AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan has guaranteed football in Perth in 2018 will be played at the new Burswood stadium.
As negotiations continue with the state government, West Coast and Fremantle want a better deal than what has transpired at the redeveloped Adelaide Oval.
While Adelaide and Port Adelaide have attracted 40,000-plus spectators in the past 18 months, they haven’t received the financial compensation they hoped, thanks to a poorly-constructed arrangement.
The new Perth stadium is expected to be ready for the 2018 AFL season and both the Eagles and Dockers are keen to ensure a deal is in place with the West Australian government that sees them adequately compensated.
There remains sticking points over what will open the 60,000-seat stadium, how much the clubs will receive for their home fixtures and who will run the venue.
But McLachlan is confident the final deal is close and says the AFL will be contributing to the building costs.
Despite fears the AFL and clubs would play hard ball and threaten to remain at Subiaco Oval, McLachlan guaranteed football will be played at the new Burswood stadium in 2018.
“I have not contemplated not playing at this fabulous new stadium in 2018. It’s an incredible asset for Perth and Western Australians, and I’m looking forward to playing football there,” McLachlan said while in Perth for discussions with the state government.
“It is obvious we are making a significant commitment to this venue and we’d like to make sure that the sharp end of the season, in September, that we have priority but absolutely this deal will be resolved hopefully a long way before 2018.”
McLachlan also confirmed that Fremantle and West Coast, who are currently first and second, will host preliminary finals in Perth if they earn the right to do so this season.
“Yes, particularly if they play each other. If separate, they will be playing prelim finals in Perth and to be honest the way they are playing it is a possibility,” McLachlan said.
Tin Man
Guest
And if your completely loaded you'll be able to buy a new apartment were Subiaco Oval used to be
Ryan Buckland
Expert
Subiaco will close. WAFC will move its admin base to the WACA. Most cricket will be played at the WACA, and maybe some WAFL. All AFL, BBL and some tests will be played at NPS. Could I have crammed anymore acronyms into those points? Maybe.
Tin Man
Guest
Cricket wouldn't work at Subi because of the size and direction of the ground. Most cricket pitches (unless your under a roof or only playing for 3 1/2 hours) run north to south. This way you don't have the late afternoon sun directly in the batsman's eyes. Subi Oval is very narrow north to south and very wide west to east, so you would have very long square boundaries and incredibly short boundaries down the ground, not at all ideal. Ashes and big bash leagues are the only cricket matches that would be a big enough draw to play at the new stadium and they should be played there. So that's only one test match every four years and four big bash league matches a year compared to 22 AFL matches a year, this stadium will essentially be an AFL stadium with a few other events
joe b
Guest
It's a shame the WAFC (owner of WCE and Freo, and subi oval) and WACA are not willing to contribute to the greater good. The waca ground should have been sacrificed to build the new stadium, and subi to be used for both footy and cricket... and all big games (afl, tests, 20/20, rugby internationals, etc) to be held at the new ground. I.e. if the wafc and waca combined their resources and contributed to the new stadium they would be entitled to a better deal. Why should wa tax/rate payers who won't use the stadium shoulder the whole burden? User pays Is the fair solution.
jax
Guest
Don't sign if you're not happy with the arrangement. That's what the teams signing the Docklands and Adelaide Oval deals should have done.