THE MELBOURNE Demons have officially cut the ribbon on the Thurin High Performance Centre at Casey Fields, unveiling a state-of-the-art facility featuring pristine gym, aquatic and indoor kicking areas.
Brand new hot and cold pools and sauna facilities highlighted the unveiling, with the new areas now open to the club’s players.
Melbourne life member and past board member David Thurin was honoured to see his family name immortalised on the new building.
“It’s an enormous honour. And the facilities as I'm going through, are just fantastic,” Thurin said.
“All the hard work is now come to fruition. To have that ground surrounded now by elite facilities which are as good as anything is, is just a fantastic result for the club.
“It's just wonderful to have people like Jake Lever come up and say – ‘we just love it and I just can't wait to get to work.”
CEO Gary Pert praised Thurin’s significant impact on the club over a crucial period in the club’s history.
“David has been a board member for 13 years and was part of Jim Stynes' board that was put together to really rebuild the club.
“The reason why we're now in the Thurin High-performance Center is for a couple of reasons.
“It’s in recognition of the leadership and David's involvement at a board level. He continues to help and support the club from a leadership point of view.
“David while he was actually on the board, was the person that was part of the discussions and negotiations with the city of Casey.”
Pert also sang the praises of the Melbourne Demons Trident members, who played a decisive role in making the cutting-edge facilities a reality.
“I've never been involved in a club, I've never heard of a club, that is able to get this financial support as from its supporters,” Pert said.
“These are guys I can tell you now. It normally takes a single telephone call.”
“Many of those guys you’ll recognise that have been foundation heroes, past board members, people that have just continually got behind and supported Simon Goodwin and Alan Richardson and this program with what we're doing strategically, but also when we're building facilities.”
