Poker machines in inner city areas dont do well, we have covered that many times over, yet clearly Edwardstown is a better hunting ground for the club. I am not sure what plans are in place to change things for the better at Barzaar, yet moving it to a lower socio-economic area could prove to be one option. Yet its important to realise that Sturt are in a position where they are facing some heavy financial problems going forward. Perhaps the main issue being that Sturt have few assets like some of the other SANFL clubs that own their venues outright. For Sturt to move forward it would be great to see them purchase the Castle Tavern as opposed to having to "re-negotiate" every time the lease comes up, especially when the lease owners can easilly find out what the club is making profit wise from its report to the club members.
Another issue where Sturt need some support is the current situation with Unley Oval. The local Council seems to be hell bent on making things as hard as they possibly can for the club. Sturt have to contine with this ludicrous costly idea of temporary fencing on match day and are unable to put investment into the ground to improve the training and spectator facilities. One of the reasons that recruits want to go to Central is their first class training facilities and pool and one would think that what Central have will soon be the minimum standard for any SANFL club. Without being able to invest in the training facilities or make the repairs to the grandstand, this is clearly going to place the club at a disadvantage to the other SANFL clubs.
Perhaps one issue is whether Sturt should continue at Unley Oval or make the move either to Adelaide Oval or to further within their Zone instead. As an SANFL traditionalist I would like to see the club stay at Unley Oval, yet if Sturt really are running at a massive loss and have issues that cant be resolved with the council that negatively affect the clubs performance then it is isnt unreasonable I suppose to have a look at what other options might be out there for the club, especially if they include advantaging the club to win games.
Their once neighbouring club South Adelaide made the move further South and into their zone, the revenue from being in that zone has made the club one of the best financial clubs in the SANFL despite having either the worst or second worst win loss ratio. Mt Barker is the fastest growing suburb in S.A and it is all Sturt zone territory. Considering the current financial position of the club its a suggestion that probably will continue to resurface until it is dealt with one way or the other by the club.
The bright light though is that Sturt have come back strongly from a position like this before and won some premierships as a result, so there is no reason that they wont do the same thing again. Last time a number of former Sturt people got back on board with the club and saw the club come out of it, lets hope there is more left in the tank for the same thing to happen again!
