AFL Grand Final crowd: Gillon McLachlan announces limit due to coronavirus
After meetings with Queensland health officials over the weekend AFL boss Gillon McLachlan has locked in the maximum crowd for Saturday’s Gabba Grand Final. Plus how Annastacia Palaszczuk saved the 2020 season.
AFL
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AFL boss Gillon McLachlan is standing firm on a 30,000-capacity crowd at the Gabba for this weekend’s Grand Final despite calls for it to be increased.
A bold push to lift the COVID cap was sparked last week with coronavirus cases in Queensland continuing to remain low.
A meeting was held over the weekend between AFL hierarchy and Queensland’s health authorities to discuss the possibility of allowing more fans inside the Gabba on Saturday night.
However, McLachlan said on Monday morning the 30,000 capacity would remain in place.
“We’ll be at 30,000,” McLachlan said.
“Some discussions on the weekend, as we’ve done all year, respect the advice and decision of the Chief Health Officer and the Government.
“The atmosphere at the Gabba on Saturday night was electric, it felt full, it’ll be an unbelievable Grand Final atmosphere and we’re very pleased to be here.
“We’ve had the right conversations, we’ve done a bit of gentle pushing, but we are here because we’ve respected the decision of the Health Officer and the Government and they’re pretty clear they’re comfortable with 30.”
HOW THE AFL SEASON WAS SAVED IN AN HOUR
- Jeremy Pierce, exclusive
It took just one meeting and one hour for Queensland to save the AFL season.
As AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan urged Queenslanders to share in the history of Saturday night’s Gabba grand final – even without the Brisbane Lions playing – he also revealed the extraordinary moment Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk saved the competition from the coronavirus crisis.
Speaking exclusively to The Courier-Mail, McLachlan admitted the season sat “on the edge of the abyss” as the pandemic ravaged AFL heartland in Melbourne, before an inspirational conversation with Ms Palaszczuk in early July.
“It was looking more and more apparent that we needed to get out of Melbourne and South Australia had closed to us and other states were closing, the whole season looked in real trouble,” he said.
“I rang (Queensland Tourism Minister) Kate Jones and she called in the Premier and she was just decisive.
“She said she was on-board and she wanted to announce it in the next hour.
“I didn’t even have a chance to contact the clubs, it happened that fast.
“She really made a commitment to us and without that, I’m not sure we would even be here (in grand final week).”
In the months since, the AFL has pumped an estimated $70 million into the Queensland economy, taking over entire hotels and resorts, booking more than 100,000 room nights at a time when the state’s tourism industry was on its knees.
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Brisbane’s loss to Geelong on Saturday outrated the Panthers versus Rabbitohs match, with the AFL preliminary final drawing 165,000, compared with the NRL match 151,000.
While the exit of the Lions has deflated the excitement around Brisbane, McLachlan urged Queenslanders to embrace the occasion as “the biggest-ever sporting event in Queensland”.
“It would have been an amazing build-up with Brisbane in it, but the grand final is the biggest event in Australia,” he said.
“This one is even more special – the first one outside of Melbourne, the first-ever night grand final.
“It’s a chance for Queenslanders to see how passionate our people are about our biggest game.”
He said officials were resigned to the Gabba’s capacity remaining at 30,000 for the decider, despite the low coronavirus case numbers.
Tickets will be available to Richmond and Geelong club members on Monday, with any unused allocations to go on sale to the public in the coming days.
About 4000 of Richmond’s 100,000 members live in Queensland.
Members based in SA, WA, the NT or ACT would also be eligible to skip quarantine measures to attend the game.
McLachlan suggested Queenslanders pick a team to invest in.
Retiring Geelong legend Gary Ablett Jr was a long-time Gold Coast resident and captain of the Suns, as was Richmond’s Tom Lynch.
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Originally published as AFL Grand Final crowd: Gillon McLachlan announces limit due to coronavirus