Ballarat council will push for AFL in city

BALLARAT City Council will continue its push for AFL games in Ballarat and the upgrade of Eureka Stadium, with or without North Melbourne.The AFL's Kangaroos announced this week they want to play seven homes games in Tasmania, including matches in Hobart, from 2012. Club chairman James Brayshaw said the club was seeking a long- term partnership with Tasmania, including a stand-alone VFL side and annual community camps.Yesterday, the Tasmanian government appeared cool about the prospect.But if such a deal went ahead, it would call into question the future of the club's relationship with the City of Ballarat.Last year the two organisations signed a five-year memorandum of understanding.In 2009-10, the council provided $70,000 in sponsorship to the club, and a further $80,000 towards the Eureka Game between the Kangaroos and Richmond at the MCG. In return, the club has held its annual community camp in the city for the past two years and was seen as a key plank in the drive to redevelop Eureka Stadium and get AFL matches played here. In March, the club played a practice match against Hawthorn at the ground. But Brayshaw said on the club's website: " We have a great relationship with the City of Ballarat and while have explored it, there just isn't the infrastructure there to support AFL games at the moment."Ballarat mayor Judy Verlin said the council agreement with North Melbourne was always about taking small steps, and that the club had to take decisions that were commercially viable for it."From our point of view NAB Cup games, lower (crowd) number games and a sports and entertainment precinct are not impacted on by that sort of decision."Last month, the council released its $80 million vision for a redevelopment of Eureka Stadium and the Showgrounds, which would enable the ground to host small AFL crowds.The council received $1 million from the state government towards a redevelopment of the stadium and a further announcement is expected before this month's state election.