Membership facilities

[eddiewoof]

OK, got my card yesterday. The included blurb stated what I had expected, predicated and feared. There are NO mebership facilities at ME stadium. As a foundation Gold member who signed up the moment the office opened, I am disappointed with my seat (EEE8) and, with the total lack of facilities. All decent areas have gone corporate. The Glory member's bar is gone, the old Glory member's bar is gone. All that is left is slop-shops around the ground, portable loos and hamburger stalls. I'm not interested in food, but it would have been nice to have somewhere reasonably comfy to sit and have a beer or whatever. At least that I could do at Subi.
Here there is nowhere to relax before, during or after the game. I don't generally bother drinking during the game, and from where I'll be sat it would be a waste of time anyway going to one of the slop-shops, at least without helicopter facilities.

The blurb makes much of 'rectangular stadium'. Well, that's all it is. Nothing has changed my mind about this sub-standard ground. From my seat it will be far from 'close to the action' or 'intimate', I'm just as far from the action as I was at subi, with the ony diference being elevation. I acknowledge that the corporate dollar is needed, but frankly, Gold members have been crapped upon, we are paying big bucks for base facilities. Unless there is a decent stadium built very very soon (not just in pipe-dream words) then I reckon the Force will continue to lose members.

Sorry to be so negative. I will await the first game with curiosity to see just what it is going to be like from my seat.

[tragic]

I'm further away than you - EE12 - and the view is way better than my gold seating at Subi, so I'm not sure what sort of seat you had at Subiaco, but it sounds as though you must have been on the fence.

It is not like Subi where you have to walk for ages and queue longer to get drinks or food. You'll be there and back in no time. No helicopter required (don't know how you got that impression).

I wouldn't mind a big members' tent or the like outside the ground for before and after the game, though. I agree that they should be providing something.

[Burgs]

They were pretty much my thoughts in finally making the decision not to renew this year Eddie.
It was not a decision made lightly but also being inaugural Gold members we ended up being in a corner an aisle or armslength away from Silver, I think the same bay as you mentioned. Our loyalty got totally shafted.
I'm sorry, but those who subscribe to this "any seat" mantra obviously have never been in the good seats at Subi because they are there and they crap on the Gold corner seats of MES.

[tragic]

Burgs, are there the same number of good gold seats at Subi and MES?

[Burgs]

Undoubtably not Tragic, but you would think that those with four year unbroken Membership would be given a better option than across the aisle from Silver.
The edge of Gold/Silver is still in basically the same position as it was at Subiaco.

[Blackswan]

I guess there are two aspects to the complaints - the seating location and the facilities.

It's not clear to me as to why one would be disappointed with block EEE8 which is by the half way line ?? It would be unreasonable to expect gold seats - regardless of how long one had been a member - to be the best in the house. There is a hierarchy which you may not like but it is corporate/diamond followed by gold, silver etc. Block EEE8 is pretty much the best gold seats in the house because all of the ones on the lower two tiers near the half way line are either corporate or diamond. Diamond prices work out at almost $300 more than gold per seat for the season (that's about $50 per match). How much do you think the corporates have to pay for their seats ? If you wanted to sit in a lower tier block nearer the 25 yd line then you could have requested a move.

As for the facilities then clearly there isn't a members bar but what was provided last night was pretty good - certainly much better than Subi. No problem getting a drinkable beer (3.5%) and with Northbridge just a 20 minute walk away with lots of options for eateries. We were at the Brissie both before and after the match and that was fine =- beer was good, food was good, and the "scenery" was even better

Change implies that there is a difference - we can either view the differences with a positive outlook or otherwise ...........

[tragic]

This is the thing, Burgs, I don't know what else the membership folks could do. It is impossible not to have Gold members sitting next to Silver members, and it is likely that almost all Gold members have been so since the inception. What to do? What would you have done? Did you call them and ask for alternative seating?

I don't think our MES seats are the greatest in Gold, but I know they still shit on what we had at Subi.

And I'm still not sure whether eddie knows what the view from his seat is like or doesn't:
"From my seat it will be far from 'close to the action' or 'intimate', I'm just as far from the action as I was at subi,"
"I will await the first game with curiosity to see just what it is going to be like from my seat."
Sounds like he's judged it before trying it.

It's as Blackswan says, it is different, but it's a shame to either pre-judge or not even give it go.

[shasta]

The seats we had last night were, I suppose, diamond members'. There are none at Subi that come within light years. Right on the action. We upgraded our seats and have watched League from our area in the past - very satisfactory. Subi is far better for pre game etc, but I'm much more focused on the action itself.

I don't see that RugbyWA had a choice anyway. If some past members are dissatisfied enough to pull the pin, so be it. They'll be back if/when the pollies do the right thing.

[zimeric]

what im gobsmacked about is the wingeing about "facilities" cmon folks the one and only reason we moved from Subi was because it was syphoning of $2M a year from WRugby WA and the general rugby public were getting Shafted with shitty seating... noone is saying MES is ideal but its still better in terms of getting 99% of the crowd a better view of the game... and THATS what counts.. not how quickly you can get a beer!

youve probably never sat in a corner seat at Subi and experienced the shit we had to put up with..

[Burgs]

So now instead of "any seat at MES is better than the best at Subiaco" is becoming "most will be better off but don't mention if you got shafted".
Bloody fickle bunch aint yah

[shasta]

So now instead of "any seat at MES is better than the best at Subiaco" is becoming "most will be better off but don't mention if you got shafted".
Bloody fickle bunch aint yah

It's subjective innit? I think everyone is better off with regard to being closer to the action.

Coach can we have that overlay thingy back?

[Swee_82]

So now instead of "any seat at MES is better than the best at Subiaco" is becoming "most will be better off but don't mention if you got shafted".
Bloody fickle bunch aint yah

Nah, just sick of folks who are happy to sit on the sidelines and whinge about what others are doing, instead of contributing to a solution. That membership cards are just arriving this week suggests that thee membership folks weren't just playing seat lotto to get everyone into the new ground.

I knew when the seating allocations came out I'd be towards the bottom of the list (2 season member, silver) so wasn't surprised when I ended up behind the goal-posts at the southern end, as opposed to on the corner, up in the heavens at Subi. Technically, I'm probably in a 'worse' seat now, but wouldn't go back to 308 for love nor money.

I'm dissapointed we didn't get a better crowd last night to get an idea what a packed rectangular stadium is going to be like- the Reds we're necessarily going to be the crowd-puller the Saders were last year- but I still beleive the majority of the people who show up next Friday are going to have a far superior night to the Super Rugby they've experienced these last 4 years.

[robyn <3]

I was way keen on the whole stadium. ONLY thing subi does better than MES was the ladies - MES needs a little work to meet the standard of the my old subi one. But other than that, it was an AMAZING view and I cannot WAIT to get into my seat for the whole season and see my boys thrash the Brumbies next week WITHOUT binoculars

[Burgs]

You can pull up right there Swee, I have never whinged about what others have been doing and I get sick of the implication that any word against MES is seen as a slight to those who were involved in the petition.

I may believe my proposed seats were (are) worse than what I had at Subiaco but that has zero to do with the merits or otherwise of the actions people took.

Unless Government make decisions fast to rectify the situation at MES then I believe, after a brief hiatus of a season or two, numbers will continue to fall.

[Darren]

It's subjective innit? I think everyone is better off with regard to being closer to the action.

Coach can we have that overlay thingy back?