THE success of State League football at Invermay Park on Sunday has led to a suggestion from Devonport coach Mitch Thorp that non-traditional venues should be used more often.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Magpies went down by 19 points to North Launceston on the upgraded surface adjacent to the Bombers’ regular home ground of UTas Stadium.
“The atmosphere of having people around the fence rather than being in a stadium which has 25,000 seats was good,” Thorp said.
“The venue itself was terrific, the surface was outstanding [and] there was a fair few people there watching so maybe that’s something going forward we can look at.”
Bombers president Thane Brady said playing on Sundays was not logistically ideal for the club but rated it a great success. “York Park is, and remains, our spiritual home as we’ve played there since 1883,” Brady said.
“We have over 200 registered players and only 60 of those have the opportunity to play on York Park… so it was refreshing experience a traditional club atmosphere where junior program players shared the day with our senior TSL team.
“Logistically it was challenging on Invermay Park but many people made it work and the feedback we received was that it was really enjoyable.”
Brady questioned whether it would be possible for Northern clubs to play regular games at non-traditional venues.
“It is highly likely with future availability issues where we try and balance the TSL roster with the AFL games that we will have another clash (at Invermay Park) in the future,” he said.
“We do not like playing TSL games on a Sunday because of the conflict it has with our junior program… there are also issues on a Sunday with what time the game can start if we play say a Southern side. With ground availability in the North of the state, I think the logistics would stamp that out (regular non-traditional venue games).”
Brady said the region’s grounds are overused, which was only exemplified by the growth of women’s football.