FLOOD-RAVAGED Newbridge will play its home games in the Loddon Valley Football-Netball League at YCW’s Backhaus Oval this year.
The Maroons’ Riverside Park suffered major damage to its buildings during last month’s floods and is unable to be used for games this season.
However, Newbridge has been inundated with offers of support from fellow LVFL clubs such as YCW, Marong and Inglewood, with an announcement made yesterday that the Maroons will use the Eagles’ Backhaus Oval as their home ground for most of their games in 2011.
The Maroons will play seven home games at Backhaus Oval and one at Inglewood when Backhaus Oval is unavailable in round eight.
“We’ve chosen YCW because it’s logistically easier for us, and the draw lends itself for us to play there,’’ Newbridge president Ron Trimble said yesterday.
“We’re very grateful for the support of YCW, but the other offers of assistance we’ve had from clubs have also been marvellous.’’
Despite not being able to play at Riverside Park, the Maroons can still use the ground for training.
The club will today begin the permit process to have temporary changerooms installed at its ground.
“The ground itself and the surface is OK, so we’ve been back on it training, it’s just the fencing and all the infrastructure that’s the main problem,’’ Trimble said.
“It’s an awkward time, because even though it has only been four weeks since the flood, it seems like six months because so much has happened.”
“We’re still faced with looking at the devastation each day, which is probably uncomfortable for a lot of people.
“But we’ve just got to go through the process step by step.’’
YCW president Brian Murphy said the Eagles were only too happy to assist the Maroons in their time of need.
“The ground is going to have a heavy workload, but we’d rather a heavy workload then for Newbridge to not be able to play,’’ Murphy said.
“Of course, we hope we beat them when we play them, but we need to support each other because we don’t want clubs being forced to have to drop out.
“And it will also be good in that this now means there will be a Loddon Valley game in Bendigo every Saturday.’’
Trimble hopes the Maroons’ need to play home games at Backhaus Oval is just for the one season.
“We’d like to think we will be back playing at Newbridge next year, but nobody can answer that yet,’’ Trimble said.
As well as Backhaus Oval hosting a LVFL game every weekend, it will also be the venue for the LVFL’s inter-league match against the Maryborough-Castlemaine District Football League on Saturday, June 11.
Meanwhile, Newbridge, in conjunction with radio station 3BO FM, will hold a Sportsman’s Night at the All Seasons Quality Resort on Friday, March 18, to help raise funds towards the rebuilding of the Riverside Park clubrooms.
