Southern Sharks v Macquarie University - what happened?

[BeeEmmAre]

http://www.sydneyafl.com.au/?s=results

I see the match at Gwawley Park was called off at half time due to another injury to a Macquarie Uni player.
It's not the first time this year after unfortunate incident at Bensons Lane with Matt Holloway against Penrith a few weeks ago when they had to change grounds to finish the match.

What happened this time?
Who upstairs did the Kookas upset?

[BeeEmmAre]

So noone knows?

[Norris Lurker]

I've got no idea, but what happened at Bensons Lane in that earlier game? Did they leave an injured player on the field and everyone moved over to the other oval to finish the game?

[BeeEmmAre]

A few weeks ago Macquarie Uni player Matt Holloway suffered a neck injury in the second quarter of the relocated Sunday game against Penrith.
His injury was obviously serious enough not to move him, and ambulance officers decided to call in an air ambulance to take him to Royal North Shore Hospital.
After the match was delayed for about 40 minutes and the helicopter still hadn't arrived, the two clubs made a sensible decision to move across to the next door Bensons 3, where they played the rest of the game with no time lost.
A terrible thing to happen, but last I heard 'Doc' was okay, and finishing the match on a different ground was a good use of commonsense.

Obviously the same option is not available at Gwawley Park, with only one ground, and I was wondering what happened there.

[Offal]

Sharks v Kookas

Just before half time a Mac Uni player was badly injured which, from reports so far, is a broken league.

The half time siren went, so, in terms of an official match, a result was able to be determined. The Mac Uni physio exercised her right of not wanting to move the player who was in the field of play and an ambulance was called.

The rules state that if a match does not start 30 minutes from the official recommencement time, then it is abandoned and the teams have a choice of playing a scrath match.

Despite the fact the Sutherland Hospital is about 1km from Gwawley Park, the ambulance took 40 minutes to arrive so the game was officially abandoned.

It was decided not to play a scratch match as the Mac Uni bench was already down to zero (misfortune, not dirty play) and there was no point risking injury with nothing on the line so close to finals. So both teams went for an early shower and a few beers.

If any Mac Uni players are reading this, the Sharks' wishes are with the injured player. Been a bad match up this year injury wise. The corresponding game at Mac Uni earlier this year resulted in a Sharks player breaking 2 vertebrae in his neck.

[Steiger]

Just before half time a Mac Uni player was badly injured which, from reports so far, is a broken league.

You're not wrong there, it's a badly broken league!


All the best to the fella that has busted his leg.

[BeeEmmAre]

The rules state that if a match does not start 30 minutes from the official recommencement time, then it is abandoned and the teams have a choice of playing a scrath match.

Putting the injury aside, and it obviously is bad news, Why is there a need to be such sticklers for rules.
Wouldn't commonsense come into play (as it did MU v Pen) and play recommence if there is sufficient daylight?
What will be said if the Sharks lose second spot on percentage or, less likely, Mac U miss the finals because of a called off game they may have been able to come back and win?
They played inspired footy after Doc's injury.

More to the point - why does that rule exist in the first place, aside from deciding a match on the rare occurrence of a team refusing to play ul-Haq style?

[tara]

In not having a crack at the blokes from the Sharks here becuase they really have no control over it but Gwawley is not suitable to play football on and it never has been in the 17 years I have seen football on it. The surface of the ground has been responsible for a hell of alot of injuries - it may or may not be in this case but at the end of the day football shouldnt be played there.

[Offal]

Gwawley

Hey Tara,

I couldn't agree with you more. Spare a thought for guys like me who have endured 12 seasons on it! Ha ha.

Truly though, we were almost over the line moving to Waratah Park, Sutherland which is a much better surface and facility but a few factors prevented this.

As some sort of compromise, we were kicked off Gwawley from mid February to the end of April and as a result were sent to Heathcote Oval (down south, on the way to Wollongong) and had to play our round 1 game at Barden Ridge Oval (west of Sutherland) before we could get back on to Gwawley.

A little disruptive, but the Gwawley surface was improved in the time we were kicked off and we were appreciative of the upgrades, however it needs a hell of a lot more work if it is to deemed a suitable AFL venue.

Not much we can do though - you just have to play the hand you're dealt. While on being kicked off Gwawley, we have a potential dilema come finals. Winter sport allocation ceases at the end of August. Problem: If we make the Grand Final, we have nowhere to train Grand Final week. Anyone out there know of any parks we can train on?!?!

[goalkicker]

If it is better all round what few things are preventing a move.

[DLH]

It's disappointing.

Anyone who has played at Gwawley knows that it is patently unsuitable for footy, and the Sharks boys who have to train and play on it deserve better. Unfortunately, dealing with local councils and finding suitable venues is extremely difficult.

Being forced to move from Dukes Oval back to Greygums has certainly done Penrith no favours, although we've at least been able to play the "guilt trip" hand with Council and get them to spend some dollars on it.

[Pekay]

Both Greygums and Gwawley have improved in terms of surface this year, with Penrith using an elaborate recycled water system that supplies most sporting fields in the area.Was quite impressed with it as opposed to years gone by.Look forward to playing on Waratah-is that Lincoln Oval?- always love a new ground.Would be great to see Penrith play on Howell Oval next to Penrith Park,a quality venue with great exposure to Mulgoa Road.the AFL needs to help out more with local councils,clubs dont have the pull.

[shearer]

St George has been negotiating with Hurtsville Council for quite awhile for the use of Hurstville Oval. It will have the bike track removed and the ground lengthened making it the best venue in Sydney for AFL. Hopefully it will be up & running for the 2008 season.

[DLH]

Both Greygums and Gwawley have improved in terms of surface this year, with Penrith using an elaborate recycled water system that supplies most sporting fields in the area.Was quite impressed with it as opposed to years gone by.Look forward to playing on Waratah-is that Lincoln Oval?- always love a new ground.Would be great to see Penrith play on Howell Oval next to Penrith Park,a quality venue with great exposure to Mulgoa Road.the AFL needs to help out more with local councils,clubs dont have the pull.

The surface at Greygums has definitely improved as Council have diverted some of the grey water that was used on Nepean Rugby Park on the other side of Andrews Rd. Unfortunately, it's the poor location, wide open nature, and lack of facilities that are the problem.

We went down the Howell Oval route, don't worry about that! About ten years ago at the height of the Super League war, Jackie Kelly, the local member, had actually announced that footy (ie: the Rams) would be playing at Howell Oval. Unfortunately, the Mayor at the time, John Bateman , was also a director of the Panthers. At that time it looked as though there was a real chance that the Rugby League team would go under, and he came straight out and said that there was no way known that AFL would be played at Howell Oval while the Rugby League team died next door. And that was that. The fact that such a great facility (although the ground is on the small side) sits idle for six months of the year is a joke, considering that other clubs use Sydney Grade cricket grounds for footy. The amount of traffic that goes past there on a Saturday is unbelievable, it would be a massive filip for the club and the game. We revisited it when we were kicked off Dukes but there is no way known it will happen.

At this point I'm going to refrain from trying to avoid the swear filter!

[chaz]

St George has been negotiating with Hurtsville Council for quite awhile for the use of Hurstville Oval. It will have the bike track removed and the ground lengthened making it the best venue in Sydney for AFL. Hopefully it will be up & running for the 2008 season.

you cant be serious i can think of atleast 2 grounds better than that just cos its close to you and st george will play there doesnt make the ground a great venue