Wet weather fear: Govt makes surprise call on sports grounds after weather warning

The fear of turning Canberra’s sportsgrounds into mud pits in the opening round of the season forced the ACT government to consider closing venues across the city – but weekend warriors can rejoice.

Canberra was expected to receive up to 40mm of rain on Friday and up to 45mm on Saturday before easing, in what some feared was a major blow to local sporting competitions planning to start their seasons this weekend.

ACT Rugby’s John I Dent Cup, rugby league’s Canberra Raiders Cup, AFL Canberra, Capital Football and Hockey ACT competitions are all set to start on Saturday.

But some wondered if their long pre-seasons would drag on for another week as the ACT government – traditionally protective of its sportsgrounds because of the high amount of traffic they receive with training sessions and games across a raft of sports – pondered closing grounds.

Canberra’s government-run sportsgrounds only re-opened on Monday after a staged two-week shutdown of grounds to prepare them for the winter season.

With games to go ahead this weekend, the government will reassess the condition of fields on Monday. Should they be worse for wear, one option at their disposal is to close grounds for training and recreational play, but open them for matches. It would force clubs to seek alternative training options.

The looming weather was a hot topic at Friday morning’s John I Dent Cup season launch, with clubs fearing the damaging weather could wreak havoc on grounds – some of which had been upgraded in recent months.

The bureau updated its severe weather warning early on Friday, forecasting the trough over eastern New South Wales to deepen “under the influence of a slow-moving upper-level low over central New South Wales”.

Heavy rain is expected. Picture by Elesa Kurtz

“Severe weather is forecast to ease below warning thresholds by Saturday afternoon,” the bureau said.

The warning is primarily for NSW, but includes a small part of the north and southeastern tips of the ACT border.

The rain is expected to ease in Canberra from Sunday, with a 60 per cent chance of rain and a forecast of up to 3mm.

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