Western Bulldogs hope Ballarat clash persuades state government to boost Eureka Stadium’s capacity

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Originally Posted by AndrewP6

Not necessarily. Spoke to quite a few, and there were neutrals there happy to see us.

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I was in Cairns 25 years ago and there seemed to be a lot of bulldog supporters.

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Originally Posted by Woofer

The Ballarat Game is scheduled for early afternoon, around 1.45 pm kick-off. That means that the game will finish around 4.15 pm meaning plenty of time to get to the train station or well on your way home while it is still light. More importantly, fans won't be subjected to the brutality of a chilly Ballarat winter evening. If the weather is grey on the day, the new lights at the oval will take the edge off the dullness on the field. They're not bright enough for AFL TV broadcasting but are still very bright for night football games in the VFL, they can add more lights onto the towers if needed, but they are also putting supplementary lights onto the grandstand to brighten the oval more without pissing the local residents off too much.

Putting the weather aside, we'll keep our fingers crossed and just hope that it doesn't rain on the day. It's Ballarat and even if the sun's out in August, it'll still be frigid and chilly. As long as you are rugged up (wear a coat, gloves and scarf) and get a couple of hot pies and a couple of beers into you, you'll be more than comfortable.

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Looking forward to it. I kind of wish Bendigo had got its act together.

That's a fair bit of standing room. If that's what the green area is.

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Originally Posted by comrade

How long have you been a qualified Sports Scientist?

In all seriousness, why do you think we struggle to win post-Cairns matches?

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That's never stopped anyone on WOOF before. Other teams travel too. It's a self fulfilling prophecy, keep believing we can't win post travel and we won't.

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Originally Posted by AndrewP6

That's never stopped anyone on WOOF before. Other teams travel too. It's a self fulfilling prophecy, keep believing we can't win post travel and we won't.

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Melbourne travels to NT for their one off money games and also struggle on the return fixture. It's not a self fulfilling prophecy, it's just a fact that teams don't recover as well after playing in humid tropical conditions when they're acclimatised to winter in Melbourne. I'd rather us have the best chance of winning as many games as possible over providing a weekend away for those fans fortunate enough to attend.

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Originally Posted by comrade

What does half done mean though? There was only funding for phase 1.

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That's it, Ballarat Council had to build the first phase on time, on budget, and of course the final test will be if they can fill it it at 11,000 capacity. If they can cross those lines and run the game without any glitches on game day, then we'd expect an announcement on ongoing development either on the day or very soon after. My tip is that we should expect an announcement perhaps on game day when all of the media will be there and Mr Andrews won't miss the political capital/opportunity to perhaps announce further development then.

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Originally Posted by bulldogtragic

It feels a little Edgewater to me. Another $15,000,000 or so to increase crowds for 2 games a year is irresponsible by any government. Irrespective of what we want as members of a football club. North Ballarat could fold (like Bendigo Gold) and then it's a big money pit with little return on investment for the branches of government. They'd probably need 4 games to argue the case, and mirror the Hawthorn example. That we are obviously not interested in dropping the Cairns match, has me concerned as a member. Firstly, that we've lost every week, every time after playing in Cairns which hurts us on field, but if we are flogging off 3-5 games to make more money then that also hurts us potentially by reducing our games at Etihad. Then as above, if members can't get in, then members get pissed off. There's a fair bit of risk financially, on field and impact on members - I hope the reward is worth it and eventuates.

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You're right on the money there. Why build a 20,000 capacity ground for only two games a year? Current plans only call for developing the ground to 15,000 capacity in three stages. Although according to one of the promotional videos released a couple of months ago, the architects have made provision in the design of the new Eastern Stand which is presently eight rows deep, to remove the back and the roof and extend it rearward by another 16 rows to add a further 2000 seats if that is ever required. That would boost the ground to 17,000 seats. A 17,000 seater would be quite unique because Manuka Oval only seats 10,000 (the other 3,000 stand); Blundstone Arena and Aurora Stadium both hold 20,000 but each only accommodate 13,000 seated. The Western Bulldogs would have to commit to playing four games in Ballarat per-year to justify a 20,000 seat venue.

