Magpies open to vacating nest to help Australian Open keep growing

Collingwood is open to moving out of their home base for all of January to allow the Australian Open to spill over the road and expand the tennis footprint as soon as next year.

Tennis Australia is keen to keep expanding and has raised the option of crossing Olympic Boulevard and using Collingwood’s training ground and gym and facilities.

Collingwood coach Craig McRae as the Magpies train at Olympic Park in the middle of Melbourne’s sporting precinct.Credit: Joe Armao

With the Melbourne Football Club highly likely to relocate this year as at least a short-to-medium-term move to Waverley after Hawthorn’s shift to Dingley, there would be scope for Collingwood to temporarily train at Gosch’s Paddock and potentially use the gym facilities at AAMI Park.

Other options being explored would include the Magpies moving to one of the larger private schools with gym and training grounds.

The Australian Open now runs for three weeks in January and AFL clubs do not normally return to training for the first week of January, so Collingwood would effectively vacate for the first month of the year if the plan went ahead.

An attraction to moving to accommodate tennis’ growth would be a new income stream from the significant short-term rent, but also the scope for the club to have facilities built by tennis for the Open which could then be used by the club for the remainder of the year. That could include enhanced infrastructure for fans and viewing around the training ground.

“The Australian Open is an outstanding major event for our city and the Collingwood Football Club is open to exploring opportunities for the world-class tournament to expand across the precinct,” Collingwood CEO Craig Kelly said.

“With the KGM Centre our full-time home, any plans would need to carefully consider impacts on our elite high-performance programs, while maintaining access for Collingwood members and supporters.

“We have a strong working relationship with Craig Tiley and his team at Tennis Australia, John Harnden and his team at Melbourne Park and the State Government, and any proposal would be progressed collaboratively with all key stakeholders.”

Tiley, the AO chief executive, said on Saturday he had ambitions to radically expand and be innovative with the tournament’s next stage. Plans included an interactive glass court and an immersive dome with 270-degree screens.

Collingwood’s Jordan De Goey enjoying a training run at Olympic Park last September.Credit: Joe Armao

Tiley proposed a “translucent dome over the whole precinct” akin to what they have in Dallas, US, as a weather protection.

“There’s an oval on the other side of Gosch’s Paddock, AAMI Park, the MCG, these are good pieces of land and property, which we would look at and expand into,” Tiley said.

Pressed further about the vision on Monday, Tiley confirmed Tennis Australia would work with Collingwood to assess options.

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“They’ve [Collingwood] been fantastic with communicating what the options are,” Tiley said.

“Obviously, there’s pre-season training, and we don’t want to disrupt any of that, but there is a way to use more of that precinct and the facilities they have.”

with Hannah Kennelly

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