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Nick Maxwell of Collingwood is tackled by Mathew Stokes of Geelong during the AFL Round 09 match between the Collingwood Magpies and the Geelong Cats at the MCG, Melbourne. Slattery Images
Melbourne is home to some of the greatest stadiums in the world. The iconic ‘cathedral of sport’, the MCG, the much disliked Docklands and the new Melbourne Rectangular Stadium (MRS). The first two are obviously oval in design and have mixed reviews when hosting rectangular sports, while the MRS lacks the capacity for large crowds.
The problem has only arisen in the past five years, due partly to the rise of football in Australia and the popularity of the Socceroos from the 2006 World Cup campaign.
In the past year, Melbourne has hosted several international football matches, mostly held at the MCG, while a midweek Asian Cup qualification match was held at Docklands, with the lower tier movable seats brought in. Most recently, Docklands hosted a Bledisloe Cup match, with the ARU opting for the 55,000 capacity stadium, instead of the MCG.
This was due to spectator feedback, relating to the distance from the field of play.
We can only see the issue being compounded in the near future, with an additional A-League franchise and the long awaited introduction a Super Rugby franchise to Melbourne, in the Rebels. Although the newly opened MRS does solve spectator woes at the ‘domestic’ level, it still doesn’t address the issue of large drawing derbies and finals.
Most, if not all of the teams based at the MRS, have plans in place to shift matches to Docklands due to this. Let’s not also forget, the large crowds associated with international matches.
Early this year, during the AFL/FFA World Cup dispute over Docklands, support for a proposed stadium in the E-Gate precinct (in West Melbourne) gained momentum. Originally the stadium was to be purely boutique Australian Rules venue, with a capacity of 27,000.
However, as a result of the dispute, an idea was floated to modify the E-Gate stadium, bringing the capacity to 44,000 in a rectangular configuration. Neither this proposed E-Gate stadium or the MRS were mentioned in Australia’s World Cup bid book, instead a ‘white elephant’ will be built in Blacktown NSW.
The only suitable outcome is to build the proposed E-Gate stadium, with some key design features. Its design should be based off the proposed 60,000 capacity Perth Stadium, found in Australia’s World Cup bid. This aims to replace the aging and disliked (among WA Rugby fans) Subiaco Oval.
A major feature is a radical pivot system, allowing it to be in both an oval and rectangular configuration. According to the plans, reconfiguration would take a total of 8 hours, with the lower tier designed to minimise damage to the playing surface.
Although it does lack a fully retractable roof, I’m sure this won’t be sorely missed. Docklands has had its fair share of critics, the recent Bledisloe Cup match resulted in the playing surface resembling a beach.
At the height of the Docklands playing surface debacle, the Herald Sun revealed the Victorian Government had commissioned a $2 million dollar feasibility study into the stadium.
Unfortunately, it’s for a 40,000 capacity oval only venue, earmarked to be built by 2017. It’s not clear whether the venue will be entirely funded by the State Government, or whether the AFL will contribute in part.
The ARU, FFA and NRL/ARL should seriously consider approaching the State Government to have the design similar to that of the proposed Perth Stadium, and determine whether to contribute funds accordingly. The days of viewing sport eclipsed by a running track, should be well and truly over.
Melbourne is the ‘Sporting Capital’, after all.
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