2 days ago
West Coast Eagles' AFLW season opener moved to new venue due to muddy ground
West Coast's AFLW season opener against Gold Coast on Thursday has been shifted due to safety concerns at their muddied home ground.
The opening-day clash at the recently upgraded Leederville Oval has been moved to the Eagles' other home venue at Lathlain Park. The season kicks off earlier on Thursday at Princes Park when Carlton meet Collingwood.
Work to repair the centre square at Leederville began on Monday after it had been badly damaged by a combination of high traffic and persistent rainfall.
Saturday's WAFL game between East Perth and South Fremantle was played at the ground and left both teams caked in mud after splashing their way across the park.
The call was made on Tuesday to move the game after tests determined the turf was unsafe for play.
"The health and safety of our players is absolutely paramount and so we made the call to move the game," AFL operations boss Laura Kane said.
"Even though works were undertaken to fix the turf around the centre square, we wanted to make the decision as early as possible to give fans, our clubs and our broadcasters time to adapt their plans accordingly."
Lathlain Park has about 6,500 people, compared to the 10,000 capable of attending Leederville.
The Eagles' next match at Leederville Oval falls in round 10 against Geelong followed by Carlton in Round 12, with home games at Lathlain — where the team is based — in rounds four, seven and eight.
Much was made of the $5.2 million upgrades to Leederville, completed in April, including a new playing surface, irrigation and broadcast standard lighting.
The upgrade allowed more games to be played at the ground in the WAFL and WAFLW seasons.
It is not the first time safety concerns have prevented a match being played at the ground, with a 2016 WAFL match between Subiaco and Peel called off at the last minute because of the playing surface.
AAP/ABC
