Full story: How the VAFA Premier B grand final came to be at Elsternwick Park
The VAFA have explained the full story of how the “go ahead” decision eventuated for the shock Premier B grand final and what the league is doing now to fix the marquee oval.
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A decision by the biggest local football league in the country to proceed with its Premier B grand final in unprecedented conditions caused shock among onlookers.
Grand finalists University Blacks, who lost one game for the season and finished on top, had their hopes of an eight-year drought-breaking senior premiership ended by Old Haileybury.
The scores were 2.10 (22) to 2.5 (17) at the final siren with Old Haileybury winning the flag while almost breaking the record for their lowest ever score of 20.
Haileybury were the only team to beat the Uni Blacks throughout the home and away season although the majority were still tipping the Blacks to win, including VAFA expert Jo Pignataro.
He was with 15 of the 17 tipsters in the official VAFA footy record to have unsurprisingly backed the Blacks to win.
Reporter Nat Edwards and VAFA podcaster Eliza Wright were the only ones tipping Haileybury.
In a season review interview, VAFA CEO Jason Reddick has addressed the shocking day and how it all panned out, including the moment where both clubs agreed to “go ahead” with game.
“I was sort of heartbroken to be honest,” Reddick said.
“It’s the pinnacle of a season and you got two sides that want to show their capabilities.
“No one ever wants to ever see a premiership played in those sort of conditions.
“Having said that, I don’t think it was avoidable.
“We had rain happen during September and games played out on this ground.
“A-Grade played a prelim final the week before and the feedback from them was that there was some wet spots on the ground so we got council to come and address those during the week.
“We wanted the ground in best knick for the weekend, which was going to be the B-Grade grand final and then A-Grade final on Sunday.
“So we had council prepare the ground as best they could.”
Reddick said the day of the B-Grade grand finals was the first time the ground could not handle rainfalls like it previously did in the season.
He said “the ball was bouncing around and there was no issues” at the start of the B-Grade reserve grand final that was on prior to the senior final.
It was “a deluge of rain received all at one time” during the final quarter of the reserves game which “the ground couldn’t handle” and unexpectedly caused horrible wet and muddy conditions.
“It couldn’t drain sufficiently with the players running around for a quarter,” he said.
“So it was not as if we turned up to the venue and the ground was a mud heap at the start of the day. That wasn’t the case.
“We weren’t expecting that the ground wasn’t going to be able to handle the rain.
“It was not foreseeable.
“That’s probably the point I want to make is that it was not like it was a mud heap and we said ‘go out there and play.’
“It only became that state in the last quarter of the reserves game.”
Reddick had just arrived at Trevor Barker Oval for the C-Grade preliminary grand final when he received a call from the umpire at Elsternwick Park saying that they could potentially be called off.
The umpires told him it was up to the two clubs whether they wanted to proceed with the game.
“The two clubs said the they did so that’s why the game went ahead,” Reddick said.
“The actual question was posed to both clubs, do they want to go ahead, and they said that they did.”
What can I say? Unreal weather down here, and Elsternwick Park looks more like a pond than a footy ground. Game almost called off due to weather. Seniors is underway pic.twitter.com/S9FtgdgD8p
— University Blacks FC (@UniBlacksFC) September 17, 2022
When Reddick arrived back at Elsternwick Park during the first quarter of the B-Grade final to see the state of the ground after being there in the morning, he immediately picked up the phone.
“I took one look out at the conditions and got on the phones and said ‘well, we got to move A-Grade’, we can’t have A-Grade playing in these conditions the next day,” he said.
Reddick and the league were “extremely disappointed” by the situation leading to face-to-face meetings with Bayside council in the aftermath so “the ground is addressed” and they “don’t see a repeat of it.”
He described Trevor Barker Oval as having “nice lush green grass” at the same time Elsternwick Park had puddles everywhere.
The VAFA have asked council for the current couch grass to be “oversewn with rye grass so that it is a green playing field” and “the ground is in as good condition as what Sandringham is because they are both tier one venues.”
They also want council “to address the drainage issue so we don’t have a repeat next year” of the flooding on the ground.
Reddick said “council will realise that the investment and care into this ground has certainly dropped off, the evidence shows that.”
“The pictures I have been given from when the ground was first reconstructed in 2018 shows a completely different oval than the one I came to see in June when I started and the one that we played our finals series on.
“It’s for us now to work with council and to get the oval back up to the standard that it was intended to in the first place.”
The VAFA also had a meeting with the University Blacks to explain background details knowing that “they would be really disappointed” after finishing on top in B-Grade last year and missing out of finishing the season due to COVID-19.
Elsternwick Park has continued to suffer in preparation for the cricket season with this photo being taken by Paul Amy on October 7 - about the same time the season was scheduled to begin.
Just a bit wet at Elsternwick Park today... pic.twitter.com/Yn7xwzPloR
— Paul Amy (@PaulAmy375) October 7, 2022
Bayside Council were contacted for comment.
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