Falcons home opener in doubt

Shayne Hope, The West Australian February 25, 2012, 10:54 am
Falcons home opener in doubt

Falcons home opener in doubt

West Perth could be forced to move their first home game of the season away from Arena Joondalup, with the club unlikely to receive a guarantee the ground will be ready in time for the round-two clash with Swan Districts on March 24.

The Falcons have been booted out of their home base for the next three weeks due to the Future Music Festival, which will be held at Arena Joondalup on March 4.

Preparations have already started and it is expected to take one to two weeks for the ground to be cleaned up and the surface repaired after the festival.

In the meantime, West Perth will train at Heathridge Park, the home ground of amateur club Ocean Ridge.

The Falcons have been forced to play their entire pre-season schedule away from home and are currently due to return to Arena Joondalup for training on March 14, just three days before their season opener against Subiaco at Medibank Stadium.

But there is a possibility the ground will take longer to prepare, depending on the difficulty of the clean-up effort and whether the surface can be restored quickly.

"There's always doubt and the unknowns are the weather conditions and what sort of damage is done (to the surface)," West Perth chief executive Gerry O'Dea said.

"We've just got to hope that the footy gods are smiling on us and the things that have to be done to clear the ground run smoothly.

"The key is getting the ground staff back on as soon as possible and letting them do their job, get the water on and get it back up to scratch."

West Perth officials are yet to decide on a contingency plan should Arena Joondalup not be available.

Any extended waiting period would force them to move the match to another venue or swap home games with Swans, who are due to host the return clash at Steel Blue Oval in round 15.

That would leave West Perth with a horror schedule of four away games to start the season before Perth travel to Arena Joondalup in round five.


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