Barossa Valley set to be snubbed as Magic Round destination in 2023

The AFL looks likely to reject South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas’ request for one region to be a part of 2023’s festival of footy.

Gillon McLachlan with SA Premier Peter Malinauskas. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Mariuz

The AFL looks likely to knock back the South Australian Premier’s wish for a match next year in the Barossa Valley, identifying an Adelaide Hills ground as a more suitable location.

Peter Malinauskas had pushed for the Barossa, a wine region 70km north of the city, to stage a game during April’s inaugural festival of football but the league was understood to have ruled out two of the area’s best grounds.

After inspections over the past week, AFL officials deemed Centennial Oval at Nuriootpa too narrow and Angaston not suitable.

Mount Barker Oval is now the AFL’s priority and league officials are due to return to SA to inspect the ground again early next week.

They viewed it on Wednesday and were said to have been impressed by the size and surface quality, albeit recognising a lot of work would be needed to get it to AFL standard.

The venue has only hosted crowds of about 1000, does not have a gated fence for admission and requires upgrades to coaching boxes, media areas and its scoreboard.

Tanunda, which has produced Port Adelaide great Justin Westhoff, remains a potential option if Mount Barker is deemed unsuitable.

Angaston Oval hosted the 2022 AFL National Inclusion Carnival Finals in November. (Photo by Guy Draper/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Malinauskas has been strong on wanting a game in the Barossa, believing it is a great way to showcase the state.

“The AFL are naturally risk averse where they’re worried about the quality of surfaces and changing facilities for professional footy teams,” Malinauskas told SEN last week.

“My view is, well, they should just rough it out for one weekend.

“I appreciate that a professional footy league probably requires a different standard to my amateur footy standard.

“But getting the game out to the region so we can showcase something like the world class Barossa Valley to the country is a really important opportunity in my view.

“If it doesn’t end up being in the Barossa, it will hopefully be something of that ilk, but I’m certainly keen on the Barossa idea.”

The AFL this month awarded SA the chance to host all 18 teams for an extra round in the fifth week of the season in 2023.

Locals had been hoping the Barossa would hold a West Coast game so they could welcome home favourite son, Angaston product and Eagles games record holder Shannon Hurn.

Centennial Oval staged an AFL pre-season match between Port Adelaide and the Western Bulldogs in 2003.

Nuriootpa officials told News Corp the ground’s width was very similar to Geelong’s Kardinia Park.

It was set to host a women’s Big Bash game a fortnight ago but it was rained out.

The AFL recently announced South Australia will host of an extra round of footy next season, which will see all 18 teams play in the same state on the same weekend. NCA NewsWire / David Mariuz

Tanunda’s prospects of hosting were not helped by its clubrooms and change rooms being rebuilt after getting knocked down about a month ago.

If both Mount Barker and Tanunda do not cut it, three SANFL venues – Elizabeth, Richmond and Noarlunga – are fallbacks to host one game.

Being just a half-hour’s drive from the Barossa would help Elizabeth’s chances.

Adelaide Oval will have six matches and Norwood is all but locked in for two.

About 35km from the CBD, fast-growing Mount Barker is on track to become SA’s second-largest city and sits in the Adelaide Hills, on the doorstep of the local wine region.

Former Mount Barker Football Club president Scott Filmer said the oval’s surface, size and lighting were very good, but it would need infrastructure upgrades and temporary grandstands to host up to 8000 people for an AFL match.

He said the game could be a showpiece for the area.

“The Hills league is the biggest community league outside of Adelaide and people in the Hills love their footy … so to host an AFL standard game here would be a real shot in the arm for Aussie rules throughout the Hills and all the areas around like Murray Bridge and Strathalbyn would really come into it,” said.

“The Hills region is what they’d be hinging it off of and it’s definitely a booming area.”

A fixture for the extra round is expected to be released within a fortnight.

Originally published as Barossa Valley set to be snubbed as Magic Round destination in 2023