I CAN give you a hundred reasons why newspapers should continue to exist, particularly in regional areas.
One of my top reasons would be the role newspapers such as the Sunraysia Daily play in being the voice of the community and helping drive positive outcomes.
An example of this played out during the week when the Sunraysia Football Netball League listened to growing concerns about the venue it had chosen in June to play its grand finals.
The playing surface at City Oval was in a shabby state, as it usually is at this time of year.
One of the SFNL’s most respected players, Dan Coghlan, said it was “dangerous” to play on.
Before I look at how the past week played out, I’ll take you back to the Sunraysia Daily’s coverage following the controversial 5-4 vote in favour of playing the deciders at dilapidated Mildura Recreation Reserve.
On the day we reported the vote, the Daily’s editor, Jason Shields, described the board’s decision as a “bad one”.
“What they need to be is progressive and brave in their thinking, not stuck in bygone eras,” he wrote.
Jason called for the board to urgently revisit its decision. That was on June 17.
Over the following week, Sunraysia Daily canvassed the views of the club presidents and leading footballers and netballers about the league’s call.
Most of the clubs supported the league’s call at the time, and they were entitled to hold that view.
But that was based on City Oval’s playing surface being to a standard suitable for staging a showpiece event.
The opposing view of many back then was one of bewilderment about the board’s decision not to give the new $45 million Mildura Sporting Precinct (MSP) a go, even if it wasn’t finished.
Sources said the initial MSP resistance was led by netball officials’ concerns about the grand finals being played inside the stadium when most of the season took place outdoors.
As Jason wrote, this was short-sighted and missing a big opportunity for the sport.
Sunraysia Daily sought comment from the main netball official on the board, but there was no response.
The issue died down during much of July, apart from Coghlan’s frustrations.
Earlier this month, the issue flared up again when City Oval’s playing surface resembled a cow paddock.
So last Saturday, SFNL president Paul Matheson spoke on behalf of the broader football community when he told Sunraysia Daily about his fears for players’ welfare on the “unacceptable” City Oval surface.
On the same day, leading umpire Jason Bruhn went down with a knee injury during the first quarter of the seniors’ clash at City Oval between Irymple and Imperials.
I’m happy to report that tests have since cleared Bruhn of any serious structural damage to his right knee.
But on Saturday night, he labelled the ground a “goat track” and a “bloody disgrace”.
Post-match, opposing coaches Mark Wheatley (Imps) and Tom Brownbridge (Swallows) didn’t hold back about their disgust of the playing surface. Wheatley said the ground was “putrid”.
The Daily’s football analyst, Ben Ridley, has also been writing in recent weeks about his concerns for the league playing its grand finals at City Oval.
He was another to implore the SFNL to have a serious rethink of its decision to favour Mildura Recreation over MSP.
These intensifying calls for action prompted the SFNL to hold an extraordinary board meeting on Tuesday night.
In what I believe was a victory for common sense, the league opted to hold its football and netball grand finals on Saturday, September 10.
Matheson is tipping it will be the best grand finals day in more than a decade.
There’ll no doubt be teething issues at the new precinct, but I think it’s going to be a magnificent spectacle and occasion, especially for the youngsters who get to play on the AFL-standard premier oval.
And let’s not forget the netballers in all this.
I reckon they are one of the big winners in this welcome U-turn by the board.
There is likely to be temporary seating for up to 800 people around the main netball court.
Can you imagine the atmosphere this is going to generate? It’ll be pulsating stuff.
Coghlan and Brownbridge both say footballers will be keen to have a look at the netball deciders.
They wouldn’t get this opportunity at the limited-viewing Mildura Recreation Reserve show court.
There are logistical issues for the league and council to sort through over the next few weeks, but everyone should be really excited by what promises to be a great test event ahead of the AFLW game and Kings of Leon concert at MSP in late October.
And if this region’s leading newspaper has helped make this happen, then we were doing our job on behalf of the community.Roos v Eagles: The sequel
If you’re looking for some prime time five star viewing today, then head out to George Gordon Oval for the final-round SFNL seniors’ clash between second-placed Wentworth and fourth-placed Robinvale Euston.
Both teams are already assured of playing in the finals, but that won’t dim the expected serious heat in this 4pm twilight contest.
Roos’ playing coach, Wade Hancock, lit the fire for an explosive first-up encounter between the sides in round 9, when Wenty prevailed by nine points at John James Oval.
The star forward accused the Eagles of being “disrespectful” to his team and that they were “motivated by money”.
What followed was the best game of footy I’ve seen locally all year.
There was ferocity in the contest, quality passages of play, and a result in doubt until the final minutes.
You just couldn’t take your eyes off what was unfolding.
If we get a game anywhere near as good as that finals-like intensity in Dareton today, then it will well and truly be worth the price of admission.Feeling cold without Heat
I’ve been kept busy with all the drama going on with the SFNL, but there’s been something missing in my week.
It’s the Mildura Heat Big V women’s basketball team.
There was some tough reporting this time last week to close out their season, following a heartbreaking finals loss the week before.
Coach James Madigan has become more of a friend than a contact I call each week to preview a game of sport.
And it’s the same with the players. I really hope the pain of the finals defeat is starting to subside for all the team.
I already feel this off-season is going to be too long for the coach, players and a certain reporter.
Redemption can’t start soon enough.
