MSP ‘perfect’ for AFL practice matches

RICHMOND Football Club boss Peggy O’Neal has given a big “thumbs up” to the new $45 million Mildura Sporting Precinct after it hosted its maiden AFLW game on Sunday.

A crowd of 2359 soaked up the historic occasion, where finals-bound host club the Tigers prevailed by 43 points against GWS Giants.

A downpour in the hour before the game may have deterred many others from heading to the ground after pre-game ticket sales had nearly topped 3000.

However, Ms O’Neal was delighted with the turnout at MSP, where she said it compared favourably against other major regional football grounds, including Bendigo.

The Tigers president, who has led a golden era for the club over the past decade, gave a strong indication that MSP was in contention to host AFL practice games in the near future.

“As I understand it, the AFL is restructuring what the pre-season looks like. There has been a couple of three games, but I understand there may now only be one,” Ms O’Neal told Sunraysia Daily.

“They are going to instead look at the possibility of a Magic Round, adding a 24th round to the home-and-away season.

“But that doesn’t mean there won’t be practice matches that the AFL doesn’t have to set up in the pre-season. They just won’t be AFL-sanctioned.

“This would be the perfect place for one, especially with the strong Richmond support here.”

She then gave a ringing endorsement of the new precinct. MSP.

“It’s not even a year old and the facility is already looking first rate,” Ms O’Neal said.

“You’ve got a really good-looking ground here and it’s the right size. It’s nice and big.

“There was a good turnout today. If you think about Punt Road, where we play our home games, we only get a couple of thousand people there because we’re in the middle of redeveloping it.

“So, this is a bigger crowd than we’d usually get at home.”

Mildura Mayor Liam Wood said the inaugural AFLW game at MSP was a “groundbreaking event” for the region.

“There’s been a fantastic buy-in from the community to help make sure we get this type of event again and again,” Cr Wood said.

“The footy gods looked after us from the first bounce, when the rain stopped. There’s been a really good atmosphere here today and the most important thing is that both teams are loving it and so is their hierarchy.

“And hats off to (MSP bosses) Chelsea (Pettinau) and Kate (Henschke). They have been working around the clock to make sure the day went well.

“The ground looks amazing and everything’s run like a well-oiled machine.”