Saturday night's match between last year's Australian Football League grand finalists Sydney and Hawthorn "could be the last game ever held at ANZ Stadium," according to Daniel Cherny of THE AGE.
The Sydney Swans "are due to vacate Homebush permanently" from '17 and play all of their home games at the Sydney Cricket Ground, but the "government-funded project set to shape the harbour city's sporting future could fast-track the club's exit."
A "Super Trust" has been proposed that would oversee the distribution of A$600M ($444M) set aside by the New South Wales government "for the redevelopment of stadia in Sydney." If that happened, the same body "would control both ANZ Stadium and the SCG." Once that occurred, a source said that there would be a "reasonable chance" the Super Trust's new board would not stand in the Swans' way if they sought to play all their home games in 2016 at the SCG -- "the club's preference." Sydney Chair Andrew Pridham said that the Swans "would be open to vacating ANZ Stadium early." He said, "We're contracted at ANZ Stadium until the end of 2016. If we're approached to move earlier, of course we'd look at it." Without the Swans there next year, there "would be no oval-field sport left at the Olympic stadium" (THE AGE, 7/16).
