Can you believe it has been almost ten months since fans were allowed into the MCG?

Back in early March the spectators at the ICC Women’s World Cup Final had no idea they’d be the last on the hallowed ground for so long! 

We, like all sport-lovers in Melbourne, were ecstatic to hear the announcement that the Boxing Day Test will be going ahead with fans.

To get everything in order, before the opening bowl, the Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) have given Century Rain permission to get back to Yarra Park and ensure the irrigation system is up to the highest standard. 

For more than 10 years Century Rain have maintained Yarra Park – the 20 hectare ‘park’ surrounding the ground. The name Yarra Park really doesn’t do justice to the scale of the parklands. In reality it is 10 times the size of the MCG playing arena, and has about the same amount of irrigation hardware in the ground as a small metropolitan council!

Yarra Park Irrigation Facts:

  1. Total area (hectares or acres):   208,000 sq. m.  which is more than 10 MCG’s
  2. Number of rotors:  920 (Rain Bird Falcons).  These are the same sprays as on the MCG arena.
  3. Smaller sprays:  195
  4. Number of valves:146
  5. Total length of pipe.  15 km
  6. 26.5km of drip tube
  7. Sewerage treatment plant (constructed in 2011) supplies 650,000 litres / day

But Yarra Park wasn’t always the world-class parkland it is today.  Before 2010 it was a dusty wasteland with little or no irrigation, which made for a very muddy car park in winter and a dust bowl in the drier months.

In 2010 the MCC and the State Government invested $24 million, which included an underground sewerage water treatment plant installed on site, and a world-class irrigation system (constructed by Century Rain).  For the record, Century Rain also constructed and installed the irrigation system on the MCG itself in 2006- just prior to the Commonwealth Games.

The underground sewerage water treatment plant not only supplies irrigation water, but also water for toilet flushing inside the MCG during winter.

After almost ten months of not being able to maintain the Yarra Park irrigation system, we’re excited to be back on site.   The Century Rain team are working hard to make sure that when you next visit the G, you’ll enjoy the walk through Yarra Park more than ever.

We’re wishing you all a great Summer of sport and the opportunity to see as much as possible at this AMAZING ground.

The Century Rain Team