Western Bulldogs and their partnership with Ballarat a success

[Roogal]

The Ballarat Council's compulsory acquisition of the North Ballarat Sports Club was finally resolved on Friday. Both the North Ballarat Sports Club and Ballarat Council made a joint announcement at the Club on Friday that a mutually beneficial agreement had been finally reached after 20 months whereby the Club will continue to lease the club rooms and sports club from the City for an annual rental of $440,000. This also guarantees that they get first priority for playing games on Mars Stadium. It also clears the air for the Club to commence planning for building a new business plan for the return of a Ballarat team to the VFL (likely from 2020), although the North Ballarat President made it very clear that the new team would not be linked to the North Ballarat Football Club.

The Ballarat Mayor Samantha Macintosh further stated that the issues now being resolved, further cleared the political air to allow the City to present a clearer and untainted business case to both major State political parties for future funding for stadium development beyond the forthcoming State election.

 

[Roogal]

Bulldogs to host two new teams in Ballarat
31 October 2018 — 12:54pm

The Western Bulldogs will play the Brisbane Lions in Round 8 (Sat 11th May at 1.45pm) and Adelaide in Round 23 in Ballarat in 2019 with the Crows' visit to occur in the final floating round of the season.

They have never played the Crows at Mars Stadium in Ballarat but a big crowd would be expected for the clash as Adelaide supporters are familiar with the Victorian regional city, with fans using it as a regular stopover when driving over to attend games in Melbourne.

The Doggies will play St Kilda on Sunday 10th March (Labor Day weekend) in Ballarat for the JLT series. Ballarat will be looking its best as this is its Begonia Festival weekend and normally the weather is superb at that time of the year. I would urge Melbourne based supporters who've never done Ballarat and Mars Stadium to go on that weekend and give it a go.

 

[Pugz89]

Bulldogs to host two new teams in Ballarat
31 October 2018 — 12:54pm

The Western Bulldogs will play the Brisbane Lions in Round 8 (Sat 11th May at 1.45pm) and Adelaide in Round 23 in Ballarat in 2019 with the Crows' visit to occur in the final floating round of the season.

They have never played the Crows at Mars Stadium in Ballarat but a big crowd would be expected for the clash as Adelaide supporters are familiar with the Victorian regional city, with fans using it as a regular stopover when driving over to attend games in Melbourne.

The Doggies will play St Kilda on Sunday 10th March (Labor Day weekend) in Ballarat for the JLT series. Ballarat will be looking its best as this is its Begonia Festival weekend and normally the weather is superb at that time of the year. I would urge Melbourne based supporters who've never done Ballarat and Mars Stadium to go on that weekend and give it a go.

Glad to see you still hanging around the traps. Look forward to another year of engaging and conversing with hopefully fewer interruptions from some negative nancy types.

 

[Mattdougie]

Hope it absolutely p!sses down rain and is 12 degrees both games so we are closer to dumping this rubbish

Should look at the China game as a better option, at least that is admitting the game is a cash grab.

 

[maddog37]

Hope it absolutely p!sses down rain and is 12 degrees both games so we are closer to dumping this rubbish

Should look at the China game as a better option, at least that is admitting the game is a cash grab.

Cool story bro.

 

[AFDogs]

Will be aiming to make the trip down this year for the Sunday game. Haven't been able to go to the Saturday ones due to playing committments. But looking forward to it. Love the 'Rat.

 

[Freshwater]

How is two games in Ballarat worse than four in Tassie? Like the Hawks and Kangas. Or two in the NT like Melbourne. Smaller clubs need to do something. Returning to Whitten Oval is definitely in the future. But for now it is much easier to go an hour to Ballarat than interstate.
I would love a new stadium in Werribee, and if the club and council had some foresight we would have a home ground there to rival Geelong. But we need to use what we have at the moment.

 

[Mattdougie]

Cool story bro.

Two million for ONE game and eveyone can watch it on tv.

Two million for TWO games and 5000 members can go and eveyone can watch it on tv and 80% of members lose a game in Melbourne we have a chance of winning.

Financially it’s a no brainer but if you think it’s a story then all power to you.

 

[maddog37]

Two million for ONE game and eveyone can watch it on tv.

Two million for TWO games and 5000 members can go and eveyone can watch it on tv and 80% of members lose a game in Melbourne we have a chance of winning.

Financially it’s a no brainer but if you think it’s a story then all power to you.

