South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas has cheeky jab at AFL bosses, Sydney crowds

South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas has sparked a war across state lines after having a crack at AFL boss Gillon McLachlan.

South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas and AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan.

South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas has called on his compatriots to one-up New South Wales in a cheeky call-out for the Swans’ clash against Richmond on Friday night at Adelaide Oval.

The footy world turns to the City of Churches this weekend for the first ever Gather Round, with every single game played in the South Australian capital.

Six games will be played at Adelaide Oval, with two held at the historic Norwood Oval and another 40 minutes out of town in semi-regional Mt Barker.

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Malinauskas challenged Adelaideans to show up in greater numbers than the Swans’ actual home game last weekend against Port Adelaide at the SCG.

“The test I’m putting out there to South Australians who are watching tonight … we want to get more people to the Sydney vs Richmond game, a Sydney game in Adelaide, than what Sydney can achieve at the SCG,” he said.

Most games for Gather Round were sold out weeks in advance, with Malinauskas telling Fox Footy that he was “excited” by ticket sales.

Malinauskas is keen to keep the new concept in South Australia. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Brenton Edwards

“The turn-up in terms of ticket sales is what’s really got us excited,” he said.

The AFL insists that Gather Round will be rotated around the country in future years, but Malinauskas is set on keeping the concept in South Australia.

“It’s a footy state. We live and breathe this national game. It’s in our blood, and that’s showing up in the vibe that’s in the air at the moment,” he said.

“We’re a sporting nation, and South Australia’s 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.

“South Australians love their sport.

“Turn up on Friday night! Big crowd Friday night!”

South Australia is a traditional Australian rules state, with the first clubs in the state dating back as far as 1860, and as a result Malinauskas was hellbent on securing the first Gather Round at the expense of rugby league heartland New South Wales.

“New South Wales is a lucrative expansion market for the AFL and I could understand the appeal,” Malinauskas told News Corp.

“But South Australia is a traditional footy state. We live and breathe footy. And importantly, we turn up,” he said, in a pointed jab at some of the dire attendances in Sydney for non-marquee Swans fixtures.

A crowd figure of just over 7,000 was initially recorded for the GWS Giants’ opening round fixture against Adelaide earlier this year, with the attendance labelled “pathetic” on social media.

Malinauskas is a keen footballer himself, turning out occasionally in fifth-grade amateur football in Adelaide for Adelaide University. Photo: Calum Robertson

AFL attendances are also consistently higher on average than NRL attendances, with the NRL often hosting its games at suburban grounds with smaller capacities as a result.

The months-long fight for Gather Round has seen the concept at the centre of a heated war of words between the respectives states’ premiers, with suggestions that Adelaide could also pinch Sydney’s beloved New Years’ Test not going down well with New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet.

“A five-day washed-out Test in Sydney is much better than a five-day Test in Adelaide,” Perrottet said during a rain-plagued third Test against South Africa earlier this year.

“Why? Because at the end of it you’ve spent five days in Adelaide.”

South Australians are protective of the major events they host, with the loss of the Australian Grand Prix in 1996 to Victoria still considered a slight today.

With Gather Round set to be the biggest sporting event in the state since those halcyon days, the AFL has been surprised by the response from South Australians.

Dominic Perrottet and New South Wales lost out on the inaugural Gather Round despite the strong crowds at Swans fixtures and their recent playing success. Photo by Phil Hillyard

“It probably has exceeded expectations … it’s just an incredible position we’re in,” said AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan on Wednesday.

“We have got people coming from all over the world and all over Australia and there’s an incredible energy in this town.”

Malinauskas told media it was “more than just a footy round.”

“It’s also an investment attraction opportunity,” he said.

“It’s an occasion for the rest of the country to have its eyes on our state.

“We’re full employment. We have got a lot of economic opportunity coming our way in the future with big, bold, and dare I say brash plans.

“And we want the rest of the country to have their eyes on us, we lavish the opportunity … the story we have to tell involves a sporting sense but also an economic one as well.

“Hopefully we put on such a big event that it’s almost impossible for the AFL to not come back here in the future.”

Originally published as South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas has cheeky jab at AFL bosses, Sydney crowds