Some solid shit stirring by Rucci.
Rob Gerard’s plan for 2030 Commonwealth Games leaves a legacy for Crows and Adelaide United
AFL Season 2030. It could be the first that presents Adelaide not only as a city with two AFL teams but also two AFL venues.
Rob “The Protector” Gerard wants to deliver the 2030 Commonwealth Games to Adelaide. The main venue for this international event would be Adelaide Oval, the current AFL home of the Crows and Power.
Gerard’s vision includes a second major venue, one with a roof ... and one that will stand as a legacy to South Australian sport. But to whom?
The same question followed Lord Sebastian Coe after London hosted the 2012 London Olympics. Today, the Olympic stadium built for those Games is without its athletics track as it is being converted to the new home of English Premier League football team, West Ham United.
Gerrard’s new theatre for sport — most probably at the International Sports Gateway at Mile End — would face the same dilemma of finding a meaningful life after the Commonwealth Games. The most obvious beneficiaries as Gerard’s favourite local football teams, the Crows in the AFL and Adelaide United in the A-League.
Both will need such a gift in 2030. The Crows need to consider moving away from their West Lakes base, particularly while their presence (costing the SANFL $2 million a year in maintenance bills) hinders the SANFL clubs’ wishes to maximise their return from the sale of the Football Park precinct.
Like it as it keeps the Crows' reliance on a $2 million / year handout from the SANFL in the public eye. It's little wonder their past CEOs have been reluctant to speak out about being sucked dry by the SANFL when they've forever had the implicit threat of their $2 million / year allowance being taken away.
Me if they left Adelaide Oval: