Gather Round rubbish causes fuss, star leaves Crows coach ‘losing his composure’ as Sunrise and Today fly to town

Punters have been left ‘appalled’ by the state of the city’s most iconic venue after the Gather Round opener, with Adelaide Oval piled high with rubbish.

While Gather Round’s opening night was deemed a roaring success – particularly for Crows fans – some have been left reeling at the state of Adelaide Oval after the win.

Almost 50,000 attended Adelaide’s clash with Carlton to kick off the Festival of Footy on Thursday night, but the Oval’s iconic Hill was left trashed.

Dozens of punters took to social media to express their disappointment at the piles of rubbish left by footy goers.

Fox Footy coverage showed piles of rubbish left scattered on Adelaide Oval's iconic Hill.

“Anyone else notice the amount of rubbish left on the hill post game at Adelaide Oval? Pretty appalling,” one wrote, sharing an image of the post-game mess.

Another fan shared an image of the mess to FIVEaa, asking: “Should there be more rubbish bins or is it just people today?”

An Adelaide Oval spokesperson said its cleaning team was working “around the clock” to ensure Adelaide Oval was presented at its best for every Gather Round game.

“There’s quite literally no stage during Gather Round that we don’t have cleaners on site,” they said.

“All waste is collected and sorted between general waste, recycling and food and organics.”

Adelaide Oval as of midday on Friday. Picture: Supplied

Crows coach ‘lost composure’ over star

Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks has admitted it wasn’t just his side’s rousing 17-year record performance over Carlton that had him starstruck during Gather Round – with a national star’s locker room appearance leaving him lost for words.

The glitzy opening night of Gather Round was topped off for Nicks when chart-topping singer Guy Sebastian – a Crows ambassador – popped in to the rooms before the game.

The coach revealed he was a big fan of Sebastian’s, admitting he “lost his composure” when the star rolled in.

“We had Guy Sebastian in the rooms, I even lost my composure for five or 10 minutes,” Nicks told media after the win.

“Photos and autographs – I do love him. But our players just remained focused and smiled their way through.

Crows coach Matthew Nicks with Guy Sebastian (right) and Guy's brother, Jeremy Sebastian (centre). Picture: James Hetherington/Adelaide Football Club

Crows coach Matthew Nicks says he was starstruck by Australian singer Guy Sebastian's appearance before the game. Picture: Harrison Mielke/Adelaide Football Club

“There was always going to be things like that pop up, like Guy in the changerooms, the lead-in traffic that was around. It was a big, big stage so we acknowledged all that.”

Fellow Crows ambassador Ryan ‘Fitzy’ Fitzgerald also paid the team a visit after the game, even taking over the Crows’ social media accounts for a quick selfie video featuring Guy as he chatted to Ned McHenry, Riley Thilthorpe and Wayne Milera.

Gave the reins to Fitzy... and he did not disappoint 👌 #weflyasone@[e-mail]/YVRIifwu2B

— Adelaide Crows (@Adelaide_FC) April 13, 2023

AFL boss ‘thrilled’ by success

On Friday morning, a crowd of footy fans packed into the CBD for a celebration of Gather Round at an event attended by Premier Peter Malinauskas, AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan and some of Australia’s top morning breakfast shows.

National morning shows Sunrise and Today broadcast from Elder Park to celebrate Gather Round, with Adelaide-born AFL supremo Mr McLachlan labelling the weekend’s sold-out crowds a huge success.

“I’m not surprised but I’m thrilled by it,” Mr McLachlan said.

Good morning! We are live in Adelaide to celebrate the @AFL's Gather Round!

If you're in the area, join us at Elder Park, otherwise you can tune in on @Channel7 and @7plus.@PMalinauskasMP@southaustralia@tourismsa@[e-mail]/5D18ZbcoIz

— Sunrise (@sunriseon7) April 13, 2023

“I’m just so glad the AFL decided to go with South Australia first and people are showing up in droves,” Mr Malinauskas said on Sunrise on Friday morning.

The Premier hopes the event will continue to be held in the state.

“We’re going to do our bloody best to keep it,” he said.

Gather Round has also broken a state hotel occupancy record set only last month during WOMADelaide.

Mr Malinauskas revealed the new citywide record of 91 per cent and 92 per cent hotel occupancy for Friday and Saturday nights.

WOMADelaide in March this year topped out at 90 per cent and 93 per cent occupancy, but the AFL weekend has higher bed night figures at 9588 on Friday and 9693 on Saturday.

Elder Park, just across the river from Adelaide Oval, has become the event’s hub with live music, entertainment, food trucks, licensed bars, big screens and a 150m-long flying fox over the Torrens.