Eddie McGuire send warning message Tasmania Devils amid stadium ‘disaster’
Eddie McGuire has urged Tasmania to ensure their new home ground venue, Maquarie Point, is planned to perfection, to avoid the “disaster” that was Marvel Stadium.
New plans for the Devils’ home ground were revealed recently, unveiling their intent to add the world’s largest timber-roofed stadium.
It will seat 23,000 people, with the timber roof planned to be partly translucent, sitting at 51 metres high, in hopes that international cricket matches could also be hosted there, alongside AFL, other sporting events and even concerts.
The plan is for the stadium to be completed by the 2029 season, a year after the Devils enter the league.
Now, McGuire is urging the Devils and their key stakeholders to ensure their plans are solid, considering how much of a “disaster” Melbourne’s Marvel has been since it was built at the turn of the century.
“I saw the renders for Marvel as well, which looks fantastic, until a purpose built football ground was found to have not included a coach’s box,” McGuire said on Nine’s Eddie and Jimmy podcast.
“And also they built it the wrong way,” Geelong great Jimmy Bartel added.
Marvel Stadium, which was finished in March 2000, was built with the wings facing the dock, meaning that the sun shines awkwardly during games, with half of the ground mostly in shade.
“The rooms for the functions are absolutely appalling,” McGuire said.
“And the rooms downstairs with all the pillars in it meant you couldn’t train.”
While McGuire thinks Tasmania’s new stadium already has better plans than Marvel’s over 24 years ago, he still wants the Devils members and key stakeholders to give their tick of approval.
“I love the perspex roof. I do worry about shadows, but they will have lighting, you would imagine, particularly for the cricket,” McGuire said.
“At first glance, it looks magnificent. But what we need to do is hand it over to people in the sporting game (to analyse it).”
Bartel also holds concerns that not having the stadium finished by the time they enter the league in 2028 could be costly for their membership base and their culture, considering they’ll have to begin their first chapter playing away from their forever-home for at least the first 12 months of their inception.
“Tasmanians go, ‘just get the team out there’, but would you rather the team run out onto the brand new stadium for game one?” Bartel said.
“Or would people be comfortable with a mix of Hobart and Launny (Launceston games)?”
McGuire wants to see the stadium completed a year early, but knows that plans rarely ever work to time, which could be a good thing, to ensure the Devils home base becomes an instant fortress when it is ready for use.
“I’d love them to run out the first game on the big stadium,” McGuire said.
“But I don’t think there is any rush. I would rather this is absolutely brand spanking. That you take the extra year to get it right.
“But if they come in on budget, on time, that sets the tone for what Tasmania needs to be.”
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