- There’s a ground in Australia not using drop-ins?
- Why would the next month be so important, compared to the three after the Bears play their last home game?
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You obviously don’t have much to do with pitch preparations I take it. It needs to be re-sodded and given time to bed in. Needs about a 4-6 week period of inactivity preferably with a growth mat to allow the pitch to settle otherwise if you play on it straight away it will be damaged worse and beyond repair. Once footy season finishes there isn’t enough time to get it up to speed. This is purely because they haven’t gone to a drop in pitch yet
After the initial 4 weeks growth time it will continue to improve even whilst playing footy on it. Without the 4 weeks respite there is a very realistic chance it may struggle to get up for cricket season and the GABBA can’t take that risk. That is the worst damage I’ve seen to a pitch anywhere, there are 3-4 pitches completely ruined and beyond repair
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So our round 2 game or a fkn Adele concert 7 months plus before the test is relevant to that how exactly?
Ben LICHT?
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There’d be all sorts of contingencies in the contract(s). Fox Footy wouldn’t GAF - it’d be shuffled at a moment’s notice. Not sure about FTA - probably get a “take it or leave it” from AFL house.
The Adele concert has completely rooted it.
Etihad hasn’t got cricket to worry about and there is talk of footy there this weekend in doubt.
Her concert destroyed large parts of the ground and requires new turf to be layed only 5 days out from round 1. Would hate to be the AFL’s lawyer when the first person does a knee there this week
There’s a Thursday night game in round two (NFI why), so there would be a regular timeslot free.
We’re currently listed to be broadcast by 7 however, and there’s no way they’d give up a prime time game.
Won’t be ■■■■■■■ happy if it gets moved. Only game I can get to all year and already got tickets so I can take my son to his 1st game. Highly doubtful I can do Sunday due to work and driving to and from the GC on Sat night isn’t a cheery thought. As cyber said it’s 1 1/2 hours from Brisbane northside vs free bus to and from the Gabba.
Grumble…grumble…mutter…farkers…
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Still have NFI what you’re on about or how the Ashes in November/December? is relevant in respect of this convo about our ROUND TWO game being potentially shifted.
Brisbane will play 10 or 11 more games there after this, and I imagine it will host many other events. How do the Ashes, or how they manage the Gabba at the end of this year for them come into it?
They dont.
Screw Adele and screw the Ashes (stopped caring about cricket a loooong time ago anyway).
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Just like that time they had that hastily arranged final moved from the ‘G to Kardinia Park which threw out a number of travelling Freo fans’ plans.
Just a slight inconvenience that the AFL couldn’t give two ■■■■■ about.
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I’ve explained it and if you don’t want to believe it so be it but what goes on now can absolutely affect a test that is in November. The GABBA curator obviously feels the same as he has had the AFLW fixture moved already because of concern about the test pitch and he is the one pushing for their first home game at least to be moved, that would give them a 4 week recuperating period
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Yes you have explained the ‘technical’ reason. But the question still remains why does the need of one test match outweigh AFL games. How hard is it to grow some grass.
If I were the AFL I would be saying something along the lines of:
We have a contract to play games at the Gabba. If we don’t get to play all of those games at the Gabba because you would rather prepare for a cricket match in 8 months, then we wont play any games at the Gabba. That’s right, we will play those nine games somewhere else leaving you free to play your one game of cricket.
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Following the curator logic, that’s fine. But given the GABBA is a multipurpose venue, the real question is why the fark haven’t they moved to drop in pitches yet!
It doesn’t help that the AFLW let people in for free because that may have drawn a decent crowd at the GABBA, in the Lions glory days the AFL would draw a bigger crowd than all cricket matches put together and then quite a bit more, these days it looks like the big bash games have trumped the AFL by a fair way (total cricket attendances ~270K and total AFL ~170K - down to pre Matthews levels of attendance).
But regardless, the venue should be able to cater for both sports and it should be worth it to the AFL to help fund the movement to drop in pitches if it doesn’t want to be dictated to by the GABBA curator.
http://www.austadiums.com/stadiums/stadiums_crowds.php?id=52
An hour and a half from the Northside? Drive to Nerang train station, park and take the free bus. Reckon there would be free busses from the Gabba anyway.
They can play it same time and date on the Goldy, 25,000 capacity v 42,000 for the Gabba. Wouldn’t think you would get much over 25k anyway.
Otherwise I guess we could swap home games, we play them twice, but that would obvioulsy stuff up travel arrangements.
I’m still laughing at this.
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Don’t know what they are worried about. Even if they did play, the pitch for the Ashes would still be better than those in India.
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Whatever the case I can’t see it being moved to Metricon. Would probably just require a swap of our fixtures, they play at Etihad in round 2 (same time slot on Saturday night) and we go up there for round 15.
How hard is it to grow a road?
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