Just having a bit of fun MD. I know your opinion on the Ballarat strategy.

Living in Ballarat myself probably makes my opinion moot.

 

[Mattdougie]

Just having a bit of fun MD. I know your opinion on the Ballarat strategy.

Living in Ballarat myself probably makes my opinion moot.

Lol possibly

 

[maddog37]

It is a very moving statue. Tugs at the heart strings big time.

 

[dogwatch]

Such a waste, and all in the name of Mother Britain. About 15% of those enlisted were killed and more than 30% were injured, gassed or became POWs. All up, that was about 10% of Australia's total male population at the time. Of those who were not in the categories above, an unknown number came home mentally damaged. "Shellshock", PTSD, whatever. Many died prematurely of war-related injuries, the effects of gas or from suicide. Many died in mental asylums. I don't know if the number of suicides among WWI veterans has ever been calculated.

Unfortunately we are slow learners. It persists today among veterans of our more recent forays into other people's wars. These are the people who need our support and understanding, whether we agree with the wars they fought in or not. Their suicide rate is estimated to be about 13-14% higher than males who did not serve in the ADF. Many more suffer from PTSD related symptoms.

And for every one of them there is a family suffering too, like the grieving mother in the statue. It's a big issue.

 

[Roogal]

A pre-election announcement for a modest upgrade of Mars Stadium announced today

This is not the next big stage announcement, but is targeted at addressing some of the obvious shortcomings of the first stage. There is still the longer term plan for significant expansion of the capacity but these smaller fixes announced yesterday can be implemented quite quickly once funding is made available.

A re-elected Andrews Labor Government will deliver an $11.8 million funding boost for Ballarat’s Eureka Sports Precinct with $5.2 million allocated to Stage 2 of the Ballarat Sports and Events Centre and $6.6 million (more than half) dedicated to improving amenities at Mars Stadium. The Government made the announcement yesterday, ahead of the State Election on Saturday, November 24.

The short-term focus is to improve the game-day experience at Mars Stadium and will deliver:

• Additional accessible seating in the Western and Eastern stands.
• Upgraded entrances with new ticket boxes.
• Covered areas to make it easier and more comfortable for fans to enter the ground.
• Permanent bathrooms to replace temporary toilets on match days.
• Improved standing areas.
• Permanent food and beverage areas.
• Improvements to lighting.

The Western Bulldogs, the Andrews Government and the City of Ballarat have enjoyed a strong partnership over the last three years with the Bulldogs so far hosting three AFL H&A games for premiership points at the venue, as well as playing in JLT Community Series and AFLW practice matches.

The Club has also conducted its AFL Community Camps in the region in recent years, and delivered a suite of programs focused on schools, men’s and women’s health and youth leadership. “This announcement is an indication of the Andrews Government’s commitment to enhancing the game-day experience at Mars Stadium and supporting sport in the region,” said Bulldogs’ President Peter Gordon. “The Club has made a long-term commitment to building its footprint in the west of Victoria, including Ballarat. Each time we’ve played there we’ve learned something new. The last game was the first in which we struck really inclement conditions, and I promised our members that we would respond to ensure that the game-day experience would be better in future games, come rail, hail or shine. We are delighted that the Andrews Government has taken this initiative so adeptly, and so responsively, for footy fans and the people of Ballarat.”

In 2016/17 the Andrews Government initially provided more than $38.5 million to upgrade the Ballarat Sports and Events Precinct which has funded construction of new club facilities at Wendouree Oval, the construction of the new Basketball/Netball stadium, re-location of the Showgrounds in 2021 and $20 million to build the first stage of the Eureka (Mars) Stadium in rediness to host AFL matches.

Earlier this year the State Government invested a further $500,000 to commence detailed planning for the Second Stage of the Mars Stadium redevelopment.

“We’re investing in the future of Mars Stadium to bring more footy, more visitors and more jobs to Ballarat,” said Premier Daniel Andrews.

Further: In the interests of impartiality during the election, the local MLC Mr Joshua Morris for the Liberal Party later stated early yesterday evening that the latest funding announcement was a sign that the Stadium was under-funded to begin with. Maybe he is softening his stance a little, because he has been vehemently opposed to it since the Liberals quashed the idea of the Stadium being built when the Baillieu government were elected to office in 2010.

 

[DelRe]

Interesting announcement but it won’t change that Mars lacks atmosphere and is still really far away.

