News Lottoland

CroydonDog

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Oh dear.

The Sydney Morning Herald

Manly could lose home final after asbestos found at Lottoland

By Sam Phillips and Adam PengillySeptember 8, 2019 — 6.09pm

Lottoland could be stripped of hosting rights to Manly's elimination final against Cronulla on Saturday after traces of asbestos were found on the ground's famous hill.

Testing as part of excavation planning for the club's new centre of excellence on the northern side of the ground revealed the asbestos issue, which threatens Manly's home field advantage when they need it most.

The safety of spectators is the top priority for the NRL, says CEO Todd Greenberg.

Photo: Gregg Porteous/NRL Photos

The NRL has given the club and the Northern Beaches Council - which maintains the ground - until 6pm on Monday evening to fix the affected area and prove it is safe for use on Saturday night.

If the ground is not deemed safe for use by that deadline, Manly will lose their home field advantage and be forced to face the Sharks at Bankwest Stadium instead.

Manly owner Scott Penn said the possibility of losing home field advantage was

"But these things happen and you just have to deal with them," Penn said. "Safety is the number one priority and we will not compromise safety.

"Based on what we’ve been told thus far from the experts in the field they’re confident it can be solved. We’ll have to wait and see. If they’re the cards we’re dealt we’ll play out of Bankwest. It’s probably the most logical given there’s a game the next day and they’re gearing up for it."

Penn said the club notified the NRL immediately after the traces of asbestos was found on Friday.

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"As part of the centre of excellence project they needed to drill some bore holes just to check what was in the ground," Penn said.

"If you dig bore holes in any ground you may find some traces of asbestos. The fact is they do this all the time and find these things and then put together an environmental plan to mitigate it. That’s what’s happening.

"It only happened on Friday. We alerted the NRL immediately and said we’re confident we can come up with a strategy to deal with it, but 'we just need to [let] you know'."

The NRL will withhold ticket sales for the match until the venue is finalised.

NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg said: "Our number one priority is ensuring the safety of our players and fans. Unfortunately it could not be guaranteed when the schedule was confirmed.

"We have given the local council and the Sea Eagles a period of grace of 24 hours in order to assess the safety of the venue before we release tickets.

The NRL warned Manly after an altercation between a fan and Melbourne's Will Chambers at Lottoland last weekend.

Photo: NRL Photos

"We have worked with Northern Beaches Council and the Sea Eagles to ensure the club is given the opportunity to host a final, while ensuring the safety of our supporters is paramount."

Northern Beaches Council chief executive officer Ray Brownlee said he expected the final to be played at Lottoland.

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"Council has given the NRL and the Manly Sea Eagles every assurance it can that there is no reason the scheduled semi-final at Brookvale Oval cannot go ahead next week," he said.

"Public safety is council’s first priority and as soon as the Sea Eagles brought this issue to our attention, specialist environmental engineers were engaged to assess the site and provide recommendations on the measures required to be implemented.

"The expert advice received from the engineers [on Sunday] indicates that based on their preliminary assessment, there is no unacceptable risk to public health."

The revelation comes just days after Greenberg threatened to take the game away from Lottoland for safety concerns of another kind, after a fan lashed out at Will Chambers as he came from the field during Melbourne's win over Manly last weekend.

The NRL decided to hand the fan a two-year ban instead of taking the severe action of stripping Lottoland of its finals eligibility.

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KambahOne

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Asbestos would actually improve Lottoland.
 

BELMORE

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Ohhhhh so that’s why all those bogans on the hill are a bit special. Makes sense now
 

Papa Emeritus

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A similar thing happened at a park near my house. They found asbestos when doing soil testing and closed off certain areas and basically just covered them with bark before reopening the areas. I guess the impacted spots just need x amount of coverage to be deemed safe (it was just dirt before and I guess dirt erodes easily with no coverage).
 

CroydonDog

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it's probably nothing, but you certainly can't fuck with asbestos.

i renovated my bathroom recently, and the guys went in in full hazmat suits to clean it up.
 

MatstaDogg

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When are they going to just put a bomb through the place. Terrible ground. Turns into a bog when ever it gets wet.
 

Bad Billy

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WTF ? It’s not like the asbestos just appeared there ?
 

CroydonDog

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Apparently Singo offered:

NRL confirm Manly-Cronulla elimination final to be played at Lottoland
Phil Rothfield, Sports Editor-at-Large, The Daily Telegraph
September 9, 2019 5:57pm
Subscriber only
The NRL has agreed to play the Manly-Cronulla final at Lottoland on Saturday night.

The NRL is satisfied with a safety report that indicated fans will not be put at risk on the northern end of the hill.

Tickets will be on sale for the game on Tuesday morning.
The NRL has rejected an earlier $250,000 offer from colourful businessman John Singleton to move Manly’s elimination final against Cronulla to Central Coast Stadium in Gosford.


Singleton rang Manly coach Des Hasler with the offer on Monday morning which he claims was passed on to NRL officials but quickly rejected.

“Des and everyone at Manly loved the idea,” Singleton said, “They were all for it.

“I asked Des could I quote him and he said ‘f…ing oath’. They really wanted this.”

Singleton had Central Coast businesses on board to turn Gosford into a sea of maroon and white.


His staff spent all morning rallying support from key stakeholders across the region.

“Central Coast tourism, Central Coast Leagues were geared up for it, pubs, restaurants, everyone,” Singleton said.


Wade Graham and Daly Cherry-Evans at the NRL Finals series launch. Picture: AAP
“It could have been a massive celebration — free food or a drink to anyone wearing Manly clothes.

“We were going to change the name of Brisbane Waters to Hasler Waters just for a day

“There was going to be a street named after (Paul) Gallen.

“Plus, Manly have had great success at this ground.”

The $250,000 offer would have gone towards the extra broadcast production costs.

Singleton is furious that the NRL administration keeps turning its back on Gosford.

“Do they want to just move the whole game to the western suburbs?” he said.


Manly won their previous encounter against Cronulla earlier this year. Picture: AAP
“So the NRL come back and say it’s more convenient to play at Parramatta

“Really? Gee whiz. They’ve got a massive junior league up here. The second biggest in the state. What an opportunity they’ve missed.”

The NRL says no official approach was made to move the game, according to a spokesman.

“If Lottoland isn’t available, Manly fans shouldn’t be asked to travel 90 minutes and Sharks fans almost two hours to watch a final when a superior stadium is much closer,” an NRL spokesman said.
 

Grunthos

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Meh...
If it ain't Belmore, it just ain't a footy field!
 

Scoooby

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And if it ain’t belmore who gives a fuck !!
 

JackDog

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Its all good, they're just going to cover it up with astroturf :o
 
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