Adelaide photo shows Sydney really does not get it

A provocative billboard says everything you need to know about the bizarre rivalry Sydney suddenly wishes it never started.

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Former NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has more than one reason for wanting to crawl inside a hole this week.

The former state leader has egg all over his face after a provocative swipe at minnow state South Australia.

The most unexpected state rivalry kicked off in February when Perrottet torched a suggestion Adelaide was plotting to take over the traditional New Year’s Test slot played at the SCG.

He infamously quipped: “A five-day washed-out Test in Sydney is much better than a five-day Test in Adelaide.

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

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After watching the roaring success of the inaugural AFL Gather Round in Adelaide it suddenly does not look good for Perrottet or the Harbour City.

There has been a surprising avalanche of praise for the Gather Round concept and the way the host city has turned it on for the estimated 60,000 visitors that have come for the party.

This Adelaide billboard proves Sydney just doesn’t get it. Photo: Matt Sullivan/News.com.au.

Believe it or not, Adelaide, for this week at least, is a party town. The snoozy City of Churches has caught almost everyone by surprise as the week-long celebration of football has shone a light on the dramatic plot twist that’s unfolding right now. Adelaide may not be a boring city after all.

The seamless execution of major events - and the ease in which fans can enjoy them - is something NSW can only marvel at.

There may not be much on offer outside of the cricket, footy, Fringe Festival, WOMADelaide and the Supercars, but you can count on one hand the amount of inter-state visitors leaving the town that don’t want to come back. Seriously.

It brings us back to Sydney and old mate Dom.

This week it has been South Australian premier Peter Malinauskas' time to chuckle at Sydney’s expense.

A billboard spotted in Adelaide’s CBD this week said it all about what some might call an increasingly false sense of superiority plenty of Sydneysiders enjoy when looking over to the other side of Broken Hill.

The NRL’s billboard was a bold move to promote State of Origin Game 1 — with a cheeky dig at the rival football code.

“Real footy is coming soon to Adelaide,” the cheeky poster proclaims heading into the series opener on May 31 at Adelaide Oval.

The 190,000 tickets sold for Gather Round shows at least some of those fans in Adelaide walking past the sign this week disagree with the definition of “real footy”.

Malinauskas got his wish when 42,134 spectators turned up to watch Sydney vs Richmond at the Adelaide Oval on Friday night. It came after Malinauskas challenged his state to get more people to attend the game than the 31,686 that watched the Swans-Port Adelaide thriller at the SCG last week.

“South Australia is a traditional footy state. We live and breathe footy,” he said.

“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.

The AFL was at the centre of a surprising tussle between the two states when Adelaide and Sydney both registered interest in holding Gather Round. The South Australian government blew NSW out of the water with a reported commitment of $14 million. The AFL has made no secret of the fact it viewed Sydney as its preferred candidate as the league continues to struggle to grow the game outside of the eastern suburbs and north shore. Adelaide, however, made an offer the league couldn’t refuse and now the roaring success of the inaugural event means it will return to Adelaide next year.

This comes despite a very real push from other states to pinch the annual festival of football event.

According to News Corp, the AFL and Malinauskas Government are expected to shortly announce Adelaide will host the event through to 2026. Another blow to Sydney.

The event has been such a success that there are calls for it to be a permanent fixture — even with the rich tapestry of mullets, 1980s Commodores, Farmers Union Ice Coffee and fritz.

Footy Show host Tony Jones was among those singing Adelaide’s praises on Sunday.

“I want to put on the record there is absolutely no way that the AFL can take this from Adelaide. Ever,” he said.

The social media reaction was a landslide.

MasterChef star and South Australian footy tragic Adam Liaw posted on Twitter: “People are always all “Adelaide’s boring” even after the city has been in a perpetual state of carnival for 4 entire months across TDU (Tour Down Under), #ADLFringe, Adelaide Festival, Writer’s Week, WOMAD, #GatherRound and #TastingAustralia, while STILL being an affordable and relaxing paradise”.

The Age’s Marnie Vinall posted: “I’m getting so much fomo not being in Adelaide right now, gather round looks sick ngl”.

Sports reporter Vince Rugari wrote: “The AFL has achieved the impossible: making people wish they were in Adelaide”.

Channel 7’s Ned Balme said it was wrong to consider moving the event to South East Queensland.

“Sydney is a league city, the SCG isn’t close to the G, Adelaide Oval, Optus Stadium, the city is a pain in the arse to travel around and won’t come close to selling out games,” he wrote.

“It’s about providing a festival atmosphere and Adelaide/Perth are better cities for that.”

The sharks are circling - but for now Adelaide has flipped the script and seems to be viewed as a more attractive option than Brisbane, Sydney, Perth and Tasmania.

Beyond 2026, the sharks will be circling.

Coaches John Longmire, Alastair Clarkson and Chris Fagan have been among the high profile figures to call for the concept to be taken on the road to other cities.

When asked about Gather Round before his team’s clash on Saturday, Kangaroos coach Clarkson said: “It’s a wonderful buzz around the city and it’s great for the economy of South Australia, but it’d sort of be a shame if it was just locked in to one state,” he said on Fox Footy.

“It’s a challenge for the AFL because it’s been such a success here. It’s such a carnival atmosphere. It’s fantastic.

“We’re really looking forward to the game, but that will be a tough call for the AFL because when you have something as successful as it’s been in South Australia you want to retain it, but there’s plenty of other states that could do just as good a job I reckon.”

He said after the game the Northern Territory, Queensland, Tasmania, Western Australia and NSW should all be options.

Fagan was also surprisingly blunt when asked the question before the game: “The buzz around Adelaide. It (Gather Round) should stay.

“Probably should move around the country though.”

Longmire was a little more cheeky when asked in his post match press conference.

“It’d be hard to argue against the concept wouldn’t it,” he said.

“It’s been an absolutely resounding success for the game. You see it in the people walking around the street. The joint’s buzzing. It’d be wonderful in Sydney.”