Tigers take on Indigenous All-Stars Friday Feb 4 in Alice Springs - CANCELLED

[one-eyed]

Chopper to the rescue for All-Stars game
GREY MORRIS
NT News
January 26th, 2011

TIO Stadium resembled an evacuation centre yesterday when a chopper was drafted to play the part of a giant blow-dryer on its rain-saturated pitch.

The future of next month's Indigenous All-Stars match will be decided at tomorrow when an inspection is made of the ground.

The game could be moved to Melbourne where plans are in place to play the All-Stars v Richmond match at Etihad Stadium as a fundraiser for Queensland's flood victims.

Darwin's wet season rains have again conspired to plunge the biennial fixture between the nation's best indigenous players and the Tigers into extreme doubt.

AFLNT boss Tony Frawley said last night: "Miracles can still happen, but right now the oval doesn't look great."

The NT Government covered the cost of the helicopter in a bid to get the game up and running.



http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2011/01/26/208841_ntsport.html

[RollsRoyce]

Let's hope the game is rescheduled to Docklands. That way we get to attend, and the Tigers don't have to worry about flying back and recovering from having played in tropical conditions as a lead-in to their NAB Cup match.

[Penelope]

speak for yourself rolls 

after no rain tuesday we got a few hours of light rain tuesday evening. Did not rain at all yesterday, last night or this morning. The ground should have done some serious drying out - the waterlogged ground at home has dried signifigantly). If not then they have used the wrong topsoil when they redid the surface a few years ago (The topsoil you get up here ranges from poor to total crap. it has a high clay content and for such a purpose would have to be blended with sand and organic matter to get good drainage.)

I'm actually becoming more confident the game will go ahead, but I'm probably just building myself up for a big fall. will find out some time today, but i hope the inspection is done later during the day to give even more drying time - skys are currently clear of all cloud and humidity is not too high.

 

[wayne]

The waterlogged surface at Darwin would probably still be better than Etihad. 

[Smokey]

........ and humidity is not too high.

Spoken like a true top-ender!  At this time of the year it would still floor those poor souls from down south.   

[one-eyed]

High noon for TIO Stadium
GREY MORRIS
NT News
January 27th, 2011

TIO Stadium will come under the microscope at noon today when an independent inspector will determine its suitability to host next month's indigenous All Stars versus Richmond exhibition match.

Monsoonal weather has dumped almost 1400mm of rain on the ground since the beginning of October.

The seven-year-old drainage system designed to cope with the surface water has become blocked in some areas of the ground.

The countdown to whether Darwin would host the biennial All Stars game on February 5 began last week when ground managers, the AFLNT, and owners, the NT Government, were given until Today to get the ground right. AFLNT chairman Bob Elix conceded the elements were currently winning the battle despite a helicopter acting as a giant blow-dryer for two days.

The use of a super sopper from the South Australian Cricket Association to remove surface water was also a first for the Northern Territory.

"It's not looking too good with all this rain around," Elix told the NT News last night.

"But we desperately want this game to happen, even if the rain is winning the battle right at this moment."

Playing AFL pre-season matches in Darwin during February has become a constant headache for league officials.

Spiralling insurance costs associated with the very real prospect of serious injury to the players means the AFL wants pristine playing surfaces for its employees.

Elix said the AFL, Richmond and the NT Government were discussing plans B and C - to move the game to Alice Springs or Melbourne if the wet weather continued.

Alice Springs is already contracted to host the 2013 All Stars game at Traeger Park, which boasts one of the best playing surfaces in Australia.

http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2011/01/27/209061_ntsport.html

[Hard Roar Tiger]

Thanks for the update Al, fingers crossed. Need that footy fix.

[Oiafi]

Sounds like it will go ahead no matter what, just might not be in Darwin.

