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30 Mar 2024, Edition - 3182, Saturday

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Sports

Perth’s new stadium: west can still be best once teething problems are solved

theguardian.com

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When mariachi music screeched out of speakers at Perth’s new Optus Stadium just before the start of Australia and England’s one-day clash, the crowd erupted. The 55,000 crowd was basking in such a giddy delirium it seemed not to notice when Jason Roy gracefully flicked the first ball of the game from Mitchell Starc towards the mid-wicket boundary. It didn’t matter, for long-suffering Perth fans the long wait was over.

But it wasn’t all plain sailing on opening day, following what has been a difficult birth for the Optus Stadium. Delays, cost blowouts and a problem-plagued $70m bridge linking pedestrians to the new venue won’t be complete until halfway through the 2018 AFL season. It’s meant crowds at some mid-weeks events have had to be capped.

And on Sunday, complaints were made about the food and drink service, with some customers claiming pricing and long queues were an issue. A technical glitch was supposedly to blame for the advertised $12 meat pies and $10.50 sausage rolls (Optus Stadium said no customer actually paid that amount), but there were other concerns over the quality of some products

Some also complained about having to endure lengthy queues for food and drink, only to be informed when they got to the front of the line, the outlet had sold out. It was a far cry from the promise of an end to endless waits in mile-long queues to get a cold pie or lukewarm beer at places like the Waca and Domain Stadium.

There were also complaints about public transport delays after the match (TransPerth later claimed there were only minor delays) but, despite the hiccups, the $1.6bn stadium, nestled next to the Swan river on the outskirts of the city, is a venue of monstrous beauty and elegant design. It’s hard not to marvel at the enormity of the stadium and its facilities.

The stadium has two of the biggest screens in the southern hemisphere and more than 1,000 TV screens so fans can watch the game from every conceivable angle. The technology is so innovative you almost expect holographic images of the players to pop up in the middle of the billiard-like green outfield during quiet moments in play.

The seats have been super-sized (which come with individual cup holders) and fans get maximum visibility regardless of where they are seated. Even the view from the bars, of the Perth city centre and the Swan river, is stunning.

The stadium was supposedly built with the fan in mind, and while there were a few initial problems, many were happy with the experience. Rob Paul, 36, said making a stadium that was “unforgettable” will only foster fan loyalty. “We are sitting high in the stands and the views are just awesome,” he said. “I don’t think there is any comparison to the Waca to be honest and Subiaco Oval as well. I think there has been a few teething issues with a few places running out of food but you have got to expect that with the first big event here.”

Paul said Perth was well overdue for a world-class stadium. “I was pretty happy when they announced it and it is money well spent,” he said. “I think it will put Perth on the map, which is good.”

Matthew Edwards,48, said he would rarely take his nine-year-old son Javier to the Waca because the facilities were so rundown. “There is nothing to whinge about this place,” he laughed. “If I was at the Waca right now I would be home because I would be sunburnt. We would go there for the Big Bash occasionally but you just can’t sit through a day of Test cricket or a one-dayer. There is just no shade, mate.”

Perth cricket-lovers have been waiting for decades for a lustrous replacement for the tired and decrepit Waca. Against the backdrop of the new Optus Stadium the Waca looks weary and archaic. Apart from the Perth Scorchers sold-out games in the Big Bash League, the Waca sat mostly vacant and increasingly derelict.

The Waca was finding it increasingly difficult to lure fans from their armchairs when all it could serve up was unrecognisable food, reeking toilets and the real prospect of sunstroke because the rickety ageing stands offered little shade.

But at least the Waca can smirk knowing it will hold onto one of the most endearing quirks in world cricket – the Fremantle Doctor. The south-westerly breeze that howls in from the coast and has assisted pacemen and swing bowlers since the early 1970s, won’t be able to penetrate the towering walls of Optus Stadium.

But Perth sports fans won’t mind giving up the Doctor. And while the value of spending almost $2bn on a new stadium will remain impossible to measure, it appears the fans don’t care. They finally have a decent stadium to call their own.

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