Rail Collapsing At Leichhardt Oval Fuels Argument For Urgent Upgrades

The collapsing of railing at Leichhardt Oval at the weekend during a rugby match has added evidence to the conversation that suburban grounds need upgrades, sports greats and council members have said.

While no one was severely injured from the incident, about 30 spectators were sent tumbling onto the concrete below at the match which pulled an attendance of 15,000.

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The incident comes just days after it was announced the NSW State Government would pull the pin on plans to invest $250 million in suburban sporting grounds, creating a fiery feud between the government and the NRL.

It was planned Leichhardt Oval would receive $50 million in upgrades under the State Government’s funding pledge, while Manly and Cronulla’s home grounds were expected to receive about $100 million each.

West Tigers legend Benny Elias told the ABC the collapsed railing showed why the State Government needed to invest in upgrades at suburban grounds, especially at Leichhardt Oval.

“It basically defined why we want upgrades of ovals like Leichhardt Oval and other suburban areas,” he said.

“The facilities are very old and not to today’s standards.”

Inner West Mayor Darcy Byrne said the collapsing was “incredibly dangerous” and furiously urged NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet to hand in his West Tigers’ membership.

“The footage is shocking ... We are making the site safe and will fully investigate the safety risks this raises,” he said.

“Having lied to and sold-out Tigers fans the Premier should just hand his membership ticket back in.

“Anyone willing to kill off the eighth wonder of the world doesn’t deserve to wear the black, white and orange of Wests Tigers.”

The West Tigers would usually split its home games across four stadiums, including at Leichhardt Oval, and despite the upgrades no longer going ahead, the club’s chairman Lee Hagipantelis said the club would play at the ground.

“We’re in the midst of ­developing a stadium policy because our contractual agreements with CommBank and Accor end this year,” he said.

“We had factored in an ­upgrade of Leichhardt. Now of course we have to factor into our thinking that there will be no upgrade.

“The facilities at Leichhardt are not NRL-standard, they are third-world.

“We will not give up Leichhardt Oval but we will have to endure it for longer than we would have hoped.”

In a statement, Sports Minister Alister Henskens said the government was still committed to upgrading facilities but has changed priorities to support COVID-19 and flood recovery.

“The NSW Government remains committed to upgrading suburban stadiums however following recent natural disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic, it is appropriate that further investment in stadia is staged,” the statement read.

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