The transformation of ANZ Stadium from AFL to NRL field

The overnight transformation of Sydney's ANZ Stadium from AFL to NRL field on preliminary finals weekend 2012.
57,156 fans packed the venue for the Sydney Swans v Collingwood Magpies AFL preliminary final on Friday 21 September and a crowd of 70,354 filled the stands for the blockbuster NRL preliminary final between two of the Stadium's home teams, the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and South Sydney Rabbitohs.
The back-to-back weekend of sporting action produced the biggest crowds at ANZ Stadium since the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games - and one of the biggest weekends in Sydney's sporting history.

[@Lukey-D]

I love when they just move the stand lmao

[@TheEhindy]

Thats so cool! Ive always wanted to watch the transformation!

[@sessi0000]

Great video!

[@khairulnizam7861]

i miss old design during sydney 2000

[@zaco21_]

Wdym it’s literally the same thing but they got rid of the stands from sides 😂

[@MrTar1981]

Awesome!!!

[@Superdriveucrazy]

Awesome video, well done. Love ANZ stadium

[@chazza5606]

How tf do you “love” this stadium, great acting

[@BrisbaneBroncosfan67]

Yeah this stadium is bad for all sports.

[@luckytio3006]

amazing

[@LachlanKellett]

I have never realised How Much work goes on behind the Scenes when not allowed inside the Stadium. Moving the entire Stands forward DAMN, I wonder if the MCG is similar except there isn't NRL games played there.

[@allanlafontaine2587]

MCG doesn’t have movable stands, they should get them though. Docklands stadium in Melbourne does have movable stands though to go from AFL to NRL/Soccer

[@BrisbaneBroncosfan67]

@@allanlafontaine2587well it’s no longer going to use that as A-league games are no longer played there.

[@allanlafontaine2587]

@@BrisbaneBroncosfan67 yeah probably too big for A league games, but the stadium still has the capacity to host bigger soccer games if needed. AFL don’t use ANZ/Accor stadium anymore either, only one game there since 2015 but if they want to schedule a big game there they know they can.

[@BrisbaneBroncosfan67]

@@allanlafontaine2587yeah the only a-league games that Docklands could host are finals games, but the A-league finals are in the AFL’s season, so that won’t happen.

[@sebastianliggieri8411]

what is the song name at the beginning. I remember it being a good song just can't remember the name?

[@shopnilshopnil511]

I want more video like this

[@charlottechannel3218]

Go swans!!!🕊

[@KingMatto]

Nice video, what is the song for the NRL part of the video?

[@dragonboy555]

Look at all the work Nrl has to put in just because

[@harrymeister4253]

Changed to Accor Stadium now for any newcomers to the video.

[@HSimon1981]

shame they don't use ANZ stadium for Swans and big bash games now

[@swansbear]

We seriously hate it. The Sydney Swans belong at the SCG

[@LachlanKellett]

Welp, GWS vs Sydney at ANZ ( Accor Stadium Australia ) Round 1, 2022. I live in Vic and don't go for neither team, but still can't wait to see a Game Played there

[@adambrock3932]

Actually it's the Sydney thunders home stadium

[@matthewnorman9803]

I love the stadium

[@Firedogies]

@@adambrock3932 no it’s not

[@ThatPerthFan]

It needs to be said, I went to ANZ Stadium travelling from Perth in September to see Freo v Sydney. Worst place for AFL I've ever seen.

[@Kevinduddo]

please come down to docklands

[@ThatPerthFan]

I have. Docklands is so much better than this. Yeah, the field is shit but its not as shit as the wings at ANZ

[@Kevinduddo]

CityRuler1 Footy park was worse, access was terrible, and the facilities barely cope with crowds above 25,000. But recently the MCG and Docklands are both nightmares for getting out of there by train, I've had to wait up to 30 minutes to get a train to Dandenong, before getting a Cranbourne Train from there home

[@ThatPerthFan]

I remember from this year, Saturday nights after the football at Patersons Stadium I had to wait up to an hour one time for a train leaving Perth train station going out of the city

[@Kevinduddo]

CityRuler1 ouch!

[@ThatPerthFan]

Wont be doing this very often anymore :D

[@adambrock3932]

They still do but only for BBL games

[@newsgetsold]

Is it ever going to host AFL again? Swans Preliminary Final is at SCG this year.

