AFL Grand Final: Pre-season games in regional centres could be on table as compensation package
Regional centres in Victoria could emerge the big winners if the Grand Final is forced interstate and the AFL compensates the Melbourne Cricket Club and the Victorian government for their loss.
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The Victorian government could ask for more pre-season games in regional centres in coming years as compensation for giving up this year’s AFL Grand Final.
The league could make its call on this year’s venue as early as next Tuesday.
The government and Melbourne Cricket Club privately conceded some weeks ago that there was no chance of the game’s greatest event being held at the MCG.
League boss Gillon McLachlan said on Friday that talks were continuing with Dan Andrews’ government over their existing MCG Grand Final contract and the devastating effects of COVID-19.
“We’ve been pretty consistent — we’re aiming for the end of August (for a decision),” McLachlan said on 3AW.
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“I’m not trying to sound naive — we’ve got a contract, we’re having very fair conversations with the Victorian government.
“It’s increasingly looking challenging in Victoria, again without sounding naive about it. And we are having conversations with others.
“All of that will come together and we’ll have a decision by the end of next week. Whether it’s Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, I’m not sure.”
The league will also announce the coming finals series and whether it would implement a pre-finals bye.
St Kilda chief operating officer Simon Lethlean on Friday backed the bye, but said it would come at a cost.
He said the AFL had to consider paying for some finals teams to stay an extra week in hubs as well as “taking on the virus for an extra week”.
Victorian premier Daniel Andrews has confirmed the Herald Sun’s report that the government and MCC could ask for another year to be added on to the MCC’s Grand Final arrangement, which is set to expire in 2057.
But a more tangible benefit in the short term would be the AFL agreeing to host pre-season games in regional centres, some of them still reeling from bushfires and battling with the lack of tourism dollars because of COVID-19.
It would be a way of the AFL giving back to Victoria in a way that offers immediate rewards instead of 40 years into the future.
Those negotiations with the MCC, AFL and state government are ongoing, with broad agreement about many of the terms.
If the Grand Final was held in Brisbane — as is widely tipped — it would almost certainly spell the end of the popular Grand Final parade.
Brisbane could host a 30,000-strong crowd but with contact tracing and fans cordoned off into different sections of the ground.
But a street parade which brought together tens of thousands of people would be extremely hard to regulate, let alone have authorities record the details of fans to contract-trace in the event of a COVID outbreak.
McLachlan said it was “not certain, but likely” that once the Grand Final location was locked in, the Brownlow Medal, rising star award and All-Australian team announcement locations would follow in the same state.
South Australia maintained its push to host the game, while WA premier Mark McGowan said his state had “played hard to get” in its pursuit.
“If it can’t be held at the MCG, it would be better here, if they meet the health guidelines. And so health guidelines are pretty strict. So it’s really a matter for (the AFL),” he said.
“We haven’t hunted it. We haven’t been desperate for it. We haven’t been pleading for it. We’ve just said … ‘these are the guidelines, these are the rules, adhere to them like everyone else, and the Grand Final can be at the best stadium in the country’.
“I get the feeling, Queensland, they’ve set up a committee or something, and they’ve got teams of people working on it.
“We haven’t acted like that. We’ve played a bit of hard to get. That’s on the basis that we have to put the health and wellbeing of our citizens first before the Grand Final.”
McLachlan said a delayed start to the 2021 had not yet been discussed.
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HOW LEAGUE WILL DECIDE YOU GETS THE BIG ONE
WHEN WILL AFL MAKE GRAND FINAL CALL?
A call on the AFL Grand Final could be made as soon as Tuesday.
The Gabba is considered the frontrunner to host the premiership decider, with Western Australia also pushing its case to play the game at Perth Stadium.
League boss Gillon McLachlan acknowledged that conversations remained ongoing with the Victorian government in relation to its contract for the MCG, but a decision looms in coming days.
“I don’t know if it’s Tuesday, but it’ll be next week,” he said on 3AW.
“We’ve been pretty consistent – we’re aiming for the end of August (for a decision). We’ve been working with the Victorian government and wherever we land will be in concert with them.
