Stand our ground

TWO weeks ago Kardinia Park Trust chair Steve Bracks was on the front page of this newspaper spruiking his plan for the Cats to play every home game in 2019 at Simonds Stadium.

The spanking new stadium and growing number of football members deserved an increased presence in the city, Bracks said. He also said the Trust would lobby for a week-one final as well as more home games to be played locally next year.

The stadium redevelopment has won funding support from council, state and federal government at various times over the past decade.

The funding has come with the expectation that the new facilities and increased crowd capacity would attract both new, diverse events to Kardinia Park as well as some of the AFL heavyweights who haven’t travelled down the highway for years. But what is the point of all this time and effort if bigdrawing AFL clubs are going to kick up a stink about playing here?

The Cats home game against Richmond is still two months away, but already there are rumours that it could be moved from Geelong to the MCG.

Yes, the past four games between the two clubs have drawn crowds considerably greater than the local stadium’s capacity, but why should the Cats be robbed of a home ground advantage — not to mention the $1 million-plus windfall — just because the Tigers have a large fan base?

It has been a long time since Geelong crowds have seen teams like Richmond, Collingwood or Hawthorn at Kardinia Park. Bracks’ plan to play all the Cats’ home games in Geelong would mean at least some of these clashes would finally be played on home soil.

A packed stadium would produce an electric atmosphere while providing numerous economic and tourism flow-on effects throughout the region.

Cats president Colin Carter says the Cats will not allow their Round 21 clash against the Tigers to be moved. We hope the AFL is just as resolute when considering fixturing clubs with large fan bases to visit Geelong in the future.