Sharks Stadium, known historically as Endeavour Field and colloquially as Shark Park,[3][4] is a rugby league stadium in the southern Sydney suburb of Woolooware, New South Wales, Australia. It is the home ground of the Cronulla-Sutherland Rugby League Club, which represents the Cronulla and Sutherland Shire areas in the National Rugby League competition. The Sharks are as of 2023 just one of two professional sporting clubs in Australia (excluding the Australian Football League's ownership of Docklands Stadium) that own and operate their home ground (alongside the Dolphins via their parent club Redcliffe who compete in the QRL with their home ground, Kayo Stadium) as well as Western United's future home ground Wyndham City Stadium. The Sharkies Leagues Club sits beside the stadium.
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| Former names | Southern Cross Group Stadium Remondis Stadium Toyota Stadium Ronson Field Caltex Field Endeavour Field |
|---|---|
| Location | Woolooware, New South Wales |
| Coordinates | 34°2′19″S 151°8′27″E / 34.03861°S 151.14083°E |
| Owner | Cronulla-Sutherland Rugby League Club |
| Operator | Cronulla-Sutherland Rugby League Football Club |
| Capacity | 12,000[1] (capacity reduced due to redevelopment) 15,000[2] (2023–present) 22,000 (1968–2019) |
| Record attendance | 22,302 – Sharks vs St George Illawarra, 2004 |
| Surface | Grass |
| Opened | 1960 |
| Tenants | |
| Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks (NRL) (1968–2019, 2022–present) Olympic Sharks (NSL) (2001–2003) | |
History
editThe stadium was built in 1966 and currently has a capacity of 20,000.[4]
In 1991, the original western grandstand was demolished and the new Endeavour Stand was built in its place for the 1992 season.[5]
The Cronulla-Sutherland Rugby League Club own the stadium and Leagues Club next door, one of only two NRL clubs to own their own stadium. Local councils usually own sporting venues in Australia.
On 21 April 2006, the Federal Government announced a A$9.6 million grant would be given to the Cronulla Sharks to upgrade the stadium. The upgrade included a new covered stand to seat over 1,500 spectators at the southern end. The new stand was completed in time for the 2008 season.
Renovations are also planned for the ET Stand (originally the Endeavour Stand), named for Cronulla club legend and games record holder Andrew Ettingshausen, and the Peter Burns Stand.
As of June 2020, the Leagues Club is undergoing redevelopment with the Leagues Club closing its doors on 15 December 2019,[6] with the facility originally due to reopen in early 2022.[7] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic impacting construction timelines in the Leagues Club site, the completion date has been pushed back to early 2023,[8] but Cronulla returned to playing home games at the stadium again in 2022 with a temporary capacity of 12,000 in place until mid-2023.[9] Further delays in construction resulted in a new completion date of mid-2024 announced in July 2023.[10]
Ground usage
editRugby league
editIn the NRL competition, the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks team has been playing at this venue since midway through the 1968 NSWRFL season,[11] which was the club's second season into the competition (they had previously played at Sutherland Oval from 1967 until 1968).
High turnout in crowd numbers are usual when Cronulla play local-derby rivals, the St George Illawarra Dragons. The ground attendance record is 22,302, which was set when Cronulla-Sutherland took on St George in May 2004.
In late 2017, the ground hosted the 2017 Women's Rugby League World Cup tournament. It played host to the group stages and semi-finals matches.
During the 2019 NRL season, it was announced that the ground and the Cronulla leagues club would be undergoing renovations and as a result Cronulla revealed that for the next two years that they would be playing home matches away from their spiritual home with Kogarah Oval, WIN Stadium and the new Western Sydney Stadium as new temporary home grounds.[12][13]
Soccer
editThe Sydney Olympic FC club played at the ground for two seasons, from 2001 until 2003, in the former National Soccer League.
Naming rights
editThe ground has had numerous naming rights deals. Names of this ground over the years have been:
Gallery
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Sharkies Leagues Club Sign
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Sharkies Leagues Club Entrance
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Exterior of main stand
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "PointsBet Stadium". Austadium. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
- ^ "PointsBet Stadium (Shark Park) | Austadiums".
- ^ Riccio, David (11 March 2016). "Cronulla Sharks land naming sponsorship for stadium ahead of NRL season opener". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
- ^ a b "Sharks Stadium | Austadiums". Austadiums.com. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
- ^ Taylor, Ashley (24 April 2024). "This week in history: Sharks unveil Endeavour Stand". Cronulla Sharks. NRL. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
- ^ "Sharks Shut Down Marks The End of an Era". Sharkies. 12 December 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
- ^ "Leagues Club Development And Further Updates". Sharkies. 29 April 2020. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
- ^ "Development Update: Sharks forging ahead". sharks.com.au. 21 August 2020. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
- ^ "Sharks to face Eels in PointsBet homecoming". sharks.com.au. 9 November 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
- ^ "Sharks Leagues Club at Woolooware opening target of mid-2024 achievable after hurdles cleared". St George and Sutherland Shire Leader. 23 July 2023. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
- ^ "Rugby League Tables / Endeavour / All Games". afltables.com. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
- ^ "Cronulla Sharks coach pleads with fans to stick by club during Sharks Park renovations". ABC News. 4 September 2019.
- ^ "Sharks Statement - Development Update". Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks. 31 July 2019.