“I’m not trying to sound naïve – we’ve got a contract, we’re having very fair conversations with the Victorian government. It’s increasingly looking challenging in Victoria, again without sounding naïve about it. And we are having conversations with others.
“All of that will come together and we’ll have a decision by the end of next week. Whether it’s Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, I’m not sure.”
McLachlan said it was “not certain, but likely” that once the Grand Final location was locked in, the Brownlow Medal, rising star award and All-Australian team announcement locations would follow in the same state.
“We haven’t made a decision, but I think it’s probably likely that they’d go hand in glove,” he said.
“But it’s not certain. It’s possible you could have all the teams in Queensland and have the Grand Final elsewhere, I guess. We haven’t made a decision on that.
“The structure of the finals and the Grand Final will be the first decision, and next week that’ll be decided, and then the other awards and the Brownlow will follow.”
McLachlan said a delayed start to the 2021 had not yet been discussed.
WHAT HAPPENS TO PLAYERS AT SEASON’S END?
Jon Ralph
The AFL’s stars have been given permission to holiday in Queensland when their seasons end as they remain outside of Victoria’s COVID lockdown.
The Herald Sun understands AFL clubs were told on Thursday that official permission had come through which grants them an exemption to remain in the state after their seasons finish.
The AFL expects many players and staff without families to depart in the days after the home-and-away season finishes given the extraordinary sacrifice in remaining in hubs for so long.
But the AFL flew 410 family members up into hubs earlier this month, including 170 children of players and staff.
With no real clarity over what happens in Victoria when the current lockdown ends in mid-September, players will have no reason to rush home.
Clubs are expected to hold their players for several days after the home-and-away season ends on Sunday September 20 while they hold exit meetings.
Coaches will want to tell players face-to-face if their services are not required rather than over Zoom or via phone calls.
Players, coaches and staff can holiday across Queensland and then return to Victoria at their leisure as they assess Victoria’s COVID protocols.
The players have all been subjected to as many as three COVID tests per week, with their families also in hubs with strict biosecurity measures.
It means the Queensland government was confident they posed no greater risk than any other member of the state’s population.
The AFL is yet to rule on when its players might return to the pre-season for the 2021 season.
But the Herald Sun reported this week it could be as late as January given the 2021 season could be pushed back later into the calendar year to ensure fans can return to stadiums.
GABBA CLEARS MAJOR HURDLE IN GRAND FINAL BID
Chris Honnery and Domanii Cameron
The Gabba has been cleared to host an AFL Grand Final crowd of 30,000 on October 24, as the government prepares to make its final pitch to secure the blockbuster event.
It is understood the chief health officer has signed off on increasing capacity at the Gabba to 75 per cent – or 30,000 spectators – which would allow it to hold as many fans as Perth’s Optus Stadium.
While Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk would not be drawn on Thursday, the development puts Brisbane in the box seat for the end of season decider.
The State Government is continuing to work behind the scenes on securing the AFL grand final but Annastacia Palaszczuk has refused to elaborate any further.
It follows reports Queensland had appointed senior leaders from the Gold Coast Suns and Brisbane Lions to prepare the state’s potential bid.
Asked to elaborate on, the Premier said the Government was working behind the scenes until the AFL made a decision about whether the final would be held outside Victoria for the first time in its history.
The increased capacity at the Gabba comes after Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan declared Optus Stadium could only be filled to half capacity (30,000) for dates any earlier than October 24.
The state’s border restrictions have also complicated the matter of holding the grand final in Perth.
The Queensland-based task force pushing to host the grand final in the Sunshine State includes Gold Coast president Tony Cochrane, Suns chief executive Mark Evans and Lions boss Greg Swann.
The group is preparing to argue their case to the AFL in the next week in a bid to secure the competition’s biggest game and have it played outside of Victoria for the first time in the sport’s history.
The AFL is expected to make a decision on the grand final venue by the end of this month with a likely date to be at the end of October.
A decision is also imminent on the location of this year’s Brownlow Medal, with a push to have it in Queensland as well.
The Gabba is also undergoing a multimillion-dollar upgrade to its facilities – and is on track to be completed by October – in yet another boost for the stadium to receive the green light from the AFL.