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Originally Posted by Twodogs

That's a fair bit of standing room. If that's what the green area is.

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There are two hills. One is at the foot of the old scoreboard (and can accommodate around 1500 people) which will eventually be cut into and removed so that the grandstand can be extended around behind the southern goal (Stage 2 (4000 seats)). The asphalt gap between the two green hills is where the new 50 sqm video scoreboard is going (sometime soon). The larger green hill was created last year from the excess soil when the oval was rebuilt in 2015/16. That mound holds around 4000 people (but is only intended to be temporary to boost the capacity of the oval) planned to eventually go and be replaced by a third stand (seating around 5000) which will extend from Stage 2 and around the ground almost joining the smaller eastern terrace.

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Originally Posted by AndrewP6

That's never stopped anyone on WOOF before. Other teams travel too. It's a self fulfilling prophecy, keep believing we can't win post travel and we won't.

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I think its pretty clear that there is more upside for the club in forging a partnership in Ballarat than there is in playing a single game in Cairns.
Whilst I appreciate that the Cairns game may provide you with a nice opportunity to get some colour in your cheeks I fail to see how, other than $'s it is anything but a negative for the club.
1. Adds unnecessary travel with all of the inherent logistical and recovery issues it presents to the players.
2. No real home game advantage.
3. No meaningful benefits to membership growth
4. No growth opportunities. Its just one game, in a non football market, with little relevance to the local population.
5. The climate. Even in winter its a humid place. That takes a toll. Perhaps that and the travel goes some way to explaining why we don't back up well the following week.

Ballarat, even at its chilliest is still more like what our guys are used to playing in most weeks. Add in that the strategic benefits of pushing our brand in a local market and its just a clear winner.
Fair enough its not your cup of tea & you're not going to ever make the journey to watch a Ballarat game, but i can't see anyway you can seriously suggest a Cairns game over a Ballarat venture makes more sense.

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Originally Posted by comrade

We need to move beyond chasing money over on field results. Check our record in the round following the Cairns match. It's not pleasant.

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What is our record in the actual Cairns matches? Would have to be almost 100%.

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Originally Posted by comrade

We need to move beyond chasing money over on field results

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I agree, but that includes Ballarat. If we're selling games, Cairns is probably worth 4 games in Ballarat

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Originally Posted by Sedat

What is our record in the actual Cairns matches? Would have to be almost 100%.

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Haven't lost. Had to kick 10 goals in the last quarter once, but we did it

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Originally Posted by Sedat

What is our record in the actual Cairns matches? Would have to be almost 100%.

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Don't think we've lost there & don't think we've won the week after.

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Originally Posted by comrade

Don't think we've lost there & don't think we've won the week after.

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And we'd be 100% against GCS at Etihad too, if we played them at our actual home.

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Originally Posted by Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

Ballarat represents a great opportunity to grow our membership base in a football area. Cairns offers nothing other than coin.
Any Cairns locals at the game are going to be supporting Gold Coast.
As for the climate for our players comfort, i think a cold game will be more easier in termsof post match recovery than a humid game in Cairns.

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Respectfully I think you've got this wrong. Ballarat is already an AFL town meaning most of the people there who might be interested already have a team. The growth is in other areas that aren't an hours drive from weekly games. We'll sell more memberships and merch in Cairns than in Ballarat

Why do you think North ditched Ballarat for Hobart?

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Originally Posted by boydogs

Respectfully I think you've got this wrong. Ballarat is already an AFL town meaning most of the people there who might be interested already have a team. The growth is in other areas that aren't an hours drive from weekly games. We'll sell more memberships and merch in Cairns than in Ballarat

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You could say that Tassie is a footy region and everyone there already has a team, yet it hasn't stopped Hawthorn or even North from adding thousands of members from the area.