AFL joins push for Riverway upgrade
AFL Queensland regional manager Kath Newman is determined to ensure Townsville’s likely first fullyfledged home and away game next year isn’t a oneoff when the Gold Coast Suns create history at Riverway Stadium.
And she has backed calls for badly needed lighting upgrades at the venue to improve its prospects of hosting higher profile games.
A deal was struck a year ago for Townsville to host its first- ever official AFL game in either 2019 or 2020 as the Suns attempt to strengthen its ties with the north.
The Suns have played a match in Cairns the last eight years, and were the away team before taking a home game against North Melbourne in round one this year to Cazaly’s Stadium.
Riverway has hosted preseason games for the past six years and Newman said the next goal is to prove it deserves regular fixtures.
“It’s been seven years in the making and for it to hopefully come in 2019 would be excellent,” Newman said.
“We knew we had to prove ourselves with pre- season games in regards to the ground being in good nick and the infrastructure to support it, and the crowd that comes to games.
“Gold Coast have really made a commitment to North Queensland. They have development academies here and have signed a contract to play AFLW games in Mackay in 2020.
“For our kids, they can now see the pathways.”
The cricket community has been particularly vocal in their calls for lighting upgrades to ensure Riverway is capable of holding high profile matches like Big Bash League at night.
Newman said it would also open up far more opportunities for AFL.
“Lights would have to be first priority, to play evening games we have to make sure the lighting capacity is good enough,” Newman said.
“Once those lights are in that opens us up to AFLW games as well, because that’s played in summer and we’d definitely need them.
“I’ve been doing this job for six years and they’ve been talking about it for that long. Certainly every year it feels like it’s getting a bit closer and with cricket coming on board with the Big Bash, both the men and women, I think it adds to the need for it.”
The Suns game will likely be against a low- drawing side, either an interstate team or one of the less- supported Melbourne clubs.
But Newman insisted they shouldn’t rule out luring a powerhouse like Richmond or Collingwood at some stage in the future.
“I can’t see why not. Those clubs attract a big crowd so Metricon ( Stadium, Suns home ground) is where they’ll be at this stage,” Newman said. “The stadium is amazing and the ground isn’t the issue, it’s more the crowd we could get.”
After March’s pre- season win over Geelong in Townsville, Suns coach Stewart Dew was adamant Riverway was capable of holding bigger games.
“That’s first- class out there. I’ve seen a lot of footy grounds in my time and that’s spot on,” Dew said after the match.
“It’s a fantastic surface. We’ve been here for a couple of days which is great to spend some time up in North Queensland.
“Absolutely, we’ll come back any day here.”
WE KNEW WE HAD TO PROVE OURSELVES WITH PRE- SEASON GAMES KATH NEWMAN