Graham Cornes: At this time of the year, Adelaide Oval belongs to football
At this time of the year Adelaide Oval belongs to football, writes Graham Cornes.
Opinion
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Let’s face it. Cricket has never done football any favours.
The reason the SANFL left Adelaide Oval in the first place and established Football Park, was the imperious, pompous attitudes of the then SACA administration.
It seemed not to matter that football generated the lion’s share of revenue for the venue. But it mattered when they were gone.
The next four decades were spent trying to get football back to Adelaide Oval. Eventually that was achieved; some would say by duplicitous dealings that blindsided the SANFL and the Adelaide Football Club.
Even then the promises that were made to entice the Crows back to Adelaide Oval have never been fully delivered on.
But this is more than just the Adelaide Football Club’s response to bitter rivalry and unrequited promises.
Football’s resistance to granting cricket access to the ground in a period that has been clearly promised to football has nothing to do with petty grievances.
What if, having prepared the ground for a cricket match, it can’t be restored to the standard required for an AFL match? It’s unlikely, but possible.
What if the game has to be cancelled? Who pays the compensation?
Premier Peter Malinauskas made it, clear in the most definite manner, that it won’t be the state government. Nor should it be, unless it was they who forced the decision.
However, there is the other more serious issue of injuries to players which are caused by the state of the ground. The turf is shorter for cricket and the ground is harder, regardless of how much water is poured in. Hardness of the ground is a contributing factor to many pre-season injuries. Then there is the turf that has been newly laid and less stable.
Crows fans with long memories will recall Shaun Rehn’s devastating knee injury when he slipped on a rubber disc in the centre circle at Football Park.
Carlton fans remember the injury to Luke O’Sullivan who slipped on newly laid turf which gave way at Waverley Park in 1993. Countless other footballers have been injured, some permanently, by the state of the ground.
Unlikely, you say, but it is certainly possible.
We all want to see our state team win the Sheffield Shield. It’s been a long time and we wish them nothing but the ultimate success; but terms of agreement re sharing the oval have long been struck.
At this time of the year, Adelaide Oval belongs to football.
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