I’M still coming to grips with revelations last week that certain sections of the Sunraysia Football Netball League hierarchy are considering moving its grand-final day back to the dilapidated Mildura Recreation Reserve.
The bold move out to the new $46 million Mildura Sporting Precinct for grand-final day in 2022 was lauded by participants, officials and many of the 7500 fans who turned out.
However, the extra costs associated with the shift from Brian Weightman Oval to MSP contributed to the SFNL posting a $25,935 loss last year.
It’s prompted some senior officials to look at ditching the new facility, which has an AFL-standard main oval and further improvements to come.
“All options are on the table,” SFNL president Paul Matheson said when asked where this year’s grand finals would be played.
I then asked him whether it was incumbent on the league to showcase its biggest day of the year at the best possible facility?
“It is and it isn’t. We just have to put on the best possible day,” he said.
The league is far from broke, so the finances argument doesn’t really stack up for me.
Financial records show the league had $378,357 in cash surplus at the end of October 2022.
Unlike Matheson, I believe the league has a responsibility to the game to play its grand finals at the premier venue in the region.
I checked in with Mildura Council this week to see what additional features would be completed at MSP by grand-final day on Saturday, September 9.
Here’s a snapshot of its response:
* More than 200 extra carparks and additional overflow parking areas at the rear of the stadium
* Terraced shaded seating at the premier oval to seat about 300 people
* A second oval completed with additional change rooms and umpire facilities
* Four outdoor netball courts, including competition lighting
* Additional ground-floor social space; and
* Full perimeter ticket fencing with gates
The entry/exit points on Sixteenth Street are also expected to be improved in the next six months.
I road-tested the possibility of the SFNL grand finals being shifted back to the old venue with a couple of out-of-town club presidents this week.
Robinvale Euston Football Netball Club president Phil Lamattina shot the idea down in flames.
“It would be ludicrous to go back to City Oval,” he said.
“The new precinct, especially the main oval, is already second to none in the region and the whole thing isn’t finished yet.
“Why would they be even thinking along these lines?”
He said it would be an “embarrassing” look for the SFNL if they made such a retrograde step just to save a few bucks.
“We spend good coin on our players and our club facilities and then, when it comes to the big dance we’re going to put (ex-AFL player Jarrod) Brander, for instance, on City Oval when he instead should be on an AFL-standard ground,” Lamattina said.
“Are they for real?”
Merbein Football Netball Club president Toney Hurley believes that MSP “should be the long-term venue for grand-final day” after having early reservations about the new site.
“I’ll be honest, the first time I drove past it on Sixteenth Street, I thought it was a waste of $40-odd million,” he said.
“But when I went through it, I thought ‘wow’. If you take the price tag away and the fact it could do with some more seats, we have something pretty special there.”
Hurley did, however, think the SFNL played the grand finals at MSP “12 months too early”.
“I’m old school, mate. I would have thought it’d be good have a send-off for No.1 Oval,” he said.
“It’s been the showpiece ground for the league for many, many years, and I just thought it would have been fitting to have one last special grand final day there.
“That’s just me. I think we need to respect the history of the game.”
He also revealed his club failed to make any money out of running a drinks stall at the precinct last year.
“We made an $8000 or $9000 profit when we did it at No.1 Oval, but last year we struggled to make any money because every man and his dog was doing drinks,” Hurley said.
“So we went from making a good profit to making no profit last year. We won’t do it again.”
We’re still nine weeks away from the SFNL season even kicking off, but I’m tipping there’ll be a huge outcry if the league goes back to the future in returning to a facility that desperately needs an upgrade.
$20K BOOST FOR DREAMTIME
THE Dreamtime at the P representative football and netball fixture at MSP on April 15 received a big boost this week when organisers locked in a major sponsor.
Agriculture company Haeusler’s has agreed to kick in $20,000 after being attracted by the Dreamtime’s focus on indigenous issues.
One of the game’s organisers, Michael Robertson, said Haeusler’s were keen to give more work opportunities to the under-privileged.
“They’ll have a tent at the game where young people can find out more about having a career in new-age, high-tech ag,” he said.
“We want to make a difference to people’s lives with this concept, and Haeusler’s is on board with that.”
The first open training sessions for the Sunraysia footy and netball teams will be held tomorrow from 10am at Sarah Oval, with the public welcome to attend.
GIVING CROCS MORE BITE
THERE’S a terrific north-west Victoria storyline playing out in the Northern Territory Premier League football competition this summer.
Reigning McLeod Medallist Kaine Stevens and fellow Ouyen United pair Dallas Willsmore and Dean Staunton, along with Imperials star defenders Matt Mazzini and Ben Galbraith have helped propel Southern Districts to the top of the table.
Ahead of today’s final home-and-away round, the Crocs are two games clear of second-placed Waratah and in the box seat for finals glory.
The Crocs were beaten in the elimination final last season.
GETTING DUCKS IN A ROW
A SUNRAYSIA junior cricket scoreboard caught our newsroom’s eye this week.
A 10-player Mildura Settlers team were bowled out for 8 off seven overs in their Under 14 Division 2 game last weekend against Irymple, who had posted 9/177 in their first innings.
There were no less than eight ducks in the Setts total, with “extras” (6) the highest scorer.
Let’s hope the Setts kids keep their chins up and put it down to a tough lesson at the crease.
