AFL: Ballarat still high on Roos' agenda

BALLARAT is still high on North Melbourne's agenda for AFL home-and-away games, despite talks the Kangaroos are set to play in Hobart.Cricket Tasmania chairman Tony Harrison yesterday confirmed an agreement with the Kangaroos for two home games a year at Bellerive Oval from 2012.Under the partnership, North Melbourne has called for a net guarantee of $750,000 per game in Hobart ? all they need is approval from the Tasmanian government.Kangaroos' spokesman Heath O'Loughlin said no official deal had been struck yet in Tasmania and nothing had changed in the club's bid to bring AFL to Ballarat's Eureka Stadium."We're still talking to the (Victorian) state government ... still going 100 miles per hour to get the game to Ballarat," O'Loughlin said."We're trying to get both of them up and running, Tasmania and Ballarat."We're looking at spreading the market and we believe we can do that in both areas."North Ballarat chairman James Brayshaw also confirmed the club would continue its push for a 15,000-seat stadium that was pledged by the Brumby government ahead of last month's state election."I still think having a boutique stadium an hour out of Melbourne makes perfect sense," Brayshaw told afl.com.au."When you look at the fact Greater Western Sydney, Gold Coast, Port Adelaide and Fremantle have to regularly come to Melbourne, you can see there are lots of games that suit smaller stadiums."If one gets built an hour out of Melbourne then we will happily support it, because a lot of our games against clubs like that are suited to a 15-20,000-seat stadium."Ballarat has secured an AFL NAB Challenge match this pre-season for a second consecutive year.The Kangaroos will also return to Ballarat for the club's community camp in February and have thrown their support behind Aussie Rules Club Classic, a pre-season tournament for clubs across metropolitan and country Victoria in Ballarat next year.North Ballarat chief executive officer Mark Patterson said the challenge match and camps were indicative of the AFL and Kangaroo's long-term commitment to the region.Patterson said talks with the Kangaroos had all been positive."I don't think (Hobart) impacts us necessarily to get AFL in Ballarat," Patterson said."The Kangaroos have been looking for alternate venues for awhile."In my talks with (Kangaroos' chief executive officer) Eugene Arocca, they appear keen to keep a strong presence in Ballarat. The sooner we provide the facilities they need, the sooner we might get a game.''Patterson said all stake-holders were committed to making Eureka Stadium a boutique AFL venue.North Melbourne, at the request of the government and AFL, had previously submitted a $70 million plan to split seven matches a season between Hobart and Launceston over 10 years from 2012.Instead the Tasmanian government opted for a new deal with Hawthorn to continue playing AFL matches in Launceston until the end of 2016.