By Nick Creely

The first ever AFL match for premiership points at Hands Oval in Bunbury on Sunday will be a spectacle and for the coastal city, 180 kilometres south of Perth, it will be a chance to showcase its elite facilities on the national stage.

Coordinator, parks and reserves at the City of Bunbury Kale Faulkner and the team have been busy preparing the surface (pictured) for the clash between North Melbourne and West Coast Eagles and are putting the finishing touches on the ground this week.  

The newest AFL venue hosts multiple sports, including cricket, soccer and rugby union but is primarily used for Australian rules football. It is the home ground of the South Bunbury Football Club, and has hosted several WAFL matches and pre-season AFL matches across its history.

The venue has also recently increased its capacity from 8,000 to nearly 15,000 in time for the historic fixture after undergoing significant redevelopments last year.

Faulkner said while there had been a few hiccups for the team to navigate, including some turf work being done at the interchange dugout a few weeks ago and heavy rain in the lead-in to the game it had been an enjoyable process.

“We’ve had some hiccups and we’ve been doing a few turf plugs in patches. We did some re-turfing and tapered that in front of the dugouts on the western wing,” he said. “The AFL requested we put in synthetic turf in front of the dugouts so we’ve had to make sure to blend it all in.

“It’s exciting for sure. It’s been a steep learning curve for us all, but we’re proud of what we’ve done to get it to the level. We believe the surface can stand up to AFL level.”

Faulkner said the surface would get a final mow in the hours leading up to the game as well as some final touches on game day and would be ready for Captain’s Run on Saturday for the respective teams.

“It had an iron magnesium sulfate to green it up and make it look pretty,” he said. “It’s a closed site now which is good, we’ve got another mow to do and then another final mow on game day. The signage guys also came on Thursday and the pallet dropped off Wednesday.”

The clash at the venue is part of North Melbourne’s new deal to bring two home matches to WA until 2027, expected to net around $7.5 million across the next three years. The 17th placed Kangaroos and 18th placed Eagles will clash from 1.20pm AWST.

Images courtesy of Bruce Macphee