Pies strike naming rights agreement

Two of Australia's sporting heroes are to be commemorated within the nation's premier sports and entertainment precinct.

At a joint announcement today, Victoria's Sports and Recreation Minister Hon. Justin Madden revealed that Edwin Flack, Australia's first Olympic gold medallist, and football legend Bob Rose will each be remembered for their contribution to sport and the wider community.

The Melbourne & Olympic Parks Trust (MOPT) said that an area adjacent to the Olympic Park Stadium comprising the redeveloped training oval, running track and training facilities will be known as the Edwin Flack Field.

And Collingwood Football Club said that the Club's training pavilion and players' rooms will be named the Bob Rose Training Centre. It will be accompanied by a special rose garden and bronze sculpture honouring the Club champion.

MOPT Chairman, Alan Oxley, said that the Trust was proud to join Collingwood in paying tribute to two unique Australians who had transcended the sports in which they excelled.

"In this Olympic year, with the Games to again be held in Athens, it is truly fitting to bestow this tribute on Australia's first Olympian and a double gold medallist at the 1896 Athens Olympics," Mr Oxley said. "At the same time, Collingwood's arrival at the Lexus Centre as an MOPT tenant also provides an opportunity to pay lasting tribute to one of the Club's favourite sons and a wonderful member of the Victorian community - Bob Rose."

Collingwood President, Eddie McGuire said the double honour was a great outcome.

"It is entirely appropriate to honour two such great Victorians in this fashion. In their own ways Bob Rose and Edwin Flack have contributed so much to the rich sporting history and life of Melbourne and so deserve this recognition," Mr McGuire said.

"I would like to thank the Melbourne & Olympic Parks Trust for their assistance and for acknowledging Collingwood's history through enabling us to honour our great champion Bob Rose."

As a 21-year-old from Melbourne, Edwin Flack won the 800 metres and 1500 metres track events at the 1896 Olympics and competed in the marathon and tennis events.

Mr Jim Barry, President of the Victorian Olympic Council, welcomed the tribute.

"Not only does this celebrate the life of our first Olympic hero but also the fact that Australia is one of the few countries to have participated in every modern Olympic Games," Mr Barry said. "In addition, the Melbourne Olympic Park precinct of our City played a key role in the historic 1956 Games and so it is appropriate to maintain and acknowledge this link."

Mr Oxley said that along with the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the site hosted a range of Olympic events in 1956 including cycling, hockey and soccer.

"The $1.7 million redevelopment of the training oval and facilities has been a core element of the MOPT's longer term vision of revitalising the entire sports and entertainment precinct and safeguarding its Olympic heritage," Mr Oxley said.

"The Trust's initiatives to suitably mark the upcoming 50

th anniversary of the 1956 Melbourne Olympics include the commissioning of a large bronze, hand sculpted bas-relief plaque by award-winning Melbourne sculptor Ross Bastian OAM of the Olympic precinct as it looked in 1956."

Mr McGuire said that Collingwood was delighted to have reached agreement with the Trust to accommodate naming honours for both sporting greats.

"Bob Rose epitomises the spirit of the Collingwood Football Club. He was a man of tremendous courage and skill as a player, and his quiet dignity and grace as a leader and as a father helped to make this club what it is today," Mr McGuire said.

"Bob Rose showed, often in the harshest of circumstances, what sportsmanship and grace under pressure is all about. He also showed us great integrity in the way he looked after his two boys, Peter and particularly Robert, and his wife Elsie. He left an indelible mark on our Club and on the Melbourne community."

Both Alan Oxley and Eddie McGuire said today's ceremony demonstrated that the MOPT and Collingwood had established a solid working relationship and looked forward to continue working together in the interests of the precinct as a whole.