Premier Peter Malinauskas opens up about wrestling Gather Round from Sydney

Premier Peter Malinauskas has opened up about the success of Gather Round in South Australia and the fight to wrestle the footy festival away from Sydney.

Premier Peter Malinauskas has opened up about the fight to wrestle the AFL’s Gather Round footy festival away from Sydney.

Fresh off the announcement of the dates for the third Gather Round, Mr Malinauskas appeared on an episode of the Dyl and Friends podcast on Monday and didn’t mince his words when he said if Gather Round went to Sydney, it would be “dog sh*t”.

Adelaide has hosted Gather Round since its inception in 2023, but Mr Malinauskas told podcast host Dylan Buckley initial advice was to pass up on hosting the footy festival, which last year saw a $91.6 million economic contribution to the state.

Premier Peter Malinauskas and AFL Chief Executive Andrew Dillon. Picture: Dean Martin

Mr Malinauskas said it became clear the concept was destined to go to Sydney in an effort to grow the game in New South Wales.

“We started going through the process and it became pretty clear that it was all not a real competition, in that respect,” he said.

“But the more we understood the concept the more determined I became to try and land it.”

Mr Malinauskas said he told Mr McLachlan it would be stupid to take the first Gather Round to Sydney.

“I said we want it year one and he (McLachlan) said how about if I came back to you and said you can have it in year two … I said ‘well I’m not interested’.

“I told him the truth, I said I’ll say no to it because after year one, it’ll be dog sh*t.

“You’ll go to Sydney and you’re gonna have Brisbane versus Freo in a stadium and I’ll be able to count on one hand how many people are there.

“The first year you do this, you’re going to have a whole bunch of people complaining about it, who are going to be opposed to the concept.”

Mr Malinauskas said the idea of Adelaide hosting all 18 teams in a footy-filled weekend appealed to him straight away.

“I came across this file about the AFL floating a concept with all tourism commissions around the country about the idea of having all AFL games in one state on one weekend,” he said.

“I read it, and I’d never heard of NRL Magic Round … so I read it again I was like ‘what, let me understand this … all teams in one town at one time?’.

“I just started to add up what that looked like, well that’s 18 teams … plus all their fan bases all added up, I thought that’s a lot.”

He said initially the SA Tourism Commission didn’t think the concept “stacked up” but the Premier was quick to get on the phone to the then AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan in try and land the event.

“I was like no, this has got to stack up … so I ticked that box and signed it, and then I rang Gill McLachlan, who I didn’t know very well at all at that point … and left a message and said ‘look, just want to say g’day and let you know that I’m very interested in this, I want to talk’ and it started from there.”

Premier Peter Malinauskas & AFL Chief Executive Andrew Dillon at Adelaide Oval. Picture: Dean Martin

The Premier said he told the then AFL chief executive Adelaide would get “cracker crowds” and everyone would hail it as a success.

“So don’t kill the concept in year one (by taking it to Sydney), come to Adelaide in year one, I’ll guarantee you we get massive crowds – which of course I couldn’t really guarantee but I was bullish.”

The 2025 Gather Round will run from Thursday, April 10 through to Sunday, April 13 in a similar timeslot to last season – but this time before Easter Sunday, set for April 20 next year.

The AFL fixture for the round has not yet been announced. But every AFL team will play in SA.

Originally published as Premier Peter Malinauskas opens up about wrestling Gather Round from Sydney