Tigers and Swans to lead WAFL comeback
Mt Barker's brand new multimillion-dollar Sounness Park football oval will host the first WAFL match in the region for six years after Claremont Football Club confirmed they will play 2010 grand final opponents Swan Districts at the venue in May.
The round 8 fixture between the two arch rivals has been given the green light to be moved from Claremont Showground to the $5.5 million Sounness Park oval on Saturday, May 9.
The game will unveil the state-of-the-art facility as one of the premier ovals in country WA after construction began in early 2013.
Issues with the playing surface resulted in its use being postponed last year, but urgent remedial work from the Shire of Plantagenet have rectified drainage issues.
Claremont were offered the chance to host a country match this season after one allocated club pulled out and flagged the Great Southern for the game.
The last WAFL match played in the Great Southern was between the Tigers and South Fremantle at Collingwood Park in April 2009, and in 2004 a WAFL match between the same clubs was played at McLean Park in Denmark.
Claremont director of football Darrell Panizza said the club was excited to be bringing the game to one of their country zones.
"We're excited about the fact it is a showcase game to start the Sounness Park era," he said.
"We have had a number of players (from this region) come through the system and it's great to be putting something back into the community."
The Great Southern Football League has fixtured a general bye that weekend to encourage clubs and players to attend and support the match with a crowd expected to be in the thousands.
Mt Barker Football Club president Brad Hook said he was delighted the match has been confirmed.
"This is everything the Shire of Plantagenet and the Mt Barker Football Club had been hoping for and to now have it signed off is fantastic," he said.
"The GSFL has been really helpful in fixturing a bye for that weekend so we hope the whole football community get behind it."
Mr Hook said the preparation of the oval had been meticulous, and the Bulls would host Royals the weekend before as a test run ahead of the blockbuster WAFL fixture.
WAFL manager Cameron Knapton said he would inspect the ground in the next fortnight.
Homegrown talents, such as Beau Maister, Darcy Cameron, Steven Edwards and Matt Palfrey, are on Claremont's senior list.
