National Rugby League club Manly Sea Eagles has "no plans to walk away from Brookvale Oval," according to Dean Ritchie of the Sydney DAILY TELEGRAPH. An artist's impression reveals a new grandstand -- to seat between 3,000 and 4,000 fans -- on the eastern side of the "dilapidated yet famous footy venue." Manly management believes the stand, which fans have been waiting 20 years for, "will be finished for the start" of the NRL's '18 season. It will "come as welcome news to fans worried their club may move games to Allianz Stadium, ANZ Stadium or Central Coast Stadium." The new stand will be constructed between the two 20m lines. Brookie's "well-known hill will remain either side of the stand and at the northern end of the ground." Building is planned to start in September either next season or in '17 and be ready for kickoff in '18, at the latest. Brookvale has seating for just 3,900 fans and "only 2,200 of those are under cover." The new stand "could double the seating capacity." The cost of the stand has not yet been finalized but A$10M ($7.2M) will come from a Federal Government grant. Manly still harbors plans for a "completely new stadium" when additional funds become available. This new stand has been dubbed "stage one." Manly CEO Joe Kelly said, "We are 100 percent committed to Brookvale Oval and we want to demonstrate that by actually starting with this development. ... We have never had another plan and any suggestion to the contrary is totally false" (DAILY TELEGRAPH, 10/23).
MEMBERSHIPS SOAR: Ritchie reported in a separate piece some "irate Manly fans threatened to walk away from the club" when coach Geoff Toovey was "controversially sacked." It seems, though, that the anger "has subsided at Manly with membership numbers booming." The Sea Eagles have sold 100 memberships each day over the past 18 working days. Manly now has a 15,000 membership goal for the '16 season. Last year, the club had 12,500 members. Kelly said, "We have set ourselves lofty goals this year. We want to build our membership by about 2,500. The club is hoping to reach 15,000 members this coming year and the early signs are really positive" (DAILY TELEGRAPH, 10/23).
