Australian Football League rivals Richmond and Carlton "are each pitching" for multi-million dollar government support to transform their "old home grounds" at Punt Road and Princes Park, according to Wilson & Pierik of THE AGE. The Tigers and the Blues submitted blueprints to the Victorian Government in a move that could form part of Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews' '18 election strategy, along with a "largely taxpayer-funded" A$300M ($230M) upgrade of Etihad Stadium. Those blueprints are featured in a series of stadium and precinct proposals expected to "significantly alter the face of elite and community spectator sport across Victoria and, specifically, inner-city Melbourne." In a separate development, the AFL "has begun detailed research into the future of its new national women's league," with Carlton's Ikon Park "emerging as the proposed home" of AFL Women's, potentially boasting an upgraded 20,000-to-25,000-seat stadium, with 70% of that being under cover. The AFL "is expected to have to wait for several months and, potentially, until next season" to learn of Etihad Stadium's fate after the government deferred its call on the upgrade (THE AGE, 7/12).
