Geelong eye mega training facility development as alternate training base

GEELONG has been in discussions for several years to make the planned new Cape Otway training facility the club’s alternate training base as it’s a “game changer” for the area.

Joel Selwood at GMHBA Stadium where the Cats do the majority of their training. Picture: Peter Ristevski

GEELONG Cats will explore the long-term possibility of making the planned Cape Otway training facility an alternate training base for its football teams.

The Herald Sun can reveal the Cats have been working for several years with the Cape Otway Road Australia (CORA) developers to help make the planned facility the best “athlete-focused” training venue in the southern hemisphere.

It will put another world-class training venue on the Cats’ doorstep in Modewarre, 20 minutes’ drive from the Cats’ GMHBA Stadium.

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Geelong chief executive Brian Cook said the development was an “game changer” for the western part of Victoria because of its ability to attract elite international sports teams to the region and help stimulate tourism.

Construction is expected to start mid next year.

The Cats will explore the potential of staging training camps at the facility in the short term and then use it as a more permanent alternate training base in 20-plus years, Cook said.

The facility contains, in part, an MCG-sized oval and as well as elite medical and strength-training equipment. There will also be soccer pitches, tennis courts a wave pool, among other facilities.

Joel Selwood at GMHBA Stadium where the Cats do the majority of their training. Picture: Peter Ristevski

Geelong is currently well-served by GMHBA stadium and its summer training facility at Deakin University, which signed-off on a new deal with the club this year.

But Cook said the need to accommodate four teams, including the men’s and women’s senior AFL and VFL teams, will mean the club will likely need more “trusted training venues” in the long-term.

“What was initially a really ambitious and adventurous type of project is becoming more real now and there is a greater expectation that this (project) will happen and it is basically an international standard and accredited training facility,” Cook told Superfooty.

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“Our interest has been in the long-term and that’s 20-years plus and what will we need then? So this is really part of a 50-year vision.

“When we can’t train enough in GMHBA Stadium in 20 years’ time, where else can we go?

“This gives us options to do that because it is just 20 minutes from here.

“In the meantime it is about training camps for us, more than anything else.

“We will have four teams so there is a need to have trusted training facilities for those groups and that is what we are looking at.

Geelong Cats training at Deakin Uni. Nakia Cockatoo goes through a gruelling running session in 33 deg heat at training. Picture: Mike Dugdale

“If the project is a reality, we would look at that as a training base for us during seasons for some time.”

Cook said the facility was an exciting community development for the whole region.

“We are still waiting on the final business case and then we will know where this all fits, but subject to a strong business case, this will be exciting, and really, a game changer and a community-changer for this entire region, from Geelong right through to Warrnambool,” he said.

“What it would mean is the possibility of elite international clubs and countries coming to this area for long periods of time.

“And hopefully using our GMHBA Stadium to do things and link-in with Deakin University, so there’s a lot of possibility for tourism out of this.”