It will be a happy homecoming this weekend for Sandringham.
The undefeated Zebras will return home for the first time in season 2014, as they host Essendon on Sunday as part of Round 5 Peter Jackson VFL action.
Over the offseason Trevor Barker Beach Oval has undergone a makeover, with Bayside City Council, along with assistance from the AFL and AFL Victoria, helping fund a reconstruction and extension of the ground. The ground has been extended by seven metres in length, and slightly widened.
Sandringham recently returned to the ground for training purposes, and are looking forward to playing their first game on home turf this weekend.
“It is really exciting – we have been back on it for a couple of weeks now and it is a first clash surface and obviously it has been lengthened and widened a little bit, but it is a great deck and we are pretty happy to be getting back there and basing ourselves there,” Sandringham coach Simon McPhee said.
Basing themselves at Moorabbin for preseason, McPhee explained that despite the disruption of not being able to train at home, it did help foster relationships.
“We shared Moorabbin with the Sandringham Dragons, which helped us spend some time with those guys, all be it informally, and build some relationships with their coaches and hopefully that flows on to getting their players down, which has been good in that way.”
After playing their first four games away, one man that is happy to return home is Sandringham General Manager John Mennie.
“It is great to be back at Trevor Barker Beach Oval.
“It has taken time, like these projects do, and we thought we had lost it half way through last year,” Mennie said.
“But Council agreed to go ahead and complete it in this budget year, rather than 2015/16 as was talked about, so it was a huge positive for us to have Council revisit it and the budget for the ground.”
Apart from their appreciation of the Bayside City Council, Sandringham also had St Kilda to thank for their assistance when they needed to find an alternative training venue over summer.
“We were very lucky that St Kilda allowed us to use the Moorabbin ground, as well as a few sessions at Seaford as well.
“The challenge came when daylight savings ended and there are no lights at Moorabbin, but fortunately the ground was ready and Council allowed us to get back on Trevor Barker Oval a week earlier than what was planned.”
Sandringham currently sits in third spot on the ladder, with three wins and a draw from its four away matches so far this season.
- CLICK HERE to listen to Simon McPhee talk about the season so far for Sandringham
Last Modified on 01/05/2014 07:52