Magazine - Etihad Stadium better than MCG

By Editor in A.F.L on 26th Feb 2010 8:30

Ten years after the birth of the once-maligned , Ian Collins has declared it a better place to watch footy than the MCG.

The veteran stadium boss boldly said the 156-year-old cricket ground did not compete when it came to atmosphere. Collins went further, declaring the 54,000-capacity dome among the world's best stages for sport. "Once you start building stadiums bigger, you take people away from the action," Collins

In an interview to mark the stadium's anniversary, CEO Collins said:
# PLANS for a third Melbourne footy stadium were a waste of taxpayers' money.
# ETIHAD'S long-running cold war with the AFL was over.
# DOCKLANDS would never agree to shift blockbuster AFL matches like last year's Geelong-St Kilda epic to the cross-town rival MCG.
# STAGING international and Big Bash Twenty20 cricket games was high on his agenda.

Collins, 67, quit as AFL operations manager to take on the Docklands job on April Fool's Day 2000. Under the terms of the Docklands construction contract, the AFL will take full ownership of the stadium in 2025. "It's a nice little asset to get lock, stock and barrel, the land and the building," Collins said.

A consortium of investors led by property giant Mirvac purchased the then-Telstra Dome for $330 million from Channel Seven in 2006.

Collins scoffed at the Brumby Government's proposal for a new 40,000-seat stadium on disused railway land near Etihad, known as "E-Gate". "We've gone mad on building stadia have we? This stadium when it was built was supposed to cover rectangular sport and cricket and football," Collins said.

"This was built, we've built another one (the new bubble stadium on Swan St) and now they're talking about building another one. I think it's a waste of taxpayers' money an absolute waste."

Collins said the venues's biggest legacy was the emergence of a thriving new suburb in the once-derelict Docklands precinct.

"It was funny. Waverley was much maligned but when it came time to get rid of it, it became the favourite son," Collins said.

Source & More: www.heraldsun.com.au/
Michael Warner
Herald Sun

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