[@StadiumAustralia1]

Absolutely - we hosted the GWS v Swans match earlier this year

[@watermelonandpotato]

I wouldn't say I have a closed mind, but at the end of the day I guess I like sports that have a more free-flowing gameplay; so I can sit down and watch a game of rugby union but the stop-start nature of league and gridiron makes it too repetitive for me to watch it for 2+hrs. As for last year's AFL GF, yeah that's a pretty spot-on call, although we've had a pretty damn good run of notable GFs, you have to go back to 2000 for the last GF that was that unremarkable.

[@kadebuntine3104]

I’d say union is as repetitive. Constant rucks

[@user-ow4qc3lc1b]

What a fortune there's such a stadium large enough to franchise almost all types of ball game... In Taiwan, nothing is larger then a baseball field, which only half as large of Cricket field.

[@growrugbyleague6353]

love Taiwan

[@22Bruinsdude]

Who was the band at half time ? 🎸

[@JJ-ym8bu]

I hate this stadium. I cant wait until its rebuilt and it becomes a permanent rectangular stadium. Amen to that.

[@thebandit6123]

So now that it’s not what are your current thoughts?

[@hunter8637]

Fuck

[@chazza5606]

Same, everything about the 2000 olympics was good except for this stadium

[@tonks8526]

Impressively well designed stadium. Anyone know how do they after the turf underneath the seating that is pulled over for NRL? Are the seats retracted every week for maintenance of the turf and to provide it with some sunlight at least?

[@chazza5606]

A+ for good acting

[@tonks8526]

@@chazza5606 ?

[@chazza5606]

It’s a terribly designed stadium because you can say how well the seats can move and all that shit but you are too far away from the action to enjoy, no matter the seat you sit in, it’s an absolute shocker

[@JakeAdams-jh3vv]

Cool

[@bobandlarrey]

they should have a WRESTLEMANIA there

[@thedemonincarnate938]

YESH

[@peter-josephlamusitele6296]

I hope in the near future WWE can do WrestleMania worldwide instead of just in USA & Canada

[@TheMrPeteChannel]

It would be like at 7am your time. Won't work.

[@shoaibakter7156]

Recommended after 10years 🫡

[@sacamano71]

that is good...

[@DigitalGamingPro]

nice

[@stephenfegan924]

Your telling me the posts aren't stuck in the ground?!?

[@stealerknob3658]

Yes they are

[@BigMan-mc4vk]

The stadium is not so bad when they play Nrl Over their

[@farisnaufal6637]

if anyone com9lained that anz stadium doesnt have rectangular field, remember it also host cricket game

[@mabiorcholappreciationpage]

Not anymore

[@doobiedanable]

Why the NRL bashing? I love both NRL and AFL. I probably watch more AFL but if you enjoy sport why can't you enjoy the spectacle of each. I support the Swans and the Roosters and go to both games. Go you roosters!

[@geo3867]

Here Here

[@OldFossil]

Finally. Someone with common sense!

[@blessredy]

It looks like the NRL is bigger than the AFL is. I'm American so I could be wrong.

[@baileycampbell7712]

Na mate alfs bigger in Australia

[@baileycampbell7712]

And the reason why there's so many people at the nrl game was because it was the finals and the opened up the top part

[@blessredy]

bailey campbell Oh ok thanks for clarifying

[@kamula992]

AFL has a MUCH higher average attendance than NRL

[@michaelolofsson8558]

That doesnt mean that its more popular by any means. NRL TV viewership is much higher than the AFL.

[@eggman903]

I’m so sad they changed the name I preferred ANZ stadium then Accor stadium

[@iloverichmondandfootycards7162]

Why haven't they played cricket or footy there for that long, I mean they probably since the video came out.

[@pretzlsports25]

Great visions! Up the Swans!

[@baileycampbell7712]

I was at that swans game

[@EBGamez1]

627th like and 627th subscriber :)

[@99dndd]

Just think, London could have had a great, adaptable stadium like this. Instead, they tried to do it on the cheap and are paying to have it fixed now.

[@chazza5606]

Yeah but this stadium is too far away from the field, has no atmosphere most of the time, bad views at the northern and southern end. It’s the worst stadium in Australia, the best stadium in Australia is the rival of this one, Suncorp stadium

[@CharliesTransportAdventures]

That’s Accor stadium

[@emgee65]

Wanna hear a joke? .... NRL!

