Western Australia is positioning itself to bid for a potential Gather Round coup, should the rights for the men’s spectacle come up for grabs, or if the AFL expands the concept to the women’s game.
More than $5 million worth of upgrades to Leederville Oval, known as Sullivan Logistics Stadium, have been completed including new lighting, playing surface and irrigation, bringing the community ground up to broadcast quality.
Treasurer and Minister for Sport Rita Saffioti said the upgraded oval would ‘absolutely’ form part of a pitch to snatch the AFL’s Gather Round away from South Australia, should that opportunity ever arise.
Rita Saffioti (second from left) unveiled the upgrades on Sunday with (from left) Subiaco Football Club’s Taj Schofield and East Perth Royal Football Club’s Tara Maciupa and Corey Watts.
“As more teams enter the competition, hopefully there might be a split Gather Round that we could participate in. There’s probably opportunities in the future and having this ground at this standard gives us greater opportunity,” Saffioti said.
“I also think with the AFL’s thinking there is potential for a Gather Round for the women’s game. That is something we’re absolutely looking at.”
Optus Stadium, Claremont Oval and Bunbury’s Hands Oval would be three other ovals also central to any pitch to the AFL.
Wrangling the rights to the round off the SA government would be difficult; at this year’s event there was a record attendance of almost 270,000 fans across nine games in Adelaide and the Barossa.
The $5 million-plus upgrades include new lighting.
Of the $5.2 million spent upgrading Leederville Oval, the state government bore the brunt of the costs, chipping in $4 million while the City of Vincent, AFL, WA Football Commission, Subiaco and East Perth Football Clubs contributed the remaining amount.
It is estimated between $10 million and $20 million for further upgrades would be needed, including to expand women’s change rooms. Member for Perth Patrick Gorman has promised $1.5 million if Labor is re-elected at Saturday’s federal election.
East Perth player Corey Watts said the facilities were now close to AFL standard.
“[In previous years] when we had heavy rain, it just completely flooded. There were games we were splashing about and the ball would be literally floating on top of the surface. It was almost unplayable,” Watts said.
“Sometimes we weren’t able to see the ball late at night at training and would have to end training early. To be able to run out here now and do full sessions and actually be able to see makes a big difference.
“It’s awesome for us as a community and as a club.”