[gerkin greg]

Ground deemed unsafe. Game moved to Alice Springs. Tiges yet to comment.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/long-fights-to-save-indigenous-all-stars-game/story-e6frf9jf-1225994088455

[Rodgerramjet]

Ground deemed unsafe. Game moved to Alice Springs. Tiges yet to commit.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/long-fights-to-save-indigenous-all-stars-game/story-e6frf9jf-1225994088455

That should read "comment" not commit, they really have no choice in the matter.

[gerkin greg]

Ground deemed unsafe. Game moved to Alice Springs. Tiges yet to commit.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/long-fights-to-save-indigenous-all-stars-game/story-e6frf9jf-1225994088455

That should read "comment" not commit, they really have no choice in the matter.

Fixed.

[WilliamPowell]

I wonder if it will still be shown on ABC1 now?

I have major doubts

[one-eyed]

All stars match moved from Darwin
NT News
January 27th, 2011

The NT News understands that the AFL match between the Indigenous All Stars and Richmond has been moved to Alice Springs, after the ground at TIO stadium was judged not up to scratch by AFL inspectors.

The game will now be played at Traeger Park in Alice Springs, next Thursday night (February 3), after AFL officials inspected TIO Stadium in Darwin at noon today.

Richmond and the All Stars have yet to comment.

A press conference is due to be held this afternoon.

Almost 1400mm of rain has fallen in Darwin since October, with the ageing drainage system not being able to cope with the above average rainfall.

http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2011/01/27/209221_ntnews.html

[Penelope]

High noon for TIO Stadium
GREY MORRIS
NT News
January 27th, 2011

TIO Stadium will come under the microscope at noon today when an independent inspector will determine its suitability to host next month's indigenous All Stars versus Richmond exhibition match.

Monsoonal weather has dumped almost 1400mm of rain on the ground since the beginning of October.

The seven-year-old drainage system designed to cope with the surface water has become blocked in some areas of the ground.

The countdown to whether Darwin would host the biennial All Stars game on February 5 began last week when ground managers, the AFLNT, and owners, the NT Government, were given until Today to get the ground right. AFLNT chairman Bob Elix conceded the elements were currently winning the battle despite a helicopter acting as a giant blow-dryer for two days.

The use of a super sopper from the South Australian Cricket Association to remove surface water was also a first for the Northern Territory.

"It's not looking too good with all this rain around," Elix told the NT News last night.

"But we desperately want this game to happen, even if the rain is winning the battle right at this moment."

Playing AFL pre-season matches in Darwin during February has become a constant headache for league officials.

Spiralling insurance costs associated with the very real prospect of serious injury to the players means the AFL wants pristine playing surfaces for its employees.

Elix said the AFL, Richmond and the NT Government were discussing plans B and C - to move the game to Alice Springs or Melbourne if the wet weather continued.

Alice Springs is already contracted to host the 2013 All Stars game at Traeger Park, which boasts one of the best playing surfaces in Australia.

http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2011/01/27/209061_ntsport.html

After my positiveness this morning i knew it was stuffed when i heard a radio reporter this morning. He described the area of concern as a sticky slush (not exact quote?). he said his foot got stuck and the bloke he was with walked out of his shoes

This is how the topsoil up here goes when it gets wet, or overly wet for the better stuff.

I then proceeded to work the morning digging up such soils that before monday I would not have been able to because
i would have ended bogged in same muddy sticky poo. Both not far from Marrarra.

The claims in this article about the rain around is not much short of a lie. This morning it was closer to a dry season day than a wet season one. The monsoon trough has well and truly gone, for now.

The only saturated areas around the place are places that hold water, for whatever reason. Any place that has reasonable drainage has dried enough to work with light earth moving machinery.

A top line sporting oval should not hold water in this way.

I also get the impression they have used the plain old crap that they sell as topsoil up here.

An embarrassment to the territory that probably could have been avoided.

I am so glad RFC never made a sponsorship agreement with us as was talked about.

Is there anyone on here who has nonrefundable airline tickets?

[tigersalive]

Pity for the Darwin tigers amongst us but on the plus side it means two.extra days to recover for round 1 of the nab cup.