Coronavirus: No crowd as Richmond and Carlton kick off AFL season opener
They turned up to play football and all they got was crickets. Run on to the ground for the first time since September 28? Crowd silence.
They turned up to play football and all they got was crickets.
Run on to the ground for the first time since September 28? Crowd silence.
Kick five goals straight? Nothing.
Of course, Richmond and Carlton knew it would be low-key but it’s doubtful anyone was expecting it to be quite this quiet.
The few hundred people fortunate enough to attend the AFL season opener were probably left both bemused and strangely electrified by the history of it all.
Plenty of voices could be heard from the bench as players called for rotations but it could easily have been a practice match in January.
Not even the seagulls bothered to land in the early evening, perhaps sensing that something was up.
As the world shivers on the brink of fever and recession or worse, the power and influence of the Australian game triumphed against the odds and maybe even common sense, getting the season start AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan had so desperately wanted.
After a slow start by Carlton that handed Richmond a 50-point lead, McLachlan even got himself a half decent game, with the final distance between the teams a more respectable four goals.
Gone last night were the 90,000 supporters who normally mark round one; in their place was one of the great sporting, business and political compromises.
There was no beer in the public areas, no pies, no poor behaviour in the bar they call the Bullring, no Football Record and no cheer squads to be seen.
In fact, there was barely anyone at all, save for the odd water carrier and a bunch of serious club men in dark pants and shirts.
The bright lights bounced on 100,000 empty seats.
“It feels really strange,’’ Seven Network commentator and Richmond great Matthew Richardson conceded after the final siren.
Some would argue there are unintended advantages of the coronavirus era, with the bogan factor eliminated from the arena.
Maybe for the first time in the history of the sport, the umpires survived the regulation verbal battering from the cheap seats.
There were plenty of interesting personal stories, with Richmond’s Marlion Pickett — having played his first game in front of 100,000 people and his second in front of no paying customers — looking sharp.
Carlton, which surged in the second half to come within 15 points, was shored up by co-captain Patrick Cripps and four goals in the third quarter by import Jack Martin. Richmond’s best was big-occasion player Dustin Martin. If there had been a crowd, he would have been Richmond’s favourite.
Outside the MCG where people watched in droves on TV, the uncertainty over the COVID-19 crisis remained.
On nearby Swan Street, where just months ago tens of thousands of Richmond supporters swamped the suburb after the grand final, the street wasn’t bare but the mood was muted.
Normally the Tiger Army would gather in its hundreds, maybe even thousands before marching to the ground.
Adonis Diab, a director of The GBAR in Swan Street, is understandably spooked by the prospect of no crowds at the MCG.
It’s these crowds that hold up scores of businesses in the inner-eastern suburb. Last night before the game, there were just a few people who had gathered to watch it. Or just drink.
It was the same story at The London Tavern and the Richmond Club Hotel, all pubs that would normally be heaving with activity.
“I reckon we’ve probably lost more than 60 per cent of sales,’’ Mr Diab said. “We’re waiting on the government and hopefully the landlords.’’
For Leigh Matthews, the playing and coaching great, there were many unanswered questions before the first bounce, not the least who would retrieve the ball when it cannoned into empty seats.
“Who is going to get it? I can’t answer it,’’ Matthews told 3AW.
The question was answered reasonably quickly.
At 7.27pm Carlton emerged on to the ground — minus the traditional banner — pelting balls into the goals and the seats at the city end of the MCG.
Five Carlton staff stood obediently behind the goals where the cheer squad would normally retrieve or steal the balls.
Troubled times — but problem solved.
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