ARENAS ARENAS
From Port Melbourne to
Port Moresby
After working at some of Melbourne’s elite turf facilities, Matthew Oliver took something of a departure last October and headed to Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea on a six month contract to look after the country’s National Football Stadium.
Above: The National Football Stadium in Port Moresby is home to the PNG Rugby Football League and the national side, the Kumuls. Last November it was the principal venue as the country hosted the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup 34
M
y name is Matthew Oliver. I’m currently 29 and started out in the turf industry in 2006 when I was playing cricket as the overseas player at Altofts Cricket Club in England. The club curator there, a gentleman by the name of Clive, introduced me to wicket preparation and after playing on turf pitches for a few years I quickly gained an appreciation for the craft. I ended up assisting Clive for the remainder of the season and thoroughly enjoyed it. When I returned from the UK, I began a greenkeeping apprenticeship at The Sandhurst Club in Melbourne where I learnt the ins and outs of turf management from Peter Jans and Tim Dellar. I did my schooling under the tutelage of John Shannon and the team at NMIT and in 2008 was awarded the NMIT Apprentice of the Year and nominated for the VGCSA Apprentice of the Year Award. After completing my apprenticeship I was lucky enough to be offered a position at Etihad Stadium. Under the expert guidance of arena management director Gavin Darby, I was exposed to a completely different side to turf management. I learnt so much during my five years there and the science that goes into preparing a ryegrass sports field in an extremely challenging environment with numerous microclimates is incredible. Whether it was deploying the SGL lighting rigs, growth mats, weekly foliar feeding and regular renovations, it really was a unique venue in which to hone your skills. In 2012, Etihad reconstructed the North Melbourne Football Club training field (Arden Street) and I was promoted to be the club’s ground manager in conjunction with my arena assistant role at Etihad. This was a terrific experience, working with
AUSTRALIAN TURFGRASS MANAGEMENT 19.1
the football club to coordinate weekly training times and community use all with the aim of providing the club with a pristine training surface. During my time at Etihad I completed my Diploma in Sports Turf Management through NMIT and in September 2014 decided it was time to expand on my horizons by taking on the assistant grounds manager role at Melbourne Grammar School (MGS). I was initially in charge of the South Yarra campus, looking after the main oval and wickets, before eventually being charged with looking after the school’s impressive Edwin Flack Park Sports Complex in Port Melbourne. This facility comprises a 1.8 hectare AFL/cricket field, a 1ha soccer/rugby/cricket field along with tennis and hockey courts and landscaped areas.
PNG BOUND Despite thoroughly enjoying the role at MGS, it was a phone call from good friend Shane Biddle from the University of Queensland in mid-2016 that would trigger my next move. Shane put me on to Paul Lierse whose company Turfcare Solutions provided resources and advice to the National Football Stadium in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea (PNG). Singapore-based company Mondiale, which had the maintenance contract for the ground, was looking for a turf manager and after contacting them I was duly appointed to the role for the remaining six months of the company’s initial two-year maintenance contract. It was certainly a departure going from Port Melbourne to Port Moresby, but I was attracted to it because of the challenge of managing a stadium in a tough location and with limited resources.