AFL LEAVES ITS MARK
SOUTHPORT SITUATION
THE Gold Coast Suns’ watersoaked pre-season game against Brisbane may force the Southport Sharks to renovate their main field just weeks before the start of the NEAFL competition.
The JLT Community Series game, played on Sunday amid heavy rain, has damaged parts of the Fankhauser Reserve oval that is still holding a lot of water.
The field will be rolled today before Sharks officials determine if any work needs to be done to ensure the surface is back to a playable level for the bulk of the 2018 footy season.
Southport football manager Jarrod Field said they would let the field dry out before making a decision but with more rain predicted for the coming days the club may find it difficult to begin working on a solution.
Field said the hurdle wouldn’t affect the team who don’t have a home game scheduled until Round 3 when they play Aspley on April 21.
“We are not really sure yet what we are going to have to do but obviously the AFL will be assisting with that process,” Field said.
“We are just waiting on it to dry out and we will have a look at it.
“We haven’t had any rain for a couple of days and we have had some wind helping dry it out but the forecast isn’t too good for the rest of the week so we will see what happens.
“We will talk to the AFL and have a look at the situation over the next few days.”
Southport were only able to train on some sections of the oval overnight as they prepare for Round 1 of the NEAFL season, set to begin on March 30 with a Good Friday away game against Canberra at Allinsure Park.