“We are committed to this project and have worked extremely hard to get it to this point over the last two years,” North CEO Eugene Arocca told kangaroos.com.au.
“We will continue the push to play games in Ballarat and we are confident this will happen.”
Last week the then Premier John Brumby announced a proposal that would see North Melbourne play up to four matches a year for premiership points in Ballarat. The deal included $25 million to be spent upgrading Eureka Stadium to AFL level and a further $5 million to create a Major Events Precinct.
New Premier Ted Baillieu says he has an open mind to AFL matches in regional Victoria but stressed his party had not backed the proposal.
"I have actually been, myself, interested in taking AFL football to the regions ... I think there's room to take pre-season night games to the regions," he said.
"But I don't want anyone to be under any illusions, the commitments that were entered into by the government via the Labor Party were Labor commitments, not coalition commitments," Mr Baillieu told MTR when asked if Labor's commitment was still viable under his leadership.
"There are a number of other such commitments which we are not committed to. I made that clear at the time last week when these commitments were made."
The Kangaroos’ Ballarat proposal has AFL backing with Andrew Demetriou confirming the city was more than capable of hosting games for premiership points.
“Mr Baillieu says he has an open mind and that’s all we need. We will sit down and talk to the relevant parties in the coming days but I reiterate we are very confident about seeing this proposal through and making it work for us, the Ballarat region and the AFL,” Arocca added.
