Hampden: Late venue switch for Hamilton season opener match

A $8.4m upgrade of Hamilton’s Melville Oval won’t be ready for round 1 of the Hampden league, forcing the club to find a new venue.

Hamilton Kangaroos have been forced to find another venue for its season opening home match in the Hampden league on Saturday following a last-minute holdup with the $8.3m upgrade of Melville Oval.

League rivals Koroit has stepped in to offer its home ground for the Hamilton-Warrnambool clash after an “external water infrastructure issue” meant the ground wouldn’t be ready for round 1.

Hamilton’s next home game is Anzac Day against Portland when the venue will be ready.

Melville Oval at Hamilton will be sitting idle for round 1 of the Hampden league. Photo Sam Wundke.

Work started in 2023 on the major redevelopment, which attracted federal government funding, and Southern Grampians Shire acting mayor Afton Barber said there was always a chance the venue would not be ready for round 1.

“Since the construction phase of this project commenced, we knew it would come down to the wire to allow for a first weekend in April home game,” he said.

“Council was approached by the Hamilton Kangaroos last week to see whether they could host their first football match at Melville to which our contractors Ultrabuild and council staff have been working diligently day and night to achieve.

“Unfortunately, due to the external water infrastructure issues, this is now not possible.

“We can confirm that the netball court acrylic is on its way and is set to commence as early as next week, which will position the project well for the Anzac Day clash.”

Heywood won the South West District grand final at Melville Oval in 2015. Picture Yuri Kouzmin

Hamilton president David Hintum said it was a “disappointing outcome”.

“We are disappointed that we won’t be at Melville Oval for our first home game, but understand council and (contractor) Ultrabuild have been pushing hard and doing everything they can to get us into our new home.

“While this is certainly a setback, we acknowledge the efforts of all those involved in doing their best in the circumstances.”

The water infrastructure issue was discovered through “various test processes” by the contractors, the council confirmed.

Meanwhile, Gippsland club Drouin is scheduled to play its first “home” match of the season at Morwell in round 2, as a major redevelopment of its playing surface is completed.

Other “home” games are pencilled in for Trafalgar, Traralgon and Moe before the ground could be ready for the “western derby” against Warragul in the final round.