Our home away from home

Penrith Panthers NRL
1

What are people’s thoughts about our home away from home?

For me:

Pros:

  1. Easier to get around the stadium precinct
  2. Parking closer & don’t have to cross a road to get into the ground (I usually park out the front of the club at Penrith)
  3. Better food options
  4. Toilets closer to my seat

Cons:

  1. Harder to get to from my house (even if it is closer)
  2. The rows seem to be narrower, which is no good for my knees
  3. Stairs are steeper, luckily I’m at the front of my bay
  4. No cash (my preferred payment method)
  5. Paying for parking*
  6. It’s fkn Parramatta!!!

*Pending test of getting there 3+ hours early

1 Like
2

I won’t be going there any time soon but the worse thing has got to be the dangerous state of the pitch.

2 Likes
3

I have avoided posting so far since my experience last night - keep going over in my head the email I am going to send the club.

It wasn’t just a bad experience, it was f$!/?! Awful!

Ok for the single good note: the view of the ground from my seat was great.

Now for the rest-

Firstly, getting to the game; a half hour trip by train turned into a 2 hour ordeal. Instead of getting there just as the gate opened, arrived 15 minutes after the game had started (with thousands of other Panther fans). Some gave up partway through the tortuous trip.

Then a hot and sweaty walk to the ground at pace.

Getting through the gates was ok, as was finding where to go, but from there the whole experience went pear shaped.

A confrontation with a rude and obnoxious attendent was to follow included a lovely quote of “you get over there, we don’t want you Penrith scum …” I have never in my life heard such vile from an attendant at any other game!

Then a climb of what must be 100 steep steps, which if you put it into any other building would not pass BCA standards.

Now hot , exhausted and angry I take my seat to watch the game, see other panthers fans the same and bathed with sweat.

A loud stadium does not make a soulful one, in the upper level the audio level is deafening (a problem shard with some sections of Homebush as well).

Then to realise our pre-game plan was to get dinner before the game. Back down the 100 or so stairs again. The steepness of each step sending shooting pain into my knees. Oh what fun this is!

Try to find food - walk past 3 bars before finding a food outlet ! Wtf! Ok the food was of good quality, a Burger each, chips (shared) and 2 drinks- that’s $67 by visa tap and go thanks. Guess I am not used to paying big stadium food prices at home games. Oh for the want of a hot dog, pie or sausage roll! Other customers were asking for pies to no avail, and many wanted to pay cash.

Climb the 100 stairs again, after getting a snarl from the rude attendant woman. Now bathed in sweat, settle into my seat for a the last couple of minutes of the first half. My daughter remarks how the chips were better at Penrith….

Now the half time “entertainment “. Yes they warned of bright flashing light (not that I suffer from epilepsy or anything) , but the certainly did not wane of what was to come- copping a laser light shined directly into my eye, leaving me with blurred vision for the next 5 to ten minutes.

My daughter (god bless her) asked why they couldn’t just put on the junior relay?

Maybe I was just grumpy from the train ride in and missing the start, maybe just grumpy by our teams on field performance. I don’t know yet. I have resigned myself to giving it an other go…. However overhearing discussions from others on the trip home, many are saying this was their first and last time.

A lot of things need fixing, and the stairs climb issue makes me fear for the design of the new stadium. Oh and also great work venues NSW, leaving whole sections and bays empty!

…end of rant for now, you should all be glad I didn’t post last night :joy:

1 Like
4

From what I can see of the designs, I think we may be in for a similar problem when we return home. From what I can tell where I normally sit won’t be undercover either, which may tempt me to switch sides so I can stay dry.

1 Like
5

Our first home game at Commbank did not work as we hoped.

It was a very uncomfortable night weatherwise, which made it very uncomfortable as a spectator, but I spare a thought for the participants. I recall a couple of games at Penrith Park similar, against the dogs & knights, but Friday night seemed to be that we were in Hades, not Parra :grinning:

The stadium itself is excellent with the old ‘not a bad seat in the house’ idiom pretty well correct. We have been there before, so there were no surprises about the steepness of the stairs & the closeness of the rows. Our seats in 215 row 7 were exactly what we had requested & there were familiar faces around us, again by request, so no complaints there.

Getting in & out and moving around the concourse are way better than we have put up with at Penrith, and many other venues.

Prices for food & drink are high, but in line with what we knew they would be - EventNSW pricing. We don’t eat at the footy normally & know what we will pay for a beer at the event - no surprises there.

We look forward to future games and a return HOME :paw_prints: :paw_prints:

2 Likes