THE WEST Australian Football Commission has defended its decision to hold a music concert at Domain Stadium despite West Coast being unable to train at its home base for at least the next fortnight as a consequence.
Friday night's One Direction concert attracted a crowd of almost 30,000 people, and the Eagles had already expressed their concern over the damage caused to the grass.
The Eagles are the ground's major tenant and will now have to train elsewhere for at least two weeks, according to the WAFC.
"We currently have a booking for West Coast to recommence training at Domain Stadium on Monday, March 9 and will ensure the turf is prepared to meet AFL standards for this booking," WAFC chief executive officer Gary Walton said.
"The last major pre-season renovation works will follow the turf install, and will include re-coring, sanding and seeding for the rye grass.
"This work is critical at this time of the year to ensure the turf is well prepared for the AFL season ahead."
However, the Eagles are concerned that timeframe could stretch beyond a fortnight, having experienced a similar issue previously when they found the oval significantly damaged by a concert.
"We’ve got no clear time line on when we will get the oval back," Eagles football manager Craig Vozzo told News Limited.
"Obviously we hope the sooner the better.
"But the way it was left after the last concert and the way it is this week, it gives us no confidence in how it is going to recover from this concert."
The WAFC maintains the damage to the ground was "not significant" and "in line with expectations".
The Eagles were unable to be reached for a comment on Sunday.
Walton also said the WAFC had worked with the Eagles since last year to make sure their pre-season and lead up to the NAB Challenge wasn't affected by the concert.
"We recognise that AFL football is the major tenant at Domain Stadium and put a significant amount of work into managing any potential impact from other events such as concerts, festivals, international rugby and soccer," Walton said.
"In the case of the One Direction concert, the WAFC has been liaising with the West Coast Eagles since the conclusion of the 2014 AFL season to minimise any disruption to their pre-season schedule."
The Eagles' first NAB Challenge match is next Friday against Carlton in Mandurah.
News Limited reported the Eagles will train at Medibank Stadium and McGillivray Oval while Subiaco recovers.
Walton defended the stadium's right to host big events outside the football calendar that ensure its financial viability.
The U2 concert held there in 2010 funded the re-surfacing of the entire 20,000sqm of playing surface for the first time in 15 years.
And, after attracting 10,000 spectators to Friday night's sold out Indigenous All Stars versus West Coast game at Medibank Stadium, the WAFC is speaking to the AFL about securing it as an ongoing fixture.
