Gabba management has deemed the ground “unsafe” for Saturday’s AFL Women’s grand final but says it’s on track to host the Brisbane men’s team in their April 1 season opener against Essendon.
The decision to move the Brisbane-Adelaide women’s decider away from the Lions’ home ground to Gold Coast’s Metricon Stadium to protect the Gabba’s cricket pitch has been met with a hail of criticism.
AFL administrators, fans, former players and Lions officials have all lambasted the switch which has been in some ways forced by damage to the surface after sold-out Adele concerts on March 4 and 5.
The Queensland government is looking at taking action against Gabba staff, who are also responsible for preparing the pitch for the first Ashes Test in November, after being told there was time to repair the surface.
Sports minister Mick de Brenni has said he’d be “getting to the bottom” of the ground’s management after being told on March 10 the Gabba would be ready for the final.
De Brenni and Lions chairman Greg Swann have voiced concerns the Lions-Essendon clash is also in jeopardy, which might result in it moved as well to Metricon Stadium.
But Gabba manager Blair Conaghan on Tuesday indicated it would be right to host the AFL round-two match.
“The pitch remains on track to host the AFL on April 1, as was originally planned when the Gabba took on the Adele concerts,” he said in a statement.
Conaghan said some areas of the wicket block were damaged during the two concerts, forcing them to be re-turfed, but the surface was yet to return to a safe level.
“The decision to not host the final has not been taken lightly and prevalent in this decision has been player safety,” he said.
“Any surface instability can pose safety risks to players, particularly in a game like AFL where players are sliding or quickly changing direction.”
Queensland’s opposition has also taken to the Labor government for losing the Lions’ AFLW grand final, despite knowing long before they were “squarely in contention” to host the decider.
“A month ago, they knew this was coming. However this fumbling, bumbling government has been unable to secure a home grand final for the first time,” said LNP leader Tim Nicholls.
