Firstly, of course I understand safety concerns and what insurance will dictate. 

Safety is always our first concern as a club and we would not subject any of our players to unsafe conditions. 

The league we are affiliated with holds safety as paramount and would also make reasonable assessment prior to a game being held.

Secondly, after the decision was made to call off weekend sports, myself and club treasurer Ron Hetherington went up to the ground to assess. 

It was stated that Northparkes Oval was underwater. 

We walked the full ground and found that a large portion was damp, but still solid. 

The concerns must have been on the far end of the cricket wicket which had two puddles, one larger than the other. 

We were struggling to see eye to eye with councils decision. 

Bathurst’s George Park was under snow last Friday and they still marched out on Saturday. 

Young council has been watering Burrangong Oval, even though it has rained also. 

Young still invited us to play there. 

Both the stated grounds were in much worse condition than Northparkes.

Was this the case of preserving the turf wicket? 

Or was it poor judgement? 

If the case were to preserve the wicket (the only mildly soggy part of the ground), we are bemused. 

The ground is multi purpose and the purpose it serves in winter is to support home games for the Boars Rugby Union and the Parkes Panthers AFL. 

I understand this was the first time in the history of our club that it was “too wet” to play football on a ground developed for the Panthers. 

Cricket season is still a while off, footy season is now.

Thirdly, we are rebuilding our club this year and have already battled to get home games.

We have only had one this year. 

Our club has now taken another financial loss, unable to open our canteen and receive benefits from our league. This makes it increasingly difficult to see any future for what was once one of the shires proudest and successful sporting clubs. 

We find we are having to jump many hurdles to re-ignite the club to its former glory with little to no hope from not only our league but also our council. 

We will battle on, we just seek more support and more clarity in the decisions. 

This will ultimately dictate the future of the club.

It was, stop me if I’m wrong, the perfect day for any kind of football last weekend, and it would seem from my correspondence with local sporting groups that one code rules them all. 

Let’s hope for an even and dry playing field.

Jake Adams

Secretary  

Parkes Panthers