Footy Fans survey: Supporters sink boot into twilight Grand Final
AS the debate continues to rage over a twilight Grand Final, the 2017 Footy Fans survey has revealed fans’ feelings on the biggest day of the AFL sporting calendar.
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AFL fans have sunk the boot into a twilight Grand Final and instead want bosses to focus on ditching costly match tickets.
As the debate continues to rage over a twilight or night Grand Final, supporters have proven themselves to be staunch traditionists and don’t want changes to the 2.30pm timeslot.
In the 2017 Footy Fans Survey — a joint project of the Herald Sun, The Advertiser, Courier-Mail and Daily Telegraph that received nearly 10,000 responses — almost 71 per cent want the biggest day on Melbourne’s sporting calendar to remain unmoved.
Only 21 per cent support a move to the 4.30pm timeslot, while fans are dark on the prospect of a night Grand Final (7.8 per cent).
The annual survey also found:
WESTERN Bulldogs champion Bob Murphy is the league’s most universally loved player, followed by Adelaide’s Eddie Betts and Essendon’s Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti;
BRUCE McAvaney was voted best play-by-play commentator, followed by Anthony Hudson and Brian Taylor;
BT also took out the title of most annoying AFL media personality ahead of Craig Hutchison and Sam Newman;
SIXTY-TWO per cent did not support a pre-finals bye weekend;
THE MCG was overwhelmingly the best venue to watch a match, followed by Etihad Stadium and Adelaide Oval;
LITTLE support for a Twenty20-inspired version of the game; and
ALMOST 70 per cent want a return of State of Origin footy.
Channel 7 is pushing for the twilight Grand Final to attract bigger ratings and fatter advertising revenues.
Players, coaches and some AFL executives also back the proposal, which AFL boss Gillon McLachlan has conceded would be “inevitable”.
But AFL Fans Association president Gerry Eeman said supporters didn’t want a change to the Grand Final start time, unless it was for a good reason.
“Fans grew up with football being a certain way and that’s what they fell in love with,” he said.
The AFL’s contentious dynamic ticketing model, which allows clubs to increase or drop costs until game time, continued to be shown no love — almost 80 per cent of fans are opposed to the model.
Mr Eeman said despite promises the pricing would fluctuate, and people would break even, it had not been the case. He said some fans felt “used by clubs” and treated as a “commodity rather than supporters”.
In good news for the AFL, almost 80 per cent of fans believe racist and offensive comments at the game have reduced.
Mr Eeman said that fans had united to weed out foul-mouthed supporters.
“It hasn’t been eradicated, but it’s on its way out, and the vast majority want it removed from the game,” he said.
JESINTA’S NEW RIVAL
JOBE Watson’s girlfriend has made her debut in the beauty stakes, being voted one of the AFL’s most glamorous WAGs.
Footy’s new darling Virginia Slaghekke rounded off the top five in her first year dating the Essendon champion.
The top two belles of the ball remained unchanged from last year, with Jesinta Franklin retaining top spot of most glamorous wife or girlfriend in the AFL, followed by model Megan Gale, who recently got engaged to Richmond’s Shaun Hampson.
In the Footy Fan Survey, blonde beauty Jessie Murphy, wife of Marc Murphy, claimed third spot, while new mum Alex Pendlebury held on to fourth position.
Tigers full back Alex Rance is probably quietly praising Jimmy Bartel for hanging up the boots at the end of last season.
Bartel took the title of sexiest AFL player six years running, with Rance often coming second.
The defender has finally muscled his way to top spot, with Buddy Franklin making a massive jump into second spot after not even featuring in the top five last year.
North Melbourne’s Andrew Swallow took out third spot, narrowly nudging out Bulldogs premiership star Easton Wood.
WHAT OUR READERS SAY
Who is the best play-by-play TV commentator?
1. Bruce McAvaney (Channel 7) — 30.54%
2. Anthony Hudson (Fox Footy) — 21.99%
3. Brian Taylor (Channel 7) — 21.25%
4. Hamish McLachlan (Channel7) — 7.21%
5. Dwayne Russell (Fox Footy) — 5.93%
Who is the best tactical analyst on TV?
1. David King (Fox Footy) — 17.84%
2. Leigh Matthews (Channel 7) — 16.9%
3. Dermott Brereton (Fox Footy) — 10.17%
4. Wayne Carey (Channel 7) — 9.7%
5. Cameron Ling (Channel 7) — 8.8%
Who is the most annoying AFL media personality?
1. Brian Taylor (Channel 7) — 22.71%
2. Craig Hutchison (Channel 9) — 20.44%
3. Sam Newman (Channel 9) — 19.37%
4. Basil Zempilas (Channel 7) — 12.91%
5. Bruce McAvaney (Channel 7) — 11.63%
What is your favourite footy television program?
1. AFL 360 (Fox Sports) — 22.56%
2. Front Bar (Channel 7) — 20.35%
3. The Footy Show (Channel 9) — 9.36%
4. On the Couch (Fox Sports) — 7.07%
5. Footy Classified (Channel 9) — 6.84%
Who is the most universally loved player in the AFL?
1. Bob Murphy (Western Bulldogs) — 33.56%
2. Eddie Betts (Adelaide Crows) — 21.07%
3. Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti (Essendon Bombers) — 13.34%
4. Jarryd Roughhead (Hawthorn Hawks) — 10.46%
5. Luke Hodge (Hawthorn Hawks) — 7.64%
Do you support a return of State-of-Origin footy?
Yes — 68.05%
No — 32.19%
Do you support the development of a modified format of AFL such as AFLX?
Yes — 32.87%
No — 61.81%
What is the best venue to watch an AFL game?
1. MCG — 66.55%
2. Etihad Stadium — 16.24%
3. Adelaide Oval — 10.27%
4. SCG — 2.39%
5. Simonds Stadium — 2.13%
Do you support dynamic ticket pricing (where prices can rise and fall for individual games)?
Yes — 22.84%
No — 77.4%
Has crowd behaviour regarding racist or offensive comments directed at players improved?
Yes — 78.12%
No — 22.12%
Do you support the pre-finals bye weekend?
Yes — 37.71%
No — 62.53%
What time should the Grand Final be played?
Day — 71.14%
Night — 7.79%
Twilight — 21.31%
Who is the sexiest AFL player?
1. Alex Rance (Richmond Tigers) — 33.72%
2. Lance Franklin (Sydney Swans) — 12.7%
3. Easton Wood (Western Bulldogs) — 11.8%
4. Andrew Swallow (North Melbourne) — 11.84%
5. Lachie Weller (Fremantle Dockers) — 8.98%
Who is the most glamorous AFL WAG?
1. Jesinta Franklin (Lance Franklin) — 23.76%
2. Megan Gale (Shaun Hampson) — 19.4%
3. Jessie Murphy (Marc Murphy) — 15.85%
4. Alex Pendlebury (Scott Pendlebury) — 12.13%
5. Virginia Slaghekke (Jobe Watson) — 9.32%
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