February 01, 2008
From the Ballarat Courier
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NORTH Ballarat Roosters are in a self-imposed exile from their home ground owing to concerns about player welfare on the drought-affected playing surface.
Roosters head coach Gerard FitzGerald fears that constant training on the hard ground is a potential threat to the fitness of his player list.
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NORTH Ballarat Roosters are in a self-imposed exile from their home ground owing to concerns about player welfare on the drought-affected playing surface.
Roosters head coach Gerard FitzGerald fears that constant training on the hard ground is a potential threat to the fitness of his player list.
"It is getting better, but we still have issues and have decided to stay off."
FitzGerald is not alone in his concerns about AUSTAR Arena - two months out from the start of the VFL season.
AFL club St Kilda has switched its main training session during a community camp in Ballarat next week from AUSTAR Arena to Ballarat Grammar School.
Victorian Country Football League south-west area manager Brett Anderson, who is co-ordinating the three-day AFL camp, said St Kilda was prepared to have a light skills session at AUSTAR Arena on Tuesday, but had ruled
out using the ground for Wednesday's full-scale training session.
"We had a good look around (AUSTAR Arena), but it wasn't up to standard.
"We're fortunate we were able to find another ground.
"The camp might have been compromised without a suitable venue."
Mr Anderson and St Kilda logistics manager Peter Maddern inspected several grounds, including Buninyong, Eastern Oval (where the redevelopment of changerooms was a stumbling block), St Patrick's College, and Ballarat
and Clarendon College.
Mr Anderson said fortunately the Grammar surface was to St Kilda's satisfaction.
He said while football grounds across the region were generally in better shape than 12 months ago, Ballarat lacked "one or two" premier venues.
He said without an improvement, Ballarat's hopes to having future AFL community camps might be in jeopardy.
North Ballarat is facing a similar dilemma in search of a training ground and looking ahead to the opening the VFL season.
FitzGerald said the Roosters were using a variety of venues for Wednesday night cross-training - such as Lake Esmond and Llanberris Athletic Centre - but his biggest worry was finding an ongoing location for what he described
as "game sense" training on their "real core" football sessions.
He is worried about the match-hardened type of fitness required in the Victorian Football League.
"We play with AFL and against AFL players
"They're a lot more advanced than our boys.
"We know the amount of work we need to get into our players," FitzGerald said.
North Ballarat is training at St Patrick's College at the moment.
FitzGerald said this was an ideal facility with the associated stadium and gymnasium, but a return of school summer sports meant it would not always be available.
North Ballarat is planning an intra-club practice match on Friday, February 22, but is yet to find a venue.
FitzGerald acknowledges Ballarat City Council's long-term plans to upgrade the playing surface at AUSTAR Arena, including increased water resources, are encouraging and there are gradual signs of improvement.
"Everyone is trying, but in the short term it's a concern."
North Ballarat is scheduled to open the VFL season against Box Hill Hawks at AUSTAR Arena on Saturday, March 29.
The Roosters had to transfer their opening round clash from Ballarat to Casey Fields last year owing to an unsuitably dry surface.
