Band of tissue

Latrobe City mayor Kellie O’Callaghan with Latrobe Valley District Cricket League president Wayne Mills, player Brady Cake and board member Sarah Prime, with Commonwealth Games Legacy Minister Shaun Leane, Labor candidate for Morwell Kate Maxfield, and Gippsland Cricket League executive and well-known Sale-Maffra Crirkcet Association identity Neil Purdy. Photos: Michelle Slater

Minister for Commonwealth Games Legacy Shaun Leane announcing a new althletes village in Morwell.

CommGames village coming

Michelle Slater

A NEW Commonwealth Games village will be built in Morwell to host 1000 athletes and officials for the regional events to be held in the Latrobe Valley in 2026. The Valley will also host a further three sports, with Shooting, Road Cycling and T20 Cricket added to the region on top of Badminton and the Rugby Sevens. The Minister for Commonwealth Games Legacy, Shaun Leane, was at the Ted Summerton Reserve in Moe last week making the announcement. Mr Leane said the new Games village would be built in English Street, Morwell, on vacant lot owned by the Department of Health. The village would then be used to provide social and affordable housing, aged accommodation or worker housing for more than 20 years after the Games, he said. Mr Leane said they were still working on the final design of the village, but it would include multi-use areas such as dining rooms and physio centres that would later benefit the community. “I’m determined to squeeze out every bit of social impact we can in delivering these Games, and also support local businesses and local jobs,” Mr Leane said. “Construction alone with the opportunities for apprentices in the Latrobe Valley, work on these Games infrastructure is a priority for us. “These will be the first regional Games. It will be a template for future games where different jurisdictions can hold different sports.” The final phase of Road Cycling will be held in Traralgon and the T20 Cricket in Moe, with a venue for Shooting yet to be decided. Mr Leane said the government would invest in sport infrastructure upgrades to accommodate the Games. These would include expanding the Ted Summerton Reserve with temporary seating, stands and food stands that could be used for other international events. Mr Leane pointed to the success of this year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, which attracted a viewing audience of 1.5 billion people. “The goal is to make people watching the telecast get down here one day to support the community and spend money, support hospitality and accommodation. This is what the legacy will be,” he said. Latrobe City mayor, Kellie O’Callaghan, said the Games would create a big legacy for the Valley, with the village to provide valuable housing into the future. She said the new athletes’ village would be close to schools, transport, sporting precincts and social infrastructure “We are looking at building neighbourhoods, not just providing housing,” Cr O’Callaghan said. “This is about creating social structures for people to get the support they need in an environment that is sustainable.”

Latrobe Valley Racing Club committee members Peter Walkley, Peter Wight, Brenton Wight, Andrew Livingstone, Ian Davison, Dennis Lineham, Peter Guy, Barry Whitehead, Phil Gibson and Frank Bezzina at the club’s season launch, featuring this year’s Traralgon Cup trophies.

Photo: Liam Durkin

Boost for racing’s ‘little brother’

Liam Durkin

SALE Turf Club’s little brother held its season launch recently. Members and guests of the Latrobe Valley Racing Club gathered in the Glenview Park dining room to formally announce the start of the season on Friday, October 7. Latrobe Valley Racing Club chairperson Frank Bezzina addressed the auditorium, and said the committee was eagerly awaiting the club’s two race meetings, Derby Day and Traralgon Cup. The Traralgon-based club differs from other racing clubs across Gippsland in Sale, Moe, Bairnsdale and Stony Creek, as it is an entirely volunteer organisation. The club has welcomed a few new upgrades in recent times, including an outdoor cover for members, and is also aiming to add to the number of meetings it hosts per year. Latrobe Valley has joined racing clubs across Gippsland in working together to see the sport thrive moving forward. In terms of local cups, Moe was the first cab (or should we say cup) off the rank, and held its cup last Friday. The Sale Cup is next, and will be held this Sunday, (October 23), and then the Traralgon Cup on Sunday, November 27.

Pakenham trainer John Leek Jr and stable staff member Lilly McGregor with Fengarada after winning the Moe Cup. Photo: Liam Durkin

First country cup winner for 22/23

Liam Durkin

THE first of the Gippsland country cups for the new racing season was run and won last Friday. Fengarada took out the Moe Cup, winning the 2050 metre race for Pakenham trainer John Leek Jr. The five-year-old gelding took his career record to 16-6-4-0, netting the stable $82,500 in the process. Fengarada timed his run well, sitting second at the 800m and 400m marks before finishing strong to beat Fifth Position by 1.25 lengths. Just six horses competed in the race, however, this was more to do with widespread flooding across the region making it impossible for horses to physically be transported to Moe. Moe Racing Club’s success in actually holding a meeting was a win in itself, as many had predicted a washout after 23.6 millimetres the night before. The club’s StrathAyr track stood up to the test, and meant Moe was the only grass surface in the state to hold a meeting on the day. A recurring joke over the years has been about rain on Moe Cup Day, and while rain was still fell in patches last Friday, you would hardly have noticed given how well the track performed.