Premier Peter Malinauskas offers big-spending upgrade to keep the Gather Round in Adelaide

The Premier has agreed to match the AFL dollar-for-dollar to upgrade community ovals to keep the Gather Round in SA – as Gillon McLachlan walks back his earlier position.

Premier Peter Malinauskas has offered to fund community football oval upgrades across the state to secure Gather Round for another four years during public negotiations with AFL chief Gillon McLachlan.

Adelaide appears all-but-certain to retain the rights for next year’s Gather Round, despite Mr McLachlan’s strategic retreat from an early-morning declaration the state would keep the event in 2024.

Conducting onstage talks before 730 people at the official Gather Round business lunch on Friday, Mr Malinauskas agreed to Mr McLachlan’s demands to match dollar-for-dollar upgrades headlined by a Barossa Valley oval.

“If we get a four-year run at it, you get all that and more, Gil,” the Premier vowed.

Mr McLachlan told Melbourne radio station 3AW on Friday morning that “Adelaide just feels the right spot” for Gather Round in the coming years, given every single game is sold out across the weekend.

Premier Peter Malinauskas at Adelaide Oval in the lead up to Gather Round Picture: NCA NewsWire / Brenton Edwards

“I think there is a pretty strong case that probably it’s got its roots down here and it’s here for a while,” he said.

The AFL chief executive later walked back that position, clearly aware there is no bidding war for the league if it has only a single party involved.

“It has been a huge success here to this point,” he said later in the day. “However the Commission and AFL would like to take it to other markets. But something is happening here. The alternative narrative is to consolidate … We will assess later in the week and work it out. There is something a bit subjective here that it’s the right feel. You feel it when you know it.

“We have also got to reward initiative and hard work and commitment. The premier made a commitment to the game that they would deliver and they have done that.”

In an interview with The Advertiser, Mr McLachlan declared “a core” was needed to “create the asset” and he agreed with the Premier’s pitch on Friday morning that “possession is nine-tenths of the law”.

Mr McLachlan declared “South Australia has really turned it on” and Gather Round – during which all nine AFL matches are played in a single state – was “off to a flyer”.

The former Adelaide University and St Peter’s College student said Adelaide had “grown to be a proper city” and hailed its confidence, aspiration and infrastructure.

But he continued to insist the AFL Commission would not make a decision before assessing the round next week, despite acknowledging Adelaide’s “great momentum”.

The AFL chief executive officer and the Premier were interviewed at Business SA’s Gather Round lunch at the Adelaide Convention Centre on Friday, by Fox Footy presenter Sarah Jones.

Mr Malinauskas said Gather Round’s success was an example of thoughtful, calculated risks paying off to grow the game and the state.

“I hope from the AFL’s perspective, they can see a value in keeping it by virtue of the fact we’ve done this in five months … so with 12 months’ preparation I honestly believe we can take it to another level,” he said.

“We can invest in infrastructure at the Barossa, for instance, if we know we’ve got this on a regular basis, or at least on a semi-regular basis.”

Mr McLachlan interjected: “So if you had to do a deal for next year would you invest in the Barossa … build a proper oval that you can play in there? Are you committing that to these people?”

Mr Malinauskas replied: “If we know we’re going to get it on a regular basis, yes.” Mr McLachlan then asked if the government would put money into community facilities, if the AFL matched this dollar-for-dollar. Mr Malinauskas replied: “If we know we’re getting the Gather Round, you’d better believe it.”

In an interview with The Advertiser, Mr McLachlan said sellouts in all nine games of the inaugural event were among factors the AFL would consider when deciding Gather Round’s future.

“I think we’ll look at all of the numbers and I think nine sellouts is a great start. I think we’ll look at the amount of people who have travelled. I think we’ll get feedback from everyone who’s been, about their experience. I think you’ll have, obviously, the subjective feel for how it’s played out and, at the moment, it feels great,” he said.

Asked whether a likely scenario was Adelaide being the home of Gather Round but the event alternating with other states, Mr McLachlan said no decisions had been made “on that at the moment”. Asked about Adelaide’s central position and accessibility, Mr McLachlan said this had been underappreciated, adding: “It’s really clear it’s easy to drive from Melbourne.”

“There’s lots of West Australians here … and you can actually get here pretty readily from all over Australia and I think that is something that was a bit underappreciated by us when we chose Adelaide,” he said.

“We certainly knew how intimate Adelaide could be and Adelaide Oval and there’s a possibility, I think, that its centrality was something we probably didn’t appreciate enough.”

Mount Pleasant-raised Mr McLachlan, a former St Peter’s College and Adelaide University commerce student, said Adelaide had “grown to be a proper city” since he left for Melbourne in the mid-1990s.

“I think if you walk around here today, which I have, you look at the development on the River (Torrens), you feel, I think, it’s the pride through the city. I just feel it’s grown to be a proper city that actually has an infrastructure that goes with that, a confidence that goes with that, and an aspiration that goes with that,” he said.

“You could take that saying: ‘Well, maybe it didn’t’, but I just think it feels a different sense. It feels different in that town and it has a bigger, broader picture of what it wants to be.”

Mali wins cheeky Sydney Gather Round challenge

Premier Peter Malinauskas is poised to win his cheeky challenge for more people to turn up to Friday night’s Sydney game at Adelaide Oval than the Swans’ home game last week against Port Adelaide.

Sydney’s Gather Round clash with Richmond sold out overnight, AFL chief Gillon McLachlan revealed early on Friday morning.

Adelaide Oval has a capacity of more than 50,000, so this effectively guarantees victory for Mr Malinauskas in his interstate challenge to secure more patrons for a Sydney away game in Adelaide than the 31,686 people who turned up last Saturday night at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Speaking on Channel 7’s Sunrise program, Mr McLachlan said all nine Gather Round games were now sold out and urged fans to check Ticketek’s website for some tickets that might be handed back by people now unable to attend.

Premier Peter Malinauskas at Adelaide Oval on April 12 for a Gather Round press conference. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Brenton Edwards

Appearing alongside Mr McLachlan, Mr Malinauskas seized on the sellout revelation to declare SA was “gonna do our bloody best to keep” Gather Round.

“They reckon possession is nine-tenths of the law. We’re just so rapt to have held the first one. I think its success will mean a bit more competition but that’s something we thrive on,” he said.

Speaking earlier on Channel 9’s Today show, Mr Malinauskas said Adelaide’s size – a population of 1.387m – was ideal to showcase an event like Gather Round.

“The good thing about a city of our size … when something like this comes to town, you know it’s on, everyone invests their effort into it,” he said.

During the week, Mr Malinauskas has been urging South Australians to turn up to Sydney’s clash against Richmond on Friday night, declaring SA has “always punched above its weight in terms of showing up”.

“Think about the Adelaide Test, for instance. We get a bigger per capita crowd to the Adelaide Test by a very long way in comparison to Sydney or Melbourne,” he said on Thursday.

“South Australians love their sport. Turn up on Friday night! Big crowd Friday night!”