 

[Roogal]

Interesting announcement but it won’t change that Mars lacks atmosphere and is still really far away.

Yep ... about 133.02 million km (82.65 million miles) but at least it does have water

 

[Mattdougie]

Great news for Ballarat

Now give them a VFL team and let’s abandon this dud deal like the Titanic.

11 home games in Melbourne is what 99% of members want so who cares what Ballarat need

 

[Dogs till i die]

Welcome news...have attended 2 of the 3 games so far. Do enjoy this stadium despite its shortcomings.

Tired of my club, jumping from venue to venue - Darwin, Canberra & Cairns without a long term committment. We've made a decision on Ballarat, I think it could be valuable long term and we need to persist. PG was right, every time we have played there, as hosts, we have learnt something. Let's stick with it for a decade minimum. Ballarat is not that bloody far away.

 

[Roogal]

A new view of Mars under lights:
These views give you an idea of what 300 lux lighting looks like. Good enough for night play but definitely not TV standard. Still, quite pretty and interestingly you can see the difference between the regular lighting and the more natural LED lighting effect along the edge of the oval in front of the grandstand.

Below: Looking South West from the front of the North Ballarat Sports Club.

Looking North East from the Eureka Stand:

Regular views:

The shot below is interesting because it shows a section of the Eastern terrace where the ground has several bays, eight rows deep of seating. This section was specifically designed to have the roof removed and the back panels removed to quickly allow the construction of an additional 14 rows of seating which would create a stand equal in size and capacity to the existing main Eureka Stand.

 

[Roogal]

Bulldogs to hold Ballarat open day

The Western Bulldogs will hold an open day at the Ballarat Shop on Friday 14th December and Saturday 15th December from 10am. Bulldog mascots Caesar and his new pup Whitteny will make an appearance at the shop on Friday afternoon, alongside The Pack Kids Club mascots.

Brand new 2019 merchandise will be available right in time for Christmas as well as Western Bulldogs Ballarat memberships ahead of the 2019 AFL season.

Don’t miss the AFL matches being held at Mars Stadium for Round 8 and 23. Secure a reserved seat at the 2019 Ballarat matches by taking up one of the exclusive Ballarat memberships available to Western Victoria residents. Eligible Western Bulldogs members can purchase a Ballarat add-on for the special price of $75 for adults and $36 for juniors. Members who purchase a Ballarat add-on will receive 2 reserved seats at MARS Stadium (1 per game).

A Western Bulldogs Ballarat Membership is just $70 for juniors and $120 for Adults and includes:

• 2 x reserved seats to either of the Round 8 or Round 23 matches at Mars Stadium
• 2 x general admission tickets to Western Bulldogs home games at Marvel Stadium
• Exclusive Ballarat mug
• 2019 membership pack – includes lanyard, fixture magnet & bumper sticker
• Priority finals access

Ballarat Open Day:

2/214 Mair St Ballarat
Friday 14th December 10am-4pm
Saturday 15th December 10am-3pm

 

[Roogal]

Welcome news...have attended 2 of the 3 games so far. Do enjoy this stadium despite its shortcomings.

Tired of my club, jumping from venue to venue - Darwin, Canberra & Cairns without a long term committment. We've made a decision on Ballarat, I think it could be valuable long term and we need to persist. PG was right, every time we have played there, as hosts, we have learnt something. Let's stick with it for a decade minimum. Ballarat is not that bloody far away.

As Melbourne expands and rail services get quicker it will seem much closer too.

 

[Mattdougie]

I’m sure the 7 Ballarat members will be rapt the dogs and the coming up.

 

[lachy]

I’m sure the 7 Ballarat members will be rapt the dogs and the coming up.

As long as they dont want to go to the game as the ground capacity would not fit them in

 

[Mattdougie]

As long as they dont want to go to the game as the ground capacity would not fit them in

Mate in 2119 when it gets up to 25000 seating capacity it will be a sight to see.

Probably still won’t have lights that can cope with nights games but only so much can happen in 100 years.

And the 112 Ballarat bulldogs members at that time will be over the moon I’m sure

 

[maddog37]

Boring

 

[Norm De Guerre]

Mate in 2119 when it gets up to 25000 seating capacity it will be a sight to see.

Probably still won’t have lights that can cope with nights games but only so much can happen in 100 years.

And the 112 Ballarat bulldogs members at that time will be over the moon I’m sure

Keep walkin' folks.