Turf war over scheduling

A turf war has broken out in recent weeks as Perth’s new Super 14 team looks to negotiate the use of a home ground to play its first season next year and, ultimately after that, a long-term home ground.

The Super 14 team, with Australian Rugby Union backing, is negotiating to play its six or seven home games of its 2006 inaugural season at Subiaco Oval, while also negotiating to use Members Equity Stadium, managed by Perth Glory subsidiary Allia Holdings.

The State Government has committed $25 million to upgrade the stadium, which would enable Super 14 games to be played there.

However, both sets of negotiations have reportedly become strained recently as the stadium managers, who are financially aligned to their respective codes of Australian rules football and soccer, look to leverage off their incumbent positions.

CEO of WA Football Commission, which manages Subiaco Oval, Wayne Bradshaw said the issue related to scheduling of football and rugby matches at Subiaco.

“If they [Super 14] want the same day as football it can’t happen. Our priority is to football,” he said.

But according to WA Rugby chairman Geoff Stooke scheduling should not be an issue.

He said the Super 14 team had secured agreements from the ARU and SANZAR (South African, New Zealand and Australian rugby unions) to ensure scheduling of its games would fit around the AFL.

“Now they [AFL] only have one game a week in Perth and we can comfortably move around that just as we have done for test matches,” he said “The last test match was played on a Saturday night and on the Sunday there was a Dockers and Eagles game.”

According to one source contacted by WA Business News the real issue is a much wider stand-off over scheduling between the AFL and the ARU.

The AFL, whose CEO was in Perth this week, is said to be using the Perth team’s current lack of a home venue to negotiate better scheduling arrangements for AFL teams not only in Perth, but also in the rugby stronghold states of NSW and Brisbane.

The Gallop Government also stepped into the fray this week saying that, if it were reelected, it would force the WAFC’s hand with regard to rugby’s access to Subiaco.