Jon Ralph: Families to be impacted by a night Grand Final

A long-awaited Melbourne premiership would be worth all the ski season taunts for supporters. But some of the most important fans could miss out, writes Jon Ralph.

Melbourne fans Taylah (13) and Jack Munro (10). Picture: Tony Gough

The euphoric presentation ceremony after a premiership drought breaks is just as memorable as the final siren on grand final day.

Paul Roos’ guttural “Here It Is” roar to the success-starved Bloods fans, or Mark Williams’ “Alan Scott, you were wrong” dig as the premiership-sized monkey fell off the back of Port Adelaide fans are the emotional touchstones that will never be forgotten.

The AFL has locked in a grand final starting time of 5.15pm in Perth — so those magical moments will be broadcast into Melbourne around 11pm (AEST).

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The AFL’s desire to monetise every single commodity and appease TV broadcasters has made the league the kind of bulletproof financial behemoth that was able to survive Covid-19.

But Gillon McLachlan and his broadcast team need to realise there is a time to put ratings aside and instead reward the traditionalists and the families rather than the theatregoers who might watch a single game each year.

Young Melbourne fans could be in for a late night to see the end of the grand final.

Last year’s grand final finished at 10.17pm in Melbourne despite 16-minute quarters that reduced game length by 18 minutes and a 6.30pm Gabba start time (7.30pm in Melbourne and Sydney).

Those smug Richmond fans celebrating their third success in four seasons had already basked in the glory of Swan Street pilgrimages in 2017 and 2019.

But imagine if Melbourne manages to march into a grand final after a 57-year premiership wait and the start time is so incompatible that young kids cannot