Eureka Stadium (Mars Stadium)

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Roogal, am a disappointed Dogs supporter this week who planned a trip to Mars on Sunday but underestimated the demand for tickets and will miss the sellout.

If you are attending would be interested to hear the number of Crows supporters that attend to back the City Council's tourism strategy.

Was impressed by the number of Port supporters who attended last season.
 

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rookiegt said:
Are the lights being upgraded in the future?
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Good question, an old friend who serves in Council informs me that they are keen on the idea. It will come down to major stages of future upgrades. It was among the recommendations for future works at the ground in Price Waterhouse Coopers feasibility report on the future development that was commissioned by the Council on behalf of the State Government last year.
 
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Roogal said:
Mars Stadium still keeps kicking goals for Ballarat outside the AFL. For 2020 there will be no JLT pre~season friendly and the Western Bulldogs have passed over Ballarat again for an AFLW seasonal game. That's fine because you have to share these things. On the plus side the stadium will host six other significant non-AFL related events before it hosts its next H&A Western Bulldogs game in May, including:
  • Four A-League footbal games commencing from the 28th December when Western Uniited host Wellington Phoenix
  • In April the stadium will host an A-League Victorian derby between Western United and Melbourne City (Predicted to be a bumper crowd)
  • In February the stadium wil host a Nitro Circus event with so far some 9000 of the available 15000 tickets pre-sold
  • On 22nd February the ground will be transformed to host round four Super Rugby with Melbourne Rebels to host the Durban Sharks (South Africa), this is after hosting two highly successful trial Super Rugby games in 2019.
The several million dollars of upgrade works at the ground promised in this year's state budget are yet to be commenced, but will see significant improvements to the ground's standing areas. For my money the priority of works for the stadium should be:
  • Replacement of existing halogen lighting and fully fitting out of the existing light towers with modern LED lumens which would increase the physical lighting effect at the ground by 150%
  • Extend the existing Eureka Stand by 3000 seats
  • Build a new permanent covered entrance with toilets at Gate 2
  • Acquire land nearby at the former Eureka Valves site and commence construction of a 1000 space carpark
  • Immediately over the road (off the corner of Creswick Rd and Norman St), build a train station for weekday commuters and for weekend stadium users.
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Train station will never happen. Not enough return on investment. A station at Warrenheip would be better for commuters. Providing free buses from Ballarat station to the ground on game and event days is better.
 
Roogal said:
The train station would only work if Invermay Park grows and residential development eventually pushes North of Wendouree the other side of the freeway. Otherwise it would have to be an event platform only. That said, I have heard the idea touted for a Ballarat North station considering that they are running out of parking room at Ballarat Station. I'm not 100% sure what benefit there is for a Warrenheip Station, perhaps a reinstated Ballarat East Station, considering that the bluestone platforms are still there.
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More stations equal a longer journey.
 
Roogal said:
Mars Stadium hosted its first A League game last Saturday with 5,084 attending. There are three more games to be played there between now and April. The big one forecast to test the grounds capacity will be when the Western United play Melbourne City on Good Friday. It's ironic that the grounds attendance record may be set by soccer and not AFL:

Image below courtesy of Skylinedrone Imaging:

View attachment 799563
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For the knockers its not a bad crowd.
 
Roogal said:
Mars Stadium hosted its first A League game last Saturday with 5,084 attending. There are three more games to be played there between now and April. The big one forecast to test the grounds capacity will be when the Western United play Melbourne City on Good Friday. It's ironic that the grounds attendance record may be set by soccer and not AFL:

Image below courtesy of Skylinedrone Imaging:

View attachment 799563
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That photo certainly makes the crowd look more impressive than it did on TV.
 

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Seedsfan said:
I don’t know anything about the A league just no somehow that club survives despite nobody wanting it
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It’s a part of the City Football Group who is owned by CITIC which is a communist government front and Abu Dhabi Group who are most of the controlling figures in the UAE.

Crime pays well.

Roogal said:
I agree, GMHBA Stadium is not popular with the soccer fans because the oval's too long and the stadium so big that bit sucks away the atmosphere. Mars and VUWO would fit the bill nicely for a small start up soccer club.
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I watched soccer down at Gumby Oval in the 90’s and it was so bad to watch, I was one of the few WU members to ask not to play down there.
I wish they let us sit on the ground on the hill side of Mars.
 
Love this place. However, you do not want to go there when it rains and sleets.
Got caught in it and was absolutely drenched.
Was watching somebody i know umpire a reserves grade game when it happened.

Would love to see the hilled areas actually be turned into grandstands.
Ballarat weather can be fickle.
 
Roogal said:
The long term plan subject to the Western Bulldogs committing there for the long run is that the existing Eastern Stand will be enlarged by extending the six bays rearward by 14 rows will add a further 2300 seats. The larger Eureka Stand will be extended southward by several bays which will take out the old scoreboard hill and add an additional 4000 seats boosting the overall covered seating to approx 11,000. At this stage the Council seem committed to keeping but enhancing the hill over the long term.

There was $6.6 million allocated in the last State Budget for increasing seating, building new permanent entrance and toilets for the Number 2 gate as well as other improvements. At this stage works for this have not been tendered for. The $6.6 million was part of a $12 million package to also renovate and upgrade the older section of the nearby Ballarat Sports and Events Centre. Works on that have not commenced yet either. The Council have indicated that they want the lighting upgraded at Mars Stadium although no money has been allocated for that.

It makes sense that the existing halogen lumens at Mars should be replaced by more more modern, brighter and 80% more efficient LED lumens. If the Council were to mount 36 LED lumens on the existing four towers then the grounds luminosity would increase from 300 lux to 800 lux.
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What does a commitment from the Bulldogs mean? How many games ?
 
Roogal said:
... Commitment to extend their tenure beyond 2021. They'll still only play two games a H&A season if they extend. The stadium is getting used enough by other Aussie Rules association s as well as Super Rugby, A League football for at least another two-three years and other major entertainment events. It seems that it is paying for itself.
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Any hint of the Bulldogs plans beyond 2021? Gut feel?

Mine is, and I hope I'm right, they will stick with it as it's starting to come together after some early problems. My club has tended to try and move on - e.g Darwin, Cairns and the Sunshine Coast over the years, so I hope they stick with Ballarat and make it theirs.
 
Dogs till i die said:
Any hint of the Bulldogs plans beyond 2021? Gut feel?

Mine is, and I hope I'm right, they will stick with it as it's starting to come together after some early problems. My club has tended to try and move on - e.g Darwin, Cairns and the Sunshine Coast over the years, so I hope they stick with Ballarat and make it theirs.
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They need to play a few VFL games there also.
 
Roogal said:
Rugby Union has never been good at promoting in Australia because the ARU don't have the money. They pour what money they have mainly into salaries (keeping them competitve enough to keep richer French and British clubs from poaching off what talent we have) and running their competition on a shoestring.
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They use to have money post the 03 World Cup the game has been hopelessly mismanaged since
 
Roogal said:
They squandered some real opportunity to build on the good will and support base that was built up after the 99 World Cup victory. I like the game and the free flowing of the ball in preference to the battering and stop startedness of Rugby League. The game looks rougher but somehow players seem to get less injured playing RU than the RL. The players tend to be built differently too, with less upper body muscle bulk.
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Yeah look they did and now they have lost so much ground and so many fans. Loved the Wallabies as a kid despite growing up in Melbourne. The ARU and now rugby Australia are the most incompetent and self serving board ever. Board members getting performance bonuses despite the code failing to turn a profit its staggering
 
Roogal said:
Still a huge Wallabies fan and will watch the Rebels whenever thy play in 'the Rat'.
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I mean even the name, it should have been the Victorian Rebels and this is coming from someone born and raised in Melbourne. Rugby had the potential to be a true national competition but they royally f*cked it up
 
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