NORTH Melbourne chief executive Eugene Arocca says the Kangaroos remain determined to pursue their dream of hosting a home-and-away match in Ballarat by 2013.
The club’s push into central Victoria received a major boost on Tuesday when the Victorian Government announced a $1 million grant to upgrade Eureka Stadium.
The venue is used by North Melbourne's VFL affiliate the North Ballarat Roosters.
“Hopefully it’s a precursor to greater and bigger things in Ballarat for the North Melbourne footy club,” Arocca said.
“We can have NAB Challenge games there, and I think that was proven this year when we had over 5000 people there for North Melbourne and Hawthorn.
“But what is clear is that it still needs more money.”
North Melbourne signed an agreement with the City of Ballarat last September, which formalised the club’s long-term aim to play as many as four home matches in the rural city each season.
“Our short-term objective is to get a NAB Cup game in Ballarat - depending on what format the competition takes after 2012,” Arocca added. “The next objective beyond that is to push, lobby and justify spending much more than $1 million upgrading Eureka Stadium to a 10,000 to 15,000-seat facility.
“I can assure you we would then push very hard to play games for premiership points in Ballarat.
“With the advent of Greater Western Sydney and Gold Coast - they are games we could easily accommodate in a 15,000-seat stadium and make well over $500,000.
“It would be a bonanza for Ballarat and our footy club and I think for regional Victoria it would be a great win.”
The AFL’s chief operating officer Gillon McLachlan, who oversees the League’s fixture, has played down Arocca’s plan.
“The AFL is extremely grateful to the Victorian Government and the City of Ballarat for their support of Eureka Stadium,” McLachlan said.
“The upgrade of the ground and the facilities provides an important legacy for the clubs and players in the region, well above any AFL use.
“At this time, the AFL hasn’t yet begun to explore the prospect of playing matches in the NAB Cup at Ballarat, but the outstanding facilities presented at the ground do enable us to have the venue in reserve if matches were to be re-located.”
Nevertheless, Arocca insists that playing small-drawing fixtures in central Victoria is a far more attractive option than again heading to places like Canberra, Sydney and the Gold Coast.
“We love Ballarat. It is only a one-hour and twenty minute drive and it’s just an hour on the train,” Arocca said.
“We’ve got players who go up there through our alignment with the North Ballarat Roosters, who have won two premierships in the past two years.
“Unless someone gives me a very powerful argument against it, I believe Ballarat and the surrounding areas would love a world class, boutique, multi-purpose stadium and we would love to be the anchor tenant.”
