Perth is the pick but Brisbane’s sympathy vote leads pack

Optus Stadium in Perth ought to be the favourite to host this year’s AFL Grand Final Picture: Getty Images

The AFL is taking a smoko. Needs a breather. Bit knackered. Lots happening. Tuesday night has been alarming for a few of us. Without the footy on TV, entertainment options have included A Current Affair and Real Housewives of somewhere or other. What kinds of fresh hell are these?

Every smoko revolves around one question. The all-encompassing question of, whaddya reckon? Right now the AFL is sitting on a milk crate, in front of an Esky, guzzling cola, sucking on a dart and discussing the general gist of things. Recent developments and future possibilities.

The first two talking points that spring to mind, before Gold Coast and Carlton get back on the tools on Friday, are these. The grand final venue … whaddya reckon? And how on Toby Greene’s green Earth can GSW, most accurately called “hopeless” by captain Stephen Coniglio last week, recover from the rubbish it dished up against Sydney?

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The grand final. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk keeps talking up the Gabba – incessantly – because the Gabba does not speak for itself as a worthy venue. Adelaide Oval and Perth’s Optus Stadium are superior. Hands down. And yet the Gabba is favourite to host the decider in what seems a thank you to Queensland for propping up the competition. We appreciate your efforts and here you go, have the grand final. But whaddya reckon?

Mouthpieces for both venues have admitted a full house is unlikely, because of the plague. What’s better? A half-full Optus or a half-full Gabba? It seems a shame to go to Brisbane. Like giving a trophy to the clubman of the year. A sympathy vote. You’re not the best player, old mate, but geez you’ve tried hard and here’s your reward.

The AFL can do better than that. I’ve been to the Gabba. It’s good. I’ve been to Adelaide Oval, too, and it’s sensational. I haven’t been to Optus Stadium but from all that is seen and heard, it is spectacular. The acoustics and lighting and aesthetics and the steep seating … you could play a Super Bowl in it. The AFL should play its grand final in it.

GWS veteran Heath Shaw was invited on Tuesday to be Gillon McLachlan for the day, picking the GF venue. He replied: “Me being in charge of the AFL, that’s dangerous.

“There could be some big changes there. If I was in charge of the AFL, and I was to pick a ground outside of Melbourne and Sydney, because of the restrictions … Optus is a great stadium, to be honest. Western Australians are passionate about their AFL. Even last week, Swans versus Giants, there were random, different jumpers because they just love footy. If I was the boss of the AFL, I’d probably say Optus Stadium.”

Rugby has played a Bledisloe Cup Test in it. Proving it really is a place of miracles, the Wallabies had a win. Eddie Sheeran has played there, so it’s good enough for Eddie Betts. Taylor Swift, Eminem, U2 and Queen have played there. So has Manchester United, Chelsea and a couple of A-League grand finalists.

The Perth government paid $1.6 billion for the 60,000-seat venue, and so it should be half-­decent. Overlooking the Swan River like the Parthenon gazed down on ancient Athens, it’s been worth every cent.

An Australian sporting jewel is there for the taking. The Gabba will seem drab by comparison. If the grand final goes to Brisbane, it will be going for the wrong reasons. Palaszczuk is doing and saying all the right things, clubman of the year, whereas WA Premier Mark McGowan is playing hardball. He’s been brutal in his assessment of Sydney’s Elijah Taylor breaking the state’s quarantine protocols by sneaking his girlfriend into the love hub.

McGowan has said: “It’s very disappointing. The AFL gave us every assurance this wouldn’t happen. The Swans have let us down. The AFL has let us down. We’re disappointed in both organisations. I received an apology from the AFL this morning. I appreciate that but … they promised us this wouldn’t happen and they let us down.“

McGowan has gone too hard on a couple of fronts. For starters, there’s no understanding that a 19-year-old guy, and his 18-year-old girl, are prone to moving heaven and earth to steal a moment together.

Has McGowan never read, nor felt the pangs, of Romeo and Juliet? More to the point, McGowan is wrong to say the AFL has let him down. Taylor let him down. The Swans let him down, it’s on their watch. The AFL is responsible for many things, but it cannot be held accountable for a couple of young lovers climbing the balcony.

If McGowan keeps up that sort of stink when there’s drama, the AFL has another reason to head elsewhere. To Brisbane. The Giants, with Greene and Phil Davis back, face an imposing West Coast at Optus Stadium on Sunday. They coughed up a mere 25 points at the same venue in the last-start disaster, against Sydney, that cost them a spot in the eight.

Of Coniglio’s halftime lamentation of hopelessness, Shaw said on Tuesday: “I didn’t know he said that. The media want guys to be open and honest and that was the way he was feeling at the time.

“He wasn’t far off the mark and it probably continued for the second half. It’s something that hits you right between the eyes.

“You don’t want your captain saying you’re hopeless but hopefully that spurs on the team for this week … what we dished up last week wasn’t good enough … but I haven’t wavered from how much I think we can win the premiership this year.”