In the wake of Hawthorn’s four-point win over Adelaide last Friday night in Launceston, where a total of 85 points were scored for the game, there has been an uproar of debate about the need for a roof on Tasmania’s proposed Macquarie Point Stadium.
Whilst on the surface, this is understandable – I’m the first to admit the game wasn’t a great spectacle – it completely underlines once again the lack of nuance or local knowledge involved in this debate, something that seriously pisses off the local populace.
Something that amuses me as an expat Tasmanian who moved to Melbourne at age 19 is the mainstream football media lumping ‘Tasmania’ as one into a place that has the same weather patterns and behaviours, no matter where on the island you are located.
Just for anyone who’s not aware, the game on Friday night was in the Launceston suburb of Invermay. The proposed Devils stadium, that of State Election significance, is in Hobart.
Yes, despite being a clear night with no wind, the dew made things slippery on Friday night in Launceston. However, the city is some 210 kilometres from Hobart, and there are genuinely some key differences.
University of Tasmania Stadium in Launceston. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
Launceston is an inland city situated in a valley, that on average has a winter temperature low of 3.2 degrees. Any Tasmanian knows the joint is absolutely freezing, and dewy, in the middle of winter.
Hobart is a coastal city situated on a harbour. The dew isn’t as much of a factor as Launceston, due to where it is located. I’m not saying Hobart is balmy, but it’s like saying we need to put a roof on GMHBA Stadium in Geelong because it gets windy … when the Western Bulldogs play home games in Ballarat.
It also rains less on average in Hobart than it does in Melbourne.
North Melbourne played Richmond in 2016, at the start of winter, in a night game at Bellerive Oval (now known as Ninja Stadium) in Hobart and kicked 18.16. There were 53 scoring shots for the game. Interestingly, no one complained about the spectacle or lack of scoring that night.
The Devils will play 3-4 home games a year in Launceston anyway – no matter what happens with Mac Point. There is absolutely no talk, or plans, for any roof to be put on this ground, so there is every likelihood you’ll be seeing something similar to what we saw on Friday night in 4-5 years time, making this wave of criticism quite ironic.
In its current design, Mac Point is going to be a fully enclosed, two-tiered stadium. This is a far different prospect than what UTAS Stadium is, with small stands and the huge gap of the Railway Workers’ Hill at half-forward. Roof or no roof, Mac Point’s stand design will leave it safer from the elements than Tasmania’s current AFL grounds.
The roof is clearly the main sticking point for Mac Point going ahead. The stadium simply doesn’t need it. The added coast of the roof already makes a big figure eye-watering.
If we drop the cost of the roof, the stadium overall is no doubt more sellable to the Tasmanian population, which currently has big issues with raising revenue due to its ageing population, as well as poor education and health outcomes. The issue with building this stadium is the need to find enough content to make it worthwhile, and we are adding a completely unnecessary cost.
Matthew Richardson poses with The Tasmania Devils inaugural jumper during the Tasmania Football Club Launch. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
Due to the need to play 3-4 home games a year in Launceston due to Tasmania’s uniquely decentralised population, Tasmanians are being asked to pay some $945 million for a stadium that will be host to 7-8 AFL games a year, and five Big Bash League games (not including finals in either) from its two key main tenants, the Devils and the Hobart Hurricanes.
The roof makes it unfit to host test cricket in its current form, a fact strongly reiterated recently by Cricket Australia.
As much as I want this stadium and team to go ahead, this is a massive issue.
Of course, I understand having this stadium opens the possibility of having more major music acts, as well as major events like touring international football, being played at the venue.
The prospect of the JackJumpers moving a few home NBL games from MyState Arena to MacPoint again marquee rivals like the Sydney Kings and Melbourne United should be explored. The team is absolutely adored down there, and there is precedent for playing basketball in larger stadiums – see the NCAA Final Four and the Australia V USA exhibition games at Marvel Stadium.
However, finding enough content to keep this stadium busy is going to be a massive challenge. It is a different situation to the ones faced at the Adelaide Oval and Optus Stadium in Perth, which have two key AFL tenants that play all their games there, plus the prospect of international cricket every year.
My plea to the AFL is, if we really, truly, want this team to happen, and for this opportunity not to be missed, stop strong-arming the state into the most expensive model of this stadium possible.
We are putting a roof on a ground because the prospect of 1-2 games a year in the colder months being affected by the weather is unfathomable to a mainland TV audience.
It’s a winter sport. This is not worth the dreams of many Tasmanians, myself included being crushed over.
And please, to the mainland media – let’s do an ounce of research first before firing off another clickbait talk point to appease the 7869 weekly football panel shows.
