Rabbitohs must share $25m oval

The Rabbitohs will have exclusive use of the $25 million redevelopment for just 20 hours training a week, mainly on weekdays, in return for an annual rent of $50,000.

Amateur teams including the Redfern All Blacks, an Aboriginal side, will also enjoy access to the new, open-plan oval, which gives the public largely unrestricted entry.

Under the terms of a lease that will go before the council tomorrow, Souths will have unlimited, exclusive control of designated club areas within the complex, including the change rooms, gym, bathrooms, offices and a physiotherapy room.

But they will have to accept increased public access elsewhere.

Word of Souths' new arrangements came as the Manly Sea Eagles moved a step closer to upgraded facilities in Brookvale, at the silvertail end of town, following a positive meeting with Premier Morris Iemma last week.

Manly will now take a formal proposal for a $5 million upgrade to its ageing main grandstand to the Government for consideration in its mid-year budget review.

The club is also hopeful of securing$10 million in federal funding for an entirely new grandstand during the upcoming election campaign.

Manly chief executive Grant Mayer said the team's strong showing this year had tipped the balance in its long-running campaign for funding.

"Manly's a hot ticket now, and there's a lot of mileage for everybody in a winning team,'' Mr Mayer told The Sunday Telegraph.

Souths, meanwhile, have been training in basic conditions at Erskineville Oval, leased from the City of Sydney since the Redfern work began last year.

For its return to Redfern next year, the club had demanded exclusivity provisions similar to those of its old lease, under which the oval was fenced off with barbed wire and largely inaccessible.

But Lord Mayor Clover Moore and council planners were insistent the facility should remain available for school sports days,local competitions and public use.

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22424949-5006066,00.html