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'It’s nearly impossible': MCG chief weighs in on Adelaide Oval/Sheffield Shield drama
Andrew Slevison • March 13th, 2025 2:10 pm
The venue for the 2025 Sheffield Shield Final remains up in the air.
South Australia’s first home final in nine years will coincide with the start of the new AFL season, throwing the plans of the South Australian Cricket Association (SACA) into chaos.
This season’s Shield Final is being floated for the Adelaide Oval between footy rounds - the Round 2 Port Adelaide v Richmond game on March 22 and the Round 3 Adelaide v North Melbourne fixture on March 30.
The proposed dates are Monday, March 24 to Friday, March 28.
As the SACA continues to look at the Adelaide Oval as the host venue, MCG CEO Stuart Fox insists it would be “nearly impossible” for footy’s spiritual home to undertake the task.
Fox says that once footy season ticks over, it would be an arduous task to switch between the two codes.
“It’s extremely complicated,” Fox said on SEN’s Whateley.
“I’ve watched it with interest, I don’t think we could do it. I think it’s nearly impossible so I’ll be fascinated if they can pull it off.
“But I do think once you’re in football season you’re committed to football season. Turf lengths, compaction of the soil, how you set up - you really do fit your stadium for purpose.
“In my opinion it would be difficult for us to achieve.”
The Adelaide Crows have been criticised for reportedly seeking financial compensation in return for the match to be played at the Adelaide Oval.
Former Crows captain Mark Bickley put some calls into his old club and found out some further information.
“What has come to pass is it’s the AFL who are the ones who are doing the negotiating, not the Adelaide Football Club. It’s not their position to be doing the negotiation,” Bickley said on SEN SA Breakfast.
“First and foremost, the AFL is the governing body so they’re the ones that are negotiating with the SACA, Adelaide Oval and the Stadium Management Authority to make this happen.
“It needs to get the permission of the Adelaide Football Club and the footy club has been broadly supportive, saying, ‘If you can give us some assurances that it can happen and we’re not going to be disadvantaged or liable in any way, then we’re absolutely keen to facilitate this’.
“But they wanted some assurances that they’re not going to be financially responsible if anything goes wrong, which I think is just being diligent, isn’t it?”
Bickley explained the three main areas of risk associated with the Shield Final being played between AFL rounds, referencing a cautionary tale involving ex-Crows ruckman Shaun Rehn who sued the AFL, SANFL and the Crows after slipping on a bounce pad and injuring his knee.
“If something were to happen and they replace the pitch and the drop-in wicket and the soil doesn’t take properly and a player was injured, a la Shaun Rehn, who had a lawsuit against the SANFL with that plate in the middle of the oval,” he continued.
“There have been others that have played on shifting soil and say the oval wasn’t at the right standard and they could sue someone. That’s the potential downside.
“There’s also the actual potential, if the game finished on Friday, then Saturday is the day that they would get the drop-in wicket out and replace the turf. If they were to get significant rainfall on Saturday, that would be very difficult to do.
“If that can’t be done on Saturday then there is the potential that the game might not take place. Then you’ve got the risk of the broadcasters with each game worth roughly $20 million, you’ve got members who have pre-paid tickets and would have to be refunded and then you’ve got the fact that there’s no damn game, which everyone would be up in arms about.
“You wouldn’t want to be Channel 7 and there’s a chance we won’t play a game if it rains on this day. That’s a big risk to take and it would have to be underwritten.
“And if you’re the sponsor of Adelaide or North Melbourne and you’ve got logos on the guernsey which have been guaranteed 23 matches on national broadcast, if you don’t deliver that then you’re liable for that as well.
“Basically, the SACA weren’t prepared to underwrite that risk, neither was Adelaide Oval or the Stadium Management Authority, which only leaves the State Government who are happy to get involved and facilitate it.
“I think they’re starting to question do we really want to be the underwriters of this, and if something goes wrong do the South Australian taxpayers really want to be then ones that are paying out for something that’s not really their fight.”
The fallback option for the SA team would be to host the Final at Karen Rolton Oval.
Listen to Bickley explain the situation below:
