Whitten Oval redevelopment: Inside the Bulldogs’ $78m ‘game changer’

The Western Bulldogs have a new weapon: its $78m redevelopment of Whitten Oval. GLENN McFARLANE gets a sneak peak at the new facilities.

The $78m redevelopment of the Whitten Oval will prove a “game changer” for the Western Bulldogs men’s and women’s programs, for the red, white and blue fans and the local community, according to the club’s chief executive Ameet Bains.

As the Bulldogs prepare to open the state-of-the-art facilities later this week, bringing the football and administration departments into the one building for the first time in the modern era, Bains said he was confident it would futureproof the club deep into the future.

And he predicted the facilities would become a trade and free agency weapon in attracting new players as well as retaining its current group.

“It’s incredibly exciting,” Bains told the Herald Sun after an exclusive sneak peek of the facilities.

“The players in our men’s and women’s programs are trying to get the best out of themselves, with the support they get from the coaches, the high performance team and the medical team.

“The new facilities will give them every chance to reach their potential.

“It’s certainly a game changer for us.

“It will attract and retain players and staff, having these facilities and having everything we need on site.”

The Whitten Oval project, which was funded by the state government, donors and the club, encompasses 14,000 square metres of redeveloped or new facilities.

Bains said the opening of the redevelopment would bring the club even closer to its fans, as the Bulldogs push towards a 60,000 membership this season.

“This is going to give us a great chance to have our members and our fans back experiencing the club and the venue,” Bains said after a two-year project which started back in March 2022.

“We have over 59,000 members and we will continue to push to get to 60,000. The membership reporting period goes until the end of August, so it allows the clubs time to capture the lead into the AFLW season.

“To break our membership record for a third straight season is a great reflection on our fans and the support they give us.

“The members are signing up in record numbers but they are also coming along to games and supporting the team.

“We were the biggest AFL crowd that the AFL has had at Marvel Stadium in 11 years against the Bombers in round 5, with a tick over 50,000 people.”

The $70m new facility at Whitten Oval officially opens next week. Picture: Tony Gough

Bains said one of the most exciting aspects of the Whitten Oval upgrade was that it brought the football department and the administration into the same building.

“We are so excited about the integration aspect of having our football programs and our administration offices adjacent, which we have never had,” he said.

“Our staff haven’t sat all together in the same space since the club had single digit numbers of staff, so that’s an achievement.

“We like to preach an ideal one-club state where everything is integrated and seamless and these facilities are a big part of that.”

He said the redevelopment had made for some challenging times for all at the football club, but stressed no one would ever use it as an excuse.

But he was confident the opening of the facilities would be hugely beneficial to the AFL, AFLW, VFL and VFLW teams deep into the future.

“It’s always hard to quantify the impact, and I think from both of our football programs’ perspectives, they wouldn’t want to make any excuses,” he said.

“Culturally I think this is going to make a huge difference for us.”

Bains said the reopening of the cafe was also exciting as it was an important drawcard and lifeblood for fans and for the local western suburbs community.