By Tim Braban - Toowoomba Chronicle
The Darling Downs AFL clubs most affected by the continuing flood crisis have vowed to rebuild and return to the competition stronger than ever.
The Lockyer Valley Demons, the Dalby Swans and the Warwick Redbacks have all had their preparations for the upcoming AFL season thrown into turmoil following the widespread flooding.
But despite the damage to their grounds and playing equipment, each club is upbeat and thankful the impact to their club is not any worse.
2011 was set to be a big year for the Warwick Redbacks, with the club poised to move to a new playing field at St Mark’s Oval.
However, their new ground borders the Condamine River and went under for the second time in a month last week.
As a result, the Warwick Redbacks have been unable to prepare their new ground for the upcoming AFL season and the damage could leave the club homeless for the early part of 2011.
“We’ve been working on the oval at St Mark’s for a few years and we were pretty close to getting out to play on it,” Warwick Redbacks acting president Jason Wright said.
“Because the ground is so waterlogged, we haven’t been able to get any heavy equipment on to it and do the work we’ve been planning to do to have it up and running
“Basically, we’ve got eight weeks before we really need to have it finished and I don’t know if we’ll have it ready in time,” Wright said.
The Dalby Swans’ playing ground also went under in the town’s near-record floods, but president Tony Butcher is confident the Dalby AFL Oval will be ready when the season kicks off in March.
“We inspected the oval last night and it’s in pretty good condition, considering it was completely under water,” Butcher said.
But both Dalby’s and Lockyer Valley’s registration numbers could take a hit, particularly the juniors, because of the negative financial impact of the floods on many families.
Moving into their second year in the AFLDD competition, Lockyer Valley Demons president Tony Bowers says the club faces an uphill battle to retain players after the flood.
“We could struggle with numbers, but we’re in a good position considering we’re the cheapest sport to play in the valley,” he said.
“The seniors are going to be up and down over the next couple of years until we get that group of guys committed to sticking around.”
“We’ll be up and down during the year, but with a bit of heart and commitment, I hope during the season we can get more competitive.”
Last Modified on 07/03/2011 12:12