AFL 2020: Lions great calls for Brisbane medal night, Perth grand final
Brownlow Medal night in Brisbane, and grand final in Perth, says Lions great Simon Black
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Brisbane Lions legend Simon Black has called for this year’s Brownlow Medal ceremony to be held in Brisbane.
But he said Perth’s Optus Stadium was a better option than the Gabba to host the AFL grand final should the MCG get ruled out.
Queensland has become the 2020 home of the AFL due to the COVID-19 crisis in Victoria and there is a push for both the Brownlow Medal count and the Grand Final to be staged in Brisbane.
Lions midfielder Lachie Neale is the current favourite with bookmakers to win the Brownlow this year and Black, who won the game’s highest individual honour in 2002, is all for the award ceremony to be held in Brisbane.
Only once has the ceremony been staged outside of Melbourne, with Sydney hosting the event in 1999 when Hawthorn great Shane Crawford was the winner.
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“After 20 years it would nice to see it outside of Melbourne for one year,” said Black, who was forced to watch the ceremony from Brisbane the year he won it as the Lions were in the Grand Final a few days later.
“With Queensland doing a lot for the game, it would be a natural fit to have it in Brisbane. Brisbane would make it a great event.”
However, the money-spinning Grand Final is a different kettle of fish.
Born in Queensland but raised in Western Australia before returning to east to join the Lions in 1998, Black has reasons for wanting the decider to be played in Brisbane and Perth if, as expected, the MCG isn’t an option this year.
“It would be fantastic at the Gabba, but when you’re talking about a 40,000-seat stadium compared to 60,000 in Perth in a stadium regarded as the best in the world it’s hard to go past that one,” he said.
“The game brings in a lot of money being based in bigger stadiums … but either Perth or Brisbane would be a great result.”
Black was a cornerstone of the Lions’ 2001-2003 premiership hat-trick.
Since then, it has been lean pickings for Brisbane, but on the back of last year’s resurgence, the Lions are now second on the ladder and are current favourites with the TAB to win the flag.
Brisbane forward Lincoln McCarthy vowed his side – 20-point weekend winners over the Giants - would not be distracted by premiership favouritism.
“Things are looking pretty good for us at the moment … but we know how quickly things change, and we’ve just got to be ready for whatever’s coming and stick to our processes on a performance perspective,” McCarthy told RSN.
“There’s a bit of hype that comes around with us being in a position we are but we’ve just got to stick to what makes us a good team and that’s probably not worrying about the outside noise too much.”