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'IT'S TRUE, COLONIAL IS A WORLD-BEATER' - Herald Sun 9/7/2001

Hard to get into, windy at one end, lacking atmosphere, ground too hard… These are all criticisms that have been levelled at Colonial Stadium. The reallity is Colonial is what we were promised: one of the best sporting stadiums in the world. If you doubt that then you weren't one of the 165,000-odd who went to Colonial over the past four days. Rugby League on Thursday night with the Storm, the greatest Aussie rules side in the land on Friday night, our courageous Wallabies on Saturday evening and the Pies and Cats yesterday.

The ground looked as good yesterday as it did on Thursday and there was no talk of injuries, breezes, ques and atmosphere this time. It's an easy place to knock and not a trendy one to talk up.

'A NEW ERA FOR TURF AT COLONIAL' - SOL Press Release 11/5/2001

A three week program to replace the turf at Colonial Stadium has now been completed. The new turf is the licensed Motz system developed in the United States, which has now replaced the previous grass. The Motz system was used by several arenas during the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games including the Sydney Olympic, MCG, Gabba and Bruce Stadium.

During the Olympic Games the turf met the stringent quality requirements of world soccer governing body, FIFA and SOCOG. In the past fortnight, football players and supporters alike have noted the new look at Colonial Stadium as the centre corridor and Medallion Club wings were replaced. This week saw the completion of the Access One wing. The stadium is now ready for the St Kilda versus Hawthorn clash on this Saturday night, 12th May, 2001.

'This is a great step forward for Colonial Stadium' said Ian Collins, Chief Executive Officer.

'We now have an entirely new system in place, which enables greater flexibility and reduction in timing when replacing the surface and we expect a major improvement in turf performance. Of course, we are restricted by conditions evolving from the unique design of the Stadium, but we have on site excellence in HG Turf, our turf management company.'

The turf system at Colonial Stadium will involve a rotation turf system and is likely to have several rotations during each year. 'More than 19,000sq. metres comprising of 1,270 rolls of turf delivered by 45 semi trailer loads has been laid', said Hamish Sutherland, Managing Director of HG Turf.

'The process involved more 1000 man hours, over a three week period which was spaced between the normal schedule of football matches'. 'The advantage of our system, gives Colonial Stadium tremendous flexibility' said Mr Sutherland.

'BULLS PREVAIL DESPITE BRISBANE'S BIG WET' - Herald Sun 3/2/2001

South-East Queensland and Northern New South Wales were under water yesterday, but remarkably they still played cricket at the Gabba. Numerous rain stoppages were not enough to prevent the Bulls from beating Tasmania.

The deluge highlighted the extraordinary recuperative powers of the Gabba surface and quality of the ground-staff. Queensland cricket chief executive Graham Dixon said of curator Kevin Mitchell and his staff. "Their work in getting a game on tonight was absolutely first-class." The rain was the first big test of the new drainage dug below the turf when the ground was revamped to accommodate Olympic soccer last August. But there was not a puddle in sight.

It is great news for the Brisbane Lions who now know they will never play a game under water. This is in stark contrast to the remarkable match in 1999 when the Brisbane Lions confronted the Western Bulldogs on a surface that resembled a lake. It was so wet there was concern that night that someone might drown under a pack. But things have changed dramatically.

The Gabba now has a sand based surface and a state-of-the-art drainage system. But the past has not been forgotten. Beneath the surface lies the heritage-listed pipes constructed by convicts.

Historically the Gabba has always been a good drying ground. The past is littered with stories from stunned Test cricketers who had given up a day's play after a Brisbane thunderstorm, only to find themselves basking in the sunshine on a dry ground an hour later. But yesterday was a truly remarkable scene, not for the cricket, but for the fact that they were playing cricket at all.