[@juliekeast6175]

AFL with all it's rule changes is becoming as bigger a joke.

[@adambrock3932]

Want to hear an even bigger joke AFL

[@OldFossil]

@@adambrock3932 how is Australia’s game a joke?

[@dragonboy555]

Of afl*

[@gpoulos68]

And stadium is terrible it should be rebuilt

[@Ub3rSk1llz]

worst stadium in the country.

[@markcrockett647]

Nothing like wasting billions of dollars of tax payers' money on redeveloping perfectly good and new stadiums!!!! As if there are no more pressing need in NSW.

[@adambrock3932]

This stadium has been in use since the 90s it was the main stadium for the 2000 Olympics

[@flamingfrancis]

@@adambrock3932 First used in 1999, exactly one year before Olympics.

[@adambrock3932]

@@flamingfrancis that's why I said 90s

[@charlieboyd2453]

Worst stadium ever crap for afl and the nrl don't even play the grand final at a rectangular stadium

[@nwk0301]

yes they do you idiot

[@idonthave1millionsubscribe910]

Charlie Boyd its not that, the only reason they do it there is because of the capacity of seats they need when a final comes they need at least 83 thousand seats then a 30 thousand seat stadium

[@cjrantfifa]

anz stadium is the smallest stadium in nsw

[@chazza5606]

And the worst

[@peter-josephlamusitele6296]

Um it's the biggest in NSW and second biggest in Australia falling behind to the MCG

[@Charles-SG]

More like the worst stadium in the world

[@chazza5606]

Fax tho

[@flamingfrancis]

Opinions are like arseholes....everybody has one....Sgt. Harry.

[@themasonexperience6844]

MCG better

[@watermelonandpotato]

Oh please, NRL is a dying code and you know it.... I always see people here complaining about how terrible AFL is, the presence of AFL teams in rugby territory clearly gets under you skin doesn't it? Down in Victoria you have no idea how much we don't care about NRL, the culture is nearly non-existent. We literally regard it with the same disdain as A-league soccer, it is that unworthy of consideration down here.

[@iiHotShot]

Gayfl

[@stealerknob3658]

Nrl is shit

[@trainco1643]

The only people that call it ‘GayFL’ are those that are just jealous, don’t understand or can’t accept the fact that Aussie rules is the real Australian football and shits all over league any day of the week.

[@OldFossil]

Fun fact: Most people that call it “GayFL” live in some poor suburb, are overweight, have a drinking problem or live off the streets :D

[@gkavner]

AFL is the reason this stadium is not one of the world's greatest treasures. What a nightmare, THANKS FOR NOTHING from the people of Sydney and the football codes we're actually interested in (check out the ABS participation rates: www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4156.0.55.001Feature+Article1May%202009)

[@MrSweetness1983]

watermelonandpotato 1st: "NRL a dieing code", i welcome your attempt via facts to prove that bogus claim. 2nd: Football is the biggest/best game in the world period, the fact that you dismiss it so easily might explain why Vic is such an insular state with closed minded people like yourself talking up a niche sport played seriously in 3 states in only one country, with no representative future on the horizon. 3rd: AFL's presence in Western Sydney is a losing venture as it stands, along with all the other recent expansion teams, not to mention the Bloods are still struggling to make a profit each year, look up the losses on all the expansion teams balance sheets, the fact that AFL moved GWS games to Skoda (not western Sydney) then Canberra says to me that they are holding up the white flag, and that is 2 years in haha. 4th: As a western Sydney boy who supports the Bloods, i wish the Giants a slow death.

[@ademhodzic5708]

get that afl shit out of hear and bring nrl a man sports

[@melonman3924]

adem hodzic I need to show you some AFL hits STOP CALLING US SOFT Other wise we will knock NRL players out and then we'll see how soft we are

[@ademhodzic5708]

but its funny and true

[@BrandonjSlippingAway]

ANZ is a shit ground for AFL anyway. In fact, it's a shit ground for any sport. Thank God they're going to renovate this soulless shitheap.

[@musicandgamingfc395]

adem hodzic girls can play nrl

[@JakeHolzman]

Up up the sharks: Cronulla sharks - NRL Cheer cheer the red and the white: Sydney swans - AFL Glory glory man united: Manchester United - Premier League Sydney is sky blue: Sydney FC - A-League