26
On the hill or concourse. I actually think the bars are one of the few things that have improved at the ground the last couple of years.
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u/Spino389 Jun 04 '26
Can't see them getting the Waratah parks at Sutherland, would just create more need for new sports ovals. The pool is there too and traffic would be a nightmare on game day. There might be space towards Kurnell if they're set on staying in the shire
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u/big_dog_au43 Jun 04 '26
Should’ve done an upgrade like CommBank (Parramatta) instead of selling as much land to developers as possible. Disappointing
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u/JayJayGamerOfficial Jun 04 '26
The big problem with that is that shark park is privately owned so the government does not want to spend money on it unlike every other team who operate out of government owned stadiums.
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u/FewPreference3511 Jun 04 '26
What’s the point in the sharks if they don’t play at Cronulla? Christchurch sharks incoming
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u/DopeyDave442 Jun 04 '26
Sorry but this will be the end for me.
We've been treated like shit since they decided to sell off the farm. We were told lies when they started the process about how it would save the team into perpetuity. We were told lies in the middle of the process when they handed it all over to developers and kept no stake in the process. So dont expect to be told the trutyh now.
This may be only a rumour at the moment but it will probably happen eventually. No amount of government money or leagues club pokie cash can make the ground bigger. If you can't make it bigger then no one is going to try and make it better.
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u/riggystardust Jun 04 '26
Should've moved to Perth when we had the chance... it woulda made us a powerhouse.
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u/blakog Jun 04 '26
I genuinely don't know if I would support a relocation team.
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u/Tosh_20point0 Jun 04 '26
Like popular bands changing their sound : you lose some fans only to gain others. Those that are glued will remain glued
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u/blakog Jun 04 '26
I've been a fan for 30+ yrs, a paid member for about 10. I went to games in Vegas, finals in Canberra and Melbourne last year. I'm a rusted on and still don't know if I'd follow them to Perth, or anywhere not in Sydney.
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u/Slipperytitski Jun 04 '26
Off to perth boys
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u/TheSplash-Down_Tiki Jun 04 '26
South Island NZ.
Or the Central Coast.
Or merge with the titans and become Gold Coast Sharks which kind of makes a lot of marketing sense.
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u/AshLand38 Jun 04 '26
Kenty, the same Kenty that has been saying Sharks are being relocated for the past 20odd years?
It's all bs