Suns CEO Mark Evans challenges Victorian clubs to travel in week one of finals

With the Grand Final locked in to the MCG long-term, a bold plan has been floated to make AFL finals system fairer for interstate clubs — and it involves a full week without finals in footy’s heartland.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA. September 30, 2023. AFL Grand Final between Collingwood and the Brisbane Lions at the MCG. Jack Ginnivan and Darcy Cameron of the Magpies. Picture by Michael Klein

Gold Coast chief executive Mark Evans says the price of a permanent MCG Grand Final should be Victorian teams playing week one finals at interstate venues if the AFL is truly committed to competitive fairness.

And Evans says as the AFL ponders creating a 24th AFL round it should schedule those games in non-Victorian venues to equalise the punishing travel load for interstate sides.

Evans has put in a detailed submission to the AFL as it works on its competitive balance review, with the Suns fiercely defending their academy access to local talent.

REVEALED: MARK EVANS’ FULL FINDINGS ON AFL DISADVANTAGE

The Suns have been bemused and dismayed by the outcry from heartland clubs who have won premierships through father-son access as they protest against a single crop of Gold Coast academy stars in last November’s draft.

Evans asked Victorian clubs to flip the script – if they are not prepared to play away finals in week one why do they consider a permanent MCG Grand Final as a level playing field?

Jack Ginnivan and Darcy Cameron of the Magpies celebrate in front of their home crowd at the MCG in 2023. Picture: Michael Klein

And in a cheeky dig at the Suns’ lack of MCG access this year with a single round 24 clash at the home of the venue, Evans said Gold Coast might need to ask a rock goddess for advice.

“We play at the MCG in round 24. We’re thinking about ringing up Taylor Swift to see if she’s got any tips on how we should play the ground,” he told the Herald Sun after her three concerts this year compared to the Suns’ single 2024 appearance.

“There’s lots of good reasons why we don’t want the Grand Final to be taken out of the MCG – tradition, the contract and revenue. But it’s an incredible advantage for a Victorian team to play a non-Victorian team on the biggest day of the year,” Evans told this masthead.

“So would we be prepared to flip the advantage the other way in week one of the finals when the Victorian team has earned the right to have a home final?

“Would we be prepared to take that final to the interstate teams’ venue and give them the advantage in week one of the finals? It makes it easier for that interstate team to progress through the finals as compensation for not having that advantage in the Grand Final. I think it’s a great highlight of the inequity.

“If we wouldn’t accept that because of a lack of integrity or fairness in week one of the finals, why would we accept it in week four of the finals? In the biggest game of the year?”

In the past 20 years a Victorian side has taken on a non-Victorian team in 10 AFL Grand Finals at the MCG for an 8-2 record, with only West Coast (over Collingwood) and Sydney (over Hawthorn) overcoming that massive home-ground advantage.

Originally published as Suns CEO Mark Evans challenges Victorian clubs to travel in week one of finals