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Lions legend Jonathan Brown earlier this month backed calls for the grand final to be held in Queensland.
“They have been unbelievable haven’t they Queensland, really, in terms of the way they have supported the game,” Brown said.
“I don’t think everyone behind the scenes would have been supportive of it given they are such a big rugby league state and to a lesser extent rugby union, so there would have been a bit of opposition to it.
“But it is great to see the way it has been embraced.”
WA makes call on Grand Final crowd
A Grand Final staged at Perth Stadium would be restricted to a half-capacity crowd under Western Australia’s extended COVID-19 restrictions.
WA Premier Mark McGowan on Tuesday extended the state’s Phase 4 restrictions until October 24, meaning a maximum of 30,000 people is permitted at Perth Stadium for any event.
Depending on whether the league opts to implement a pre-finals bye for competing teams, the Grand Final could fall on October 17 or 24, with a determination on both a planned date and location expected by the end of the month.
But McGowan — who said he had no knowledge of reports that the state had offered the AFL $35 million to host the match — was adamant he would not budge on the measure and that the premiership decider was “not our main priority”.
“I don’t know what date the Grand Final is scheduled for, I’m not sure they know exactly what date it is,” he said.
“But clearly our advice is to keep Phase 4 in place for two months. And that means up until that date, we expect that we will have the current restrictions at Optus Stadium remain in place.
“Look, the truth of the matter is, that the Grand Final is one of those things that I get asked a lot about, particularly at press conferences.
“But it’s not our main priority. It’s not our main focus. Keeping people safe, getting our economy back up is our main focus.”
He said that if the league was to opt to stage the decider in Perth “in a COVID-safe way”, it would “have to abide” by the 30,000 cap on the crowd.
The Gabba is understood to be the current frontrunner to host the game should the league make the call to move it away from the MCG, with the Brisbane stadium likely restricted to a capacity of less than 20,000 people.
“I understand (Perth) would still be the biggest stadium and the biggest crowd in Australia, so it’s not like they would have lost anything,” McGowan said.
“But the reality is, we’ve got big issues to worry about. The Grand Final is not one of them.”
BROWNLOW COULD BE VIRTUAL EVENT
The AFL will consider all options for a Queensland Brownlow Medal – including the drastic option of a virtual event – as it safeguards its finals series from coronavirus.
The Herald Sun understands the league’s working group will report back on options by the end of next week for an event likely to be held in the days after Round 18.
That timeslot would allow the league to hold the event with the majority of its players in attendance, having just finished the home-and-away season in Queensland.
But there are biosecurity risks with holding a function for hundreds of players given the AFL would need to guarantee a clean event that didn’t expose players and potentially partners to the risk of coronavirus.
There are club fears around putting players who have been in strict quarantine and high performance hubs in a venue with catering and security staff in attendance.
The league would have to be confident a waiter or security guard had no chance of passing on the virus to a group that would literally be the AFL’s best and brightest players, some about to play finals.
The AFLW best-and-fairest in April was awarded to Carlton’s Madison Prespakis after the league streamed its award on video platform.
That is one option for the AFL if it cannot guarantee its biosecurity protocols have been as tight as they have in recent months.
Queensland continues to boast extremely low COVID positives but the league’s determination to avoid risks that could derail the season will intensify on the eve of the finals.
The league will have to be confident the risk is close to zero to hold an event, which would include social distancing and only a small group of players in attendance.
Whether the AFL would invite wives and girlfriends who have been in quarantine hubs is another consideration given the red carpet has become a significant part of the night.
The league will also have to consider the future of a range of awards nights including its MVP, All Australian and Rising Star awards.
Brownlow Medal winner Shane Crawford has backed the event to be held on the Gold Coast after he won the 1999 Brownlow Medal when the ceremony was held in Sydney.
Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said recently the state would love to host the award, which has only moved outside of Melbourne once in its 97-year history.
“Of course I would love to see the Brownlow Medal here in the Sunshine State,” Palaszczuk said.
“Queensland would be the perfect place for the glitz and the glamour of the Brownlow and it makes sense if we’re going to be the temporary home for the AFL.”