By Luke Brailey
Back to Belmore Inc. President

August 9, 2007

Without a doubt, the future of Belmore Sports Ground as the Bulldogs' home ground is the most pressing challenge facing the Bulldogs Rugby League Club. As proud and loyal Bulldogs supporters, we have a moral obligation to urgently address this issue.

By mid-2005, the lure of the commercial dollar proved all too strong for Bulldogs CEO Malcolm Noad who instigated the abandonment of Belmore and relocation to Homebush for the next 15 years. He justified the move by declaring it was "long-sighted as it secured the Bulldogs playing future at Australia's premier sporting venue." [The Torch, 2/11/2005]

The goal of the Bulldogs should be very much focused on upgrading Belmore Sports Ground to a commercial basis to allow as many NRL games as possible. For the Club to achieve this goal it will require significant funding to be upgraded as a sporting venue for all Bulldogs supporters to remain proud of and one that can fully accommodate our NRL aspirations.

The story of the desperate struggle of Bulldogs supporters for their beloved team to play home games at Belmore Sports Ground is of course partly about sport, but it's also about a passionate tradition, about power and politics, and some would say about the soul of rugby league. While the Bulldogs Board confirmed the club's relocation to Homebush for the next 15 years at the AGM in February 2007, their constant refusal to acknowledge their rightful home ground and heed deafening calls from fans to relocate to our spiritual kennel has been a setback for a football club still struggling to regain grassroots support.

The Bulldogs Board has clearly failed to act on Belmore Sports Ground. Simply leaving Belmore is just a band-aid solution and does not address the core problems that lie beneath: neglect, dilapidation and deterioration. We need to go deeper and deal with the core issues, as the Bulldogs are endeavouring to treat the symptoms and not the core problems that lie beneath. It is up to all of us to act now in order to avoid the most frightening impacts of dilapidation, senescence, putrefaction and disrepair.