Undercover seating should have been a no-brainer for new oval

THE absence of undercover seating around the premier footy oval at the $46 million Mildura Sporting Precinct has been a big talking point since many fans were left drenched during last weekend’s rain-affected Dreamtime games.

Before I reveal the next bit of news in this ongoing farce, I want to reinforce that the Dreamtime at the P concept was brilliant.

It achieved so much in such a short amount of time.

Sunraysia Daily football analyst Ben Ridley, an assistant coach for Sunraysia and one of three event organisers, reveals in his column today just how much it’s revived rep footy in the region after the incredible buy-in from the elite players.

It was also wonderful to see how it shone a light on the challenges facing the Indigenous communities in both Sunraysia and Alice Springs, where the Central Australia Redtails play out of.

The Mallee Tigers’ best-on-ground, Jimmy Kennedy, and co-coach Nathan Yates both said in their post-match comments how much the event meant to their Indigenous program.

It was the Tigers’ first chance in years to showcase their best talent at home against a Millewa rep team also making a welcome return to action for the first time since 2008.

The only downer on the day was the wet weather, which again exposed a major design flaw in the original precinct plans.

While the persistent rain deterred many from coming to the ground, there was still a crowd of 3000 who attended the day that showcased the best of the best local footy and netball talent.

It just would have been nice if there had been more undercover areas than the few small marquees that were provided by South Mildura Sporting Club.

Regular readers of this page will know there’s a bit of rinse and repeat in my feelings on the lack of seating at MSP, both outdoors and indoors.

Since the precinct was officially opened in December 2021, Mildura Council has batted away the seating concerns with a continual “it’s a work-in-progress” line.

I accept that. But here’s my point: undercover seating should have been included in the Stage 1 plan.

Instead of wasting big money on advice from out-of-town consultants, the council needed to first spend more time with local user groups to see what their requirements were, before embarking on a fact-finding mission to other regional sporting stadiums and precincts in Victoria.

But here we are. There’s a nice big green hill to sit and stand on to watch the footy on a sunny day, but no undercover seating for general punters if it rains.

And let’s not forget the summer cricket season when punters need shade in the stifling heat.

So, when will we see undercover seating at MSP?

According to the football and netball tenant at MSP, it was meant to be by this weekend for round 1 of the SFNL competition.

The council disputes this, saying the promise was for “early in the SFNL season”.

Well, either way, those plans have suffered a setback.

Those at the ground last weekend would have seen a small area under construction between the stadium and the premier oval.

This is where a terraced area with about 200 seats is slated to be built.

However, the council revealed this week that there had been a discovery at the site of “some unexpected underground services which needed to be relocated”.

“It means the terraced seating is now expected to be in place mid-year,” a council spokesman said.

Bulldogs president Kevin Burke is probably getting sick of me calling him to get a reaction on the planning setbacks at MSP.

But he was good enough to give me a short response to the latest problem.

“We were told the same thing (about the terrace delay) at a meeting last night (Tuesday),” he said.

“It’s frustrating, but we’re sort of used to it by now.”

INDOOR PROGRESS

MILDURA Council says it is finalising plans to get more indoor seating at MSP to cater for the Mildura Heat’s Big V home games next season.

The Heat baulked at relocating to MSP this season over seating concerns and whether the new stadium was fit to host its sponsors.

But it in a statement this week, the council’s acting community general manager Mark Jenkins said: “We expect the Heat will transition to the Mildura Sporting Precinct later this year or early 2024 depending on delivery of seating by third-party suppliers as part of Stage 2 works.

“There are two components to the indoor seating.

“There is the general seating, which will offer the flexibility to be used throughout Court Hall 1, and Mildura Basketball Association corporate seating, which will be positioned under the overhead seating area in Court Hall 1.”

He said that in terms of the general indoor seating, “we’ve almost finalised the procurement process”.

“Timing of the delivery of these seats will be dependent on the third-party supplier,” Jenkins said.

“The corporate seating is being delivered in partnership with the Mildura Basketball Association (MBA)

“As part of this arrangement, we have been meeting regularly with association representatives to finalise the seating designs to ensure they meet their needs.

“Other progress includes new LED displays throughout both court halls, which were funded by the MBA with support from council, which are primarily used for sponsorship material and messaging.

“We have also recently upgraded the show court screen to include game scoring.”

MBA president Leigh Anderson thanked the council for taking on board local basketball’s feedback.

He said he was confident the stadium would be fit to host the club’s Big V games in the near future.

QUIET ACHIEVERS

ALL the hype around the Dreamtime at the P this month has overshadowed the Mildura Heat basketball teams making promising starts to their respective Big V seasons.

The Big V fixture has meant both the women’s and men’s outfits have been mostly on the road to open their campaigns.

James Madigan’s side have made a much better start to the season than last year.

After being anchored at the bottom with a 1-5 win-loss record early last season, the Heat women are sitting in third (4-2) in the Division 1 competition after winning both games on the road last weekend.

I interviewed the new American import Tyra Johnson on Thursday night.

She came across as a delightful, determined young lady.

The 24-year-old wants to bring success to the Hothouse this season.

She has begun her stint with the Heat well by nailing a game-winning three-pointer last Sunday against Warrandyte.

The men are also shaping up for a much better season, sitting in fourth with a 3-2 record.

Calvin Henry’s team have the bye this weekend, before playing at home next Saturday night.

There’s a bit longer to wait to see the women back in action at the Hothouse.

Their next home game isn’t till Saturday, May 20.