PILA's AFL goal posts at Olympic Park

The Olympic Park Oval in Melbourne was recently opened after redevelopment with a public training session for Collingwood Football Club.

Featuring AFL goal posts and barrier netting systems from PILA group® , the stadium was opened by the Minister for Major Projects David Hodgett and Collingwood President Eddie McGuire.

The original Olympic Park stadium was built as an athletics training venue and field for the 1956 Olympic soccer preliminary rounds, a short distance from the MCG.

Adrian Black from Melbourne and Olympic Parks (M&OP) discussed with Turfmate about the redevelopment and Collingwood’s move to the new Olympic Park Oval. The stadium has been reconstructed into an AFL football field with the same size and dimensions as the MCG.

A new state-of-the-art venue was built for athletics in Albert Park in Olympic Park’s place, opening up opportunity for a sizeable public recreation space when Collingwood isn’t using it for training. A health and wellness centre and public change facilities are also under construction next to the floodlit oval with a view to providing for the needs of female exercisers and users of the famous Botanical Gardens ‘Tan’ track.

Adrian and the M&OP team developed the specifications for the reconstruction and engaged Watpac Civil as the major contractor for the redevelopment project.

A team of 11 full time staff and a pool of casuals work at M&OP, a precinct that encompasses roughly 40 hectares split into two sections. The southern side of Olympic Boulevard comprises of AAMI Park, three training fields and Westpac Centre while the north side of the road includes Rod Laver and Hisense Arenas, Melbourne Park tennis courts and the new National Tennis Centre facility.

In preparation for Collingwood’s first big training session, Adrian and his team had to mark up the oval. AFL teams now request considerable line marking on their training fields beyond the standard requirement in order to practice their strategies. Adrian’s team also had to make sure the PILA barrier nets and PILA goal posts were in place.

Like Gosch’s Paddock, Olympic Park Oval is open to the public whenever it is not being used for training. A narrow athletics track around the perimeter also provides for Melbourne’s many fitness fanatics who frequent the area before and after work, as well as the lunchtime period.