At the conclusion of a board meeting of the Sydney Olympic Park Authority on Wednesday, Knight vacated the chair to be succeeded by Fahey who, 23 years earlier as Premier, won the bid for Sydney to host the 2000 Olympic Games. By the time the global extravaganza rolled around, Fahey had lost the NSW election and it was Knight, as Minister for the Olympics, who made the final speech at the Closing Ceremony of the "best Games ever".

Now, Knight, who resigned as SOPA chair effective June 30, along with loyal lieutenant Alan Marsh, will be replaced by Fahey, who seemingly enjoys challenging roles, such as Minister for Finance in the Howard government, chair of WADA and, even more onerously, patron of Men of League.

But Fahey's new seat is not a gilded chair aloft a white elephant, the cliche used to describe the Homebush precinct post-Olympics.

Rather, Homebush is a functioning zoo whose permanent inhabitants have grown in eight years from 60 to 225, including the Lion (brewery) Group, Commonwealth Bank (which once had a red elephant as its logo), the Greater Western Sydney Giants, Swifts netball team, nesting white-bellied sea eagles, and eventually a $25 million Centre of Excellence for the NSWRL, the most advanced of all the specimens in the animal kingdom.

SOP has grown in size under the leadership of Knight from a town of 6000 (Narrabri) to 20,000 (Goulburn), while government funding has dropped in real terms from $45 million to $26 million as it becomes more self-reliant.

While Marsh, whom Knight hired to solve the Olympics ticket fiasco, has been an extremely capable SOPA chief executive, it was Knight who had the vision to see the coming boom in women's sport.

And further, to suggest a plan that would give the Sydney's elite female athletes a home, with a $150 million saving to the taxpayer.

Knight endorses an upgrade of the Olympic Park Tennis Centre's Ken Rosewall arena into a multi-purpose arena with 10,000 capacity, enclosed with roof, air conditioning and improved corporate and public amenities.

It would turn this under utilised venue into a worthwhile asset, costing approximately $50 million compared to a proposed new venue at Wentworth Park which would cost between $200 million to $250 million (excluding land costs).

An anchor tenant for a new Wentworth Park arena was mooted to be the Sydney Kings. However, the Kings have now been purchased by AEG Ogden, the operator of Qudos Bank Arena and they will play their games at Qudos Bank Arena (the Superdome).

Netball's new eight-team Australian league will have the Sydney Swifts playing out of Olympic Park, the location of their $35 million Netball Central. The Swifts now play at the former State Sports Centre but they have outgrown its 4000 capacity. The Qudos Bank Arena is too big for most matches and too difficult to secure on a regular basis, priority being given to the more lucrative rock concerts etc.

Sydney's second netball team, affiliated with the Giants, will want to play at Olympic Park.

The Government's recent announcement of a new light rail from Parramatta to Strathfield via Olympic Park further improves public transport to the site. It also will allow a stop close to the current Tennis Centre. By comparison, Wentworth Park, or the Bays Precinct, have no proper public transport and are a long way from the demographic heart of Sydney. Of course, a revamped Tennis Centre arena with a translucent roof could be utilised for the Apia Tennis International event. The venue would offer protection from both rain and heat.

It would also work for other indoor sports such as volleyball as well as small concerts and cultural festivals.

Compared to other options, Knight believes a redeveloped Olympic Park Tennis Centre would have a short lead time and, if Fahey endorses it, the new home for womens' sport could be ready in 12 months.

In a letter to SOPA staff on June 3, Knight wrote, "After 9 years in the role [as SOPA chair], and an earlier 6 years as Minister for the Olympics when Sydney Olympic Park was being established, I think it's time to give someone else a go." Fahey, the new "go-to" man, was appointed by Premier Mike Baird, without consultation with sports minister Stuart Ayres, an indication of their fractious relationship.

A surviving member of the SOPA board is AOC president John Coates, whose public championing of ANZ stadium turned the debate on where $1.6 billion of stadium funds should be allocated, breathing more life into the pink cheeks of a "white elephant".