North to hold their preseason training at Craigieburn .... (H-Sun)

[one-eyed]

North Melbourne will be on the hop during the pre-season while Aegis Park gets worked on

    Matt Windley
    From: Herald Sun
    October 18, 2012

THE North Melbourne Kangaroos will hop to Craigieburn for pre-season training this summer while Aegis Park gets a facelift.

The playing surface at Arden St has been ripped up and will replicate the size of Etihad Stadium - a ground the Kangaroos played at 13 times this year.

"If we did a training session on an oval the equivalent size of Etihad and did that same session at Arden St, the GPS results were showing that the players were running up to 2km less because of the dimensions of the ground," North's football manager Donald McDonald said.

"It was just too small, too tight.

"So we think this is another thing that's going to help our performance."

Work at Arden St will be completed about Christmas, but the club will not be able to train there until March.

McDonald said the club put a lot of thought into the interim training facility.

"The last thing we wanted to do was have any disruption to the way we prepare," he said.

"It's nothing new in a sense. Prior to the last three seasons ... we always had to train at other venues over summer because of cricket being played at Arden St.

"We're going to train at Craigieburn, Highgate Reserve, which is a great coup because Highgate is the same size as the MCG. It's a footy-dedicated oval, awesome surface, great facilities."

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/afl/more-news/north-melbourne-will-be-on-the-hop-during-the-pre-season-while-aegis-park-gets-worked-on/story-e6frf9jf-1226498123955

[Dubstep Dookie]

Recon of Arden St paid for by.........?   

[mightytiges]

North taking over our ideas again  . First we wanted to play two home games in Hobart but the AFL gave it North; now after we helped to organise getting the Highgate facility built so we could have a MCG-sized oval to train on, they'll be training on it over summer  .

Does this mean with the new surface at Punt Rd ready in a month or so's time that we've practically abandoned Craigieburn as a training venue?

[WilliamPowell]

North taking over our ideas again  . First we wanted to play two home games in Hobart but the AFL gave it North; now after we helped to organise getting the Highgate facility built so we could have a MCG-sized oval to train on, they'll be training on it over summer  .

Does this mean with the new surface at Punt Rd ready in a month or so's time that we've practically abandoned Craigieburn as a training venue?

Looks like it but and although we may have "helped" get Highgate built by agreeing to train out there etc, I reckon it's fair to say we've abandoned it. We really haven't utilisied it the way we should have IMHO. Was the fastest growing corridor in Melb which gave us (used the right way) opportunities to target perspective new members, sponsorship opportunities etc but we haven't because people don't like travelling out there  Have always found it strange that we haven't trained out there more considering our HOME ground is the MCG and Highgate is the size of the MCG   

So based on that we can't blame N0rt for using it. Got no one to blame but ourselves. It's actually a smart move in the sense by N0rt they will have a presence out there for a fixed period they will certainly try and generate some support out there. Doubt they will to successful but at least they will give it a go

And BTW I would be very surprised if Punt Road will be ready by the Mid - late Nov. Not sure how the surface will "knit" properly as they don't look like they are at all that close to actually laying turf. Was at Punt Road yesterday around 4pm and there was on only 1 bloke working and he was manually shovelling dirt  and down the Yarra Park end of the ground there was a lot of pipes lying around  Feedback from landscaping/gardening experts please?

 

[Phil Mrakov]

Copying pricks!

They love copying the big boys don't they? Effen minnows.

Arden st surface wont be as good as punt rd though.

[gerkin greg]

Is it true they have employed the same contractors as RFC and that's why work has ground to a halt at Punt Road?

[rogerd3]

North taking over our ideas again  . First we wanted to play two home games in Hobart but the AFL gave it North; now after we helped to organise getting the Highgate facility built so we could have a MCG-sized oval to train on, they'll be training on it over summer  .

Does this mean with the new surface at Punt Rd ready in a month or so's time that we've practically abandoned Craigieburn as a training venue?

Looks like it but and although we may have "helped" get Highgate built by agreeing to train out there etc, I reckon it's fair to say we've abandoned it. We really haven't utilisied it the way we should have IMHO. Was the fastest growing corridor in Melb which gave us (used the right way) opportunities to target perspective new members, sponsorship opportunities etc but we haven't because people don't like travelling out there  Have always found it strange that we haven't trained out there more considering our HOME ground is the MCG and Highgate is the size of the MCG   

So based on that we can't blame N0rt for using it. Got no one to blame but ourselves. It's actually a smart move in the sense by N0rt they will have a presence out there for a fixed period they will certainly try and generate some support out there. Doubt they will to successful but at least they will give it a go

And BTW I would be very surprised if Punt Road will be ready by the Mid - late Nov. Not sure how the surface will "knit" properly as they don't like all that close to actually laying turf. Was at Punt Road yesterday around 4pm and there was on only 1 bloke working and he was manually shovelling dirt  and down the Yarra Park end of the ground there was a lot of pipes lying around  Feedback from landscaping/gardening experts please?

my thoughts, would want to get their skates on.