Locker Room: AFL Canberra clubs frustrated by being locked out of Manuka Oval ghost town

Pick up the phone to almost anyone in Canberra and the first thing they want to talk about is the city's stadium war - but some AFL insiders are more frustrated by a different patch of turf.

AFL Canberra clubs and their Cricket ACT counterparts have been locked out of Manuka Oval while community sportsgrounds are bursting at the seams.

Manuka Oval used to be the heart of AFL Canberra before the association was priced out of the venue and shifted to Phillip Oval following an ACT government directive in 2018, which declared Manuka would be kept for elite sport only.

Some are beginning to question the government's decision to scrap local sport from Manuka Oval's schedule as competition numbers begin to swell.

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AFL Canberra's senior level now boasts first grade, second grade and Rising Stars competitions for both men and women. Some clubs are of the belief their three women's teams are deserving of their own match day, so they no longer play second fiddle to men's competitions.

The ACT government would need to reassess its venue hire costs to make a return for local competitions feasible. Exactly how much it costs to hire Manuka Oval is confidential - but sporting bodies need to factor in whether lights are needed, broadcast requirements, scoreboard attendants, security, cleaning, fire wardens, and catering for a start.

But there is a belief slashing hire costs and allowing community sport to return to the venue would be a better use of an asset which otherwise resembles a ghost town for most of the year.

Manuka Oval will host three AFL men's premiership games this year. Their deal also includes up to two AFLW games - with the addition of a second hinging on potential clashes with cricket games - and one men's pre-season match annually, which will all kick in next year.

Add in four games of cricket during the 2023-24 season - that's two women's Twenty20 internationals, one men's one-day international, and the Prime Minister's XI - and you'd be lucky to see the gates open 10 times in 12 months.

You'd usually get short odds if you backed a brumby racing a bulldog down the Thoroughbred Park straight - but this time might be different.

Corey Toole once Googled 'How do you get fast?' as a teenager. With a top speed of 10.2 metres per second, today the ACT Brumbies winger is one of the fastest men in Australian sport.

Canterbury Bulldogs star Josh Addo-Carr recorded a top speed of 10.75m/s last season. Now let's put them side by side.

The Nine Network holds the rights to the NRL and Super Rugby. The fastest men and women in each code going head to head would be box office gold.

The AFL holds a grand final sprint, while Nine and the NRL are no strangers to the concept themselves.

Parramatta Eels winger Lee Oudenryn - who had played just five top grade games but could run like the wind - shocked Great Britain Test star Martin Offiah in a 1992 match race, dethroning rugby league's fastest man.

The man known as "Chariots" exacted some revenge later in the night, scoring two tries and surging past Oudenryn for one of them, before the Eels pulled off an upset of the touring Lions.

Former Newcastle winger Darren Albert jokes his 100m sprint win on a 1999 edition of The Footy Show outranks his grand final-winning try two years prior.

While we're at it, can we overhaul the mundane season launches for Canberra competitions with a race between the fastest player from every club? Let's give players, sponsors and competition bosses something to be excited about - even if it does give coaches a few nervous moments.

There was a time they were talking up Canberra's credentials as the home of a world title bout - but for more than two years the city's professional boxing scene has been dormant.

The COVID-19 pandemic put a hold on Nick Boutzos' Capital Fight Show while D&L Events promoter Dean Lonergan - who charted Jeff Horn and Jai Opetaia's paths to world title glory - has lost a host of stars in his stable after losing his television rights deal with Fox Sports.

Now Canberra's own stable of professionals have been waiting to hear if there are any plans to revive the boxing scene with their careers at a crossroads.

April 23, 2021 marked the last fully-fledged professional boxing show in Canberra. Abe Archibald, Alex Cooper and Ben Dencio haven't been sighted in the ring since.

Heavyweight Arsene Fosso has suffered back-to-back TKO losses to Joe Goodall in Brisbane and Toese Vousiutu in Mt Druitt. Jorge Kapeen dropped decisions to Michael Pengue in Bankstown and Tommy Browne on a No Limit show in Sydney last November.

Beau Hartas featured in Australian boxing's knockout of the year last year - but he was on the wrong end of it in a loss to Issac Hardman on the Gold Coast in July.

Canberra has hosted just two professional boxing fights in the past two years, both on hybrid cards dominated by kickboxing. Where to now for the sweet science?

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