News Gabba Upgrade & Olympics News

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Sep 19, 2013
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Aussie athlete rises on a podium resplendent in board shorts, a loud shirt and a can of XXXX in hand, they are hard at work turning the snags on the Webber BBQ. Suddenly a lone fly joins the party, buzzing around our Olympic hero. A few wild swats with the tongs are unsuccessful and they reach for the double plugger. Almost immediately the fly settles on the BBQ and our athlete is quick to react, slamming the thong down to put an end to this episode. Only the thong catches light and our quick thinking hero hurls it in the direction of the Olympic Cauldron....... Perfect!
 
Since they have played football (soccer) before at the Olympics can we have an football (Australian Rules) event when it is a 'home game' for us?

First benefit - they would have to set out some clear and unambiguous rules that could be followed consistently around the world and by non-Australian umpires
Second benefit - the all-Australian team would actually be picked based around being a team to play football (or is it still a thing that you can't be a professional and play in the Olympics ?)
 

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L Dizz

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If we are lucky enough to get Springfield upgraded as part of the Olympics you would think it would be on the proviso that it is used before as a pre games training hub which could possibly mean an athletics track, the installation and removal of the track + getting the field back up to AFL standard would take it out of action for a good couple of months at least IMO.

Unless they just use it for say Archery, Softball and Baseball where no track would be needed.... it would then only be out of action for maybe a month, just play a string of away matches during that time.
They're doing modern pentathlon there. So they won't need to build a track or anything.
 
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They're doing modern pentathlon there. So they won't need to build a track or anything.
I wonder what plans for the ground will be in place if it is the modern pentathlon
...
Interesting event I did not know much about
5 Disciplines = 1 Sport = 1 Exciting Day
Modern Pentathlon comprises the five disciplines of fencing, swimming, show jumping, shooting and running. Previously held over five days, all five disciplines are now held on the one day, and the shooting and running have been combined and contested as the laser run, to ensure an exciting climax to each competition. Modern Pentathlon tests an athletes’ fitness, courage and skill. Competitors even show jump on a horse they have never met before!

 

jakos

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There's a fair bit of leeway. Sydney held theirs in September because of their wet winters, so the dry spring was more conducive to hosting. Seoul also hosted theirs in September, and going back further Tokyo and Mexico was in October. Obviously Brisbane wouldn't hold the Summer Olympics actually in summer, but could use the same logic to hold theirs in August/September.

The current Olympics window for the coming Games through to 2032 is set by American broadcast partner NBC, which stipulates that the Games must be in that date range so that they don't clash with NBC's NBA broadcast commitments.

So the Games will be held in mid-winter and AFL season in Brisbane - it would have been good to show off the city around September-October when the Ekka winds have died down and the trees are in flower across the city. It's a magic time of year.
 

jakos

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Since they have played football (soccer) before at the Olympics can we have an football (Australian Rules) event when it is a 'home game' for us?

They staged Australian football at the 1956 Games. Interestingly, the VAFA amateurs beat a combined VFL/VFA team, as the latter leagues' paid players were ineligible due to the Olympic amateur rule. Bizarrely, the game was played with the Olympic flagpole still standing in one of the pockets at the MCG because it needed to be left in place for both the Opening and Closing ceremonies!
 
So the Games will be held in mid-winter and AFL season in Brisbane - it would have been good to show off the city around September-October when the Ekka winds have died down and the trees are in flower across the city. It's a magic time of year.

That's true, but in saying that July in Brisbane is pretty ideal as far as winter goes. Endless blue sky days.
 
The current Olympics window for the coming Games through to 2032 is set by American broadcast partner NBC, which stipulates that the Games must be in that date range so that they don't clash with NBC's NBA broadcast commitments.

So the Games will be held in mid-winter and AFL season in Brisbane - it would have been good to show off the city around September-October when the Ekka winds have died down and the trees are in flower across the city. It's a magic time of year.
So in a normal year, that runs from October to June - so September is out of that range just as much as July is?
 

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FLVanLandingham

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I can imagine Olympics while the Jacarandas bloom.... lovely

you'd have to manage to route the road cycling and marathons carefully and then some locals with leaf blowers in the canopy to get some great tourism shots of the purple raining down ;)
 

briztoon

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I can imagine Olympics while the Jacarandas bloom.... lovely

you'd have to manage to route the road cycling and marathons carefully and then some locals with leaf blowers in the canopy to get some great tourism shots of the purple raining down ;)
Cyclists really don’t like leaves and flowers on the road.

There’s three options for the cycling, finishing up Mt Coot-Tha. Finishing up at Toowoomba, including up the front and back. Or Gold Coast Hinterland, around Hinze dam, Beechmont and Canungra.
 
This is very interesting. Would be a brilliant option if possible:

Roll up, roll up: RNA touts showgrounds as sports venue during Gabba facelift
Well the Gabba is 170m long x 149m wide. RNA from grass to grass is 136m long, and at the widest point (it’s not an equal shape, there’s a flat side and a bent side) is 112m.

If you go from the wall outside the dirt track to the wall outside the dirt track, then on those same planes it is 157m long, and 132m wide and would require a significant overhaul of the ground since that would also involve digging up the dirt ring, leveling the whole thing, and making the barriers safe so you aren’t meeting players with literally a concrete wall. Fairly sure they have no large change room facilities to speak of, that weren’t just concrete shells. I see this as the RNA trying to squeeze money out of the Olympics for their own dress up without really considering what the actual needs of the AFL are.

Because with those dimensions we could do like.. kick to kick and stuff there, maybe. AFLX v3.0?
 
Well the Gabba is 170m long x 149m wide. RNA from grass to grass is 136m long, and at the widest point (it’s not an equal shape, there’s a flat side and a bent side) is 112m.

If you go from the wall outside the dirt track to the wall outside the dirt track, then on those same planes it is 157m long, and 132m wide and would require a significant overhaul of the ground since that would also involve digging up the dirt ring, leveling the whole thing, and making the barriers safe so you aren’t meeting players with literally a concrete wall. Fairly sure they have no large change room facilities to speak of, that weren’t just concrete shells. I see this as the RNA trying to squeeze money out of the Olympics for their own dress up without really considering what the actual needs of the AFL are.

Because with those dimensions we could do like.. kick to kick and stuff there, maybe. AFLX v3.0?

I think the (currently quite vague) redevelopment plans for that arena are pretty extensive. As in, the whole north-eastern stand being demolished (the pretty ugly metal seats) and the arena being pushed out to the north and the east, to the point where the playing surface will fit AFL dimensions. This is expected to coincide with a new grandstand being built on that side to significantly increase the capacity of the venue, both for the Olympics and for general use afterwards.

I think the main reason it's pretty unlikely to host AFL is that the odds of it being completely renovated and rebuilt before the Gabba gets knocked down would seem pretty slim. If it was possible though, it would certainly be the best option of all the alternatives pitched so far for our years away from the Gabba.
 

Johnny Bananas

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I think the main reason it's pretty unlikely to host AFL is that the odds of it being completely renovated and rebuilt before the Gabba gets knocked down would seem pretty slim. If it was possible though, it would certainly be the best option of all the alternatives pitched so far for our years away from the Gabba.
It's an ambitious time frame, but we can always spend a year at Springfield between the Gabba knock down and the Ekka ground being reopened.
 
I think the main reason it's pretty unlikely to host AFL is that the odds of it being completely renovated and rebuilt before the Gabba gets knocked down would seem pretty slim. If it was possible though, it would certainly be the best option of all the alternatives pitched so far for our years away from the Gabba.
I don’t see it as a feasible option at all. They are essentially requiring a full redevelopment of one ground in order to accommodate us while the redevelopment of our ground happens. Unless that is already underway and actually caters to the requirements of an AFL ground’s dimensions and supporting infrastructure I just straight up can’t see it happening.

Measuring out the length and width of the Gabba, this is what they’d need to think of accommodating just for the grass. Then try and picture any kind of seating around the outside. Consider the train line on one side and the rest of the RNA precinct redevelopment on the other:
 

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I don’t see it as a feasible option at all. They are essentially requiring a full redevelopment of one ground in order to accommodate us while the redevelopment of our ground happens. Unless that is already underway and actually caters to the requirements of an AFL ground’s dimensions and supporting infrastructure I just straight up can’t see it happening.

Measuring out the length and width of the Gabba, this is what they’d need to think of accommodating just for the grass. Then try and picture any kind of seating around the outside. Consider the train line on one side and the rest of the RNA precinct redevelopment on the other:

The grandstands on the western side of the oval wouldn't be touched I wouldn't think - they're beautiful buildings. The entire site of the RNA Showgrounds is heritage listed, but that hasn't stopped certain building being knocked down (these have been what were essentially sheds though with little architectural value). What would potentially happen would Machinery Hill (the bench seating on the NE of the oval) would be demolished and the field would extend in that direction.

As for width, the current width is 10 metres wider than Kardinia Park, but I'd imagine there might be scope for a grandstand to extend up and over Gregory Terrace. I dare say the RNA wouldn't mind some kind of structure that could double as an overpass. There is the road tunnel which lies directly underneath at not a great depth, but I don't think works would be of such a scope that that would be an issue.

All in all, I think it's unlikely, but the arena will have some kind of redevelopment for the equestrian stuff for the Olympics, so it's not totally out of the question. The precinct is part of the Bowen Hills Priority Development Area, so there is scope for cutting of red tape here and there.
 
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Cyclists really don’t like leaves and flowers on the road.

There’s three options for the cycling, finishing up Mt Coot-Tha. Finishing up at Toowoomba, including up the front and back. Or Gold Coast Hinterland, around Hinze dam, Beechmont and Canungra.
The proposed venue currently is the Sunshine Coast, I believe.
 
For the road races and time trials?

Have you got a link for me to check out.
It just said “road” so I assume both. It was in the IOC evaluation document. Not sure where to find it online.

All of that could change in the next 11 years. The venues have already changed a fair bit behind the scenes between when the bid was being put together and the final documentation.
 

jakos

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The proposed venue currently is the Sunshine Coast, I believe.

The detailed IOC feasibility report is here: https://stillmedab.olympic.org/medi...75.291559774.1614114343-1399201562.1611531029

Track cycling & BMX racing - Anna Meares Velodrome in Brisbane. Road on Sunshine Coast with start/end at Alex Heads (likely looping via Glasshouse Mountains, Montville, Flaxton and along the coast), Mountain Biking in the Sunny Coast Hinterland. BMX freestyle in Victoria Park, Brisbane.

Venue mix is still in flux - Paris Games just changed a key venue this month.
 

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