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The demolition of Corowa-Rutherglen's flood-damaged facilities at John Foord Oval looks set to be pushed back a year. Parts of the ground, including the main function room, will remain off-limits in 2024 which is when the Roos hope to return to play in the Ovens and Murray Football Netball League. However, overwhelming demand for demountable buildings in flood-affected parts of Australia mean the club won't be able to access any until 2025. But the home and away change rooms at John Foord Oval haven't been condemned and Roos officials are hopeful Federation Council will give them the green light early next month to begin a deep clean which would see the rooms ready to be used by players once again. It's a temporary solution to see the club through 2024 before the old buildings are flattened and a new 'flood-proof' facility built. Demountables would likely be in place for the 2025 season and into 2026 while construction is ongoing. The kitchen at John Foord Oval is subject to the same conditions as the change rooms so if approved for the appropriate cleaning process, it will be able to re-open. "It's extremely important because without decent rooms, we can't attract footballers," Roos co-president Graham Hosier said. "They don't want to get changed in a container. "If we contact someone and they come up and have a look and we say 'you're getting changed in this container' it's not really appealing. "If we've got even a basic change room with a hook and a seat, and if it's up to Ovens and Murray standard, it gives us a bit more leeway in attracting players." Hosier said the club would need to be 'shovel-ready' by 2025 with a view to starting work on the new build. So how much will that cost? "How long's a piece of string?" Hosier said. "You're looking at probably a $2 million build if you want something decent. "There's lots of examples; Tocumwal have had theirs done and there's some others in Melbourne. "It depends whether we go two-storey or not but it's going to cost money." With the Ovens and Murray waiting to see if Corowa-Rutherglen really can rise from the ashes and rejoin the other nine clubs next season, Hosier exuded positivity. "I'm very confident," he said. "Our football department is working hard, they're in touch with a lot of players and we're getting a lot of positive feedback from players we're contacting. "Our coach, Steve Owen, is very confident and I've got all faith in him as well as the netball girls of getting A and B-grade back as well as getting Corowa-Rutherglen back on the field. "We've spoken to Kyneton, they didn't field a team going back five or six years and they've given us a lot of ideas, how to get players and how to get the club back and going. "We've spoken to Shepparton Swans too. "They lost their club rooms and they had players who played this year out of demountables and it's achievable. "I've spoken to them a couple of times and it's a challenge but it's an achievable challenge that you can do. "If you can sell the vision that we've got... "We're into using our old clubrooms for a year, we then go to demountables for maybe a year-and-a-half and then we've got this vision of club rooms that are community-friendly and all groups can use it. "What a vision that is to come and be on the journey as a player." Jason Marks, part of the club's football department, is hopeful 'strong indications' from potential recruits will quickly turn into something more tangible. "We'd like to be starting to announce some people as soon as possible," he said. "We're looking for that group of people or that person to really throw their hand up and say they want to be part of the Roos for next year. "At this stage, our feedback to the Ovens and Murray is yes, we will be back. "To that end, the Ovens and Murray are expecting further updates - as they should. "They've come along to our meetings and they're giving weekly and monthly updates on their position. "From an Ovens and Murray perspective, it's late August they need to know where we're at for their fixturing and that side of things. "We need to be positive - publicly, privately and in every scenario otherwise there's no point us existing. "We're saying yes, we're doing it. "That doesn't mean we're shutting the door or saying no to the idea or merging, it's just that our club and our supporter base are really in favour of supporting an Ovens and Murray team. "So that's our absolute priority." To read more stories, download The Border Mail news app in the Apple Store or Google Play. Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:

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