Western Bulldogs general manager of football Chris Maple says the importance of having AFL matches in Ballarat holds a wide-spread importance the western regions ahead of Saturday’s Western Bulldogs versus Gold Coast clash.
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Maple, who lives in Ballarat and is a former coach of the TAC Cup’s North Ballarat Rebels, said while hosting games in Ballarat is clearly a huge plus for the city, the accessibility of the game for more remote football fans was a huge plus.
Originally from Ararat, Maple recalls the excitement of having an AFL game come to a town that does not receive regular instalments of the elite level.
“I think it’s a bigger picture than just the Ballarat region, it’s the Wimmera it’s the western districts, people can get to Ballarat a lot easier (than Melbourne) and watch AFL football in a great stadium,” Maple said.
“That’s the real positive, we’re taking elite-level sport outside of Melbourne.”
After last year’s crowd of 10,087 against Port Adelaide, Maple was hopeful of another near-capacity crowd.
“The more Bulldogs we can fit in the venue the better...and the more we win there, the more it will feel like home. We’ve done community camps and things like that, so they’re really accustom to the Ballarat surrounds and the people here.”
Maple said another major positive of AFL football at the venue was the up-close nature fans could experience given there is not seating all around the ground, spectators getting a more suburban-style viewpoint.
“People just marveled at it last year...you feel like you’re so close to the action.
“You can hear the players and hear the hits.
“We’re just hoping we put on a good performance and we can take home the four points.”
The first bounce is at 1.45pm on Saturday.
