Sport
9 January, 2023
Avoca continue push to have clubrooms ready before MCDFNL opener after floods
Avoca have revealed that they are in a race against time to have their clubrooms finalised ahead of round one of the Maryborough Castlemaine District Football Netball League (MCDFNL) season following the devastating floods, setting a goal to have...

Avoca have revealed that they are in a race against time to have their clubrooms finalised ahead of round one of the Maryborough Castlemaine District Football Netball League (MCDFNL) season following the devastating floods, setting a goal to have the rooms completed by April 1.
The ground at Avoca Public Park was hit hard, with damage to the oval fence, perimeter fence and minor damage to the clubrooms, which were thankfully saved thanks to the efforts of tireless volunteers who sandbagged the clubrooms prior to the heavy floods which hit the town in October — just over a month after the ground hosted MCDFNL finals.
Pleasingly, however, president Bill Drummond has confirmed that cricket will make its return to the ground in two weeks time, with the playing surface coming up well after recent works.
“The ground has been resurfaced, which has involved taking the top off and all the debris, and our drought-proof couch with the roots has taken off. So the playing surface will be really good. We’re still waiting on the perimeter fence and oval fence to be replaced, at this time of year, getting tradies to fix it is easier said than done. We are assuming that will happen relatively early in the year,” he said.
“However, the main focus at the moment is on the clubrooms. It is going to be some time before we get back into them by the looks of it.
“The cricket club will still be able to play home games, thankfully. We have six of eight games that will be played at home, the issue will be that we won’t get access to the clubrooms. They are making toilets available to us, there are two external toilets on either side of the building, but we won’t be able to get access into the main facility.”
The Bulldogs’ cricket team will take a great deal out of having a big run of home games to finish the A reserve season off, currently sitting just outside the top four by three competition points. Drummond says that their home games will be a little different thanks to the continued works at the ground.
“The important thing for us is being able to play cricket. We start back on January 21 for that and it should be good to get out there,” he said.
“The fence has been made safe, but what we will do regardless is bring the boundary cones in a couple of metres so that people aren’t up against the fence.”
Drummond confirmed that every effort will be made to ensure that everything will be ready for the Bulldogs’ opening round MCDFNL clashes with Maryborough Rovers at the very least, to be played on April 15.
“In terms of football and netball, it will be a race against the clock to have the clubrooms ready. All the contents have been taken out of the clubrooms and put into storage. The plaster and the lower plaster has been removed from the wall, the mould has been pressure-washed and steam-cleaned out, and we’re going through the drying process at the moment. It’s a case of knowing that as soon as we can get builders, we can get the plaster back in and repaint, carpet and put the contents back in,” he said.
However, Drummond has set a tentative deadline of April 1 to get everything ready for the clubrooms’ re-opening. That date is important to the Bulldogs, as he explains — their annual practice match againstMininera and District Football League club Lismore-Derrinallum is set on that date, with the Demons due to come across to Avoca this season.
Drummond says it will all come down to the availability of construction workers to ensure the ground, as well as the clubrooms, are finished sooner rather than later.
“We play Lismore-Derrinallum every year, and they’re due to come across on April 1, but it’s highly unlikely that we’ll be able to play that game. But you never know, the insurers and the Pyrenees Shire have done a fantastic job to get us to where we are currently, but it’s going to be in the hands of whether we can get tradies now to get it ready for what we are aiming at for April 1,” he said.
Drummond confirmed that preparations for the season have been unchanged to this stage, with the footballers embarking on their first pre-season under new coach Zack Lubeek, while the netballers are looking to bounce back from their preliminary final exit.
“Football and netball training will still be able to continue as normal, but it’s just with the small difference that you can’t have a shower or a beer afterwards. That probably won’t kill them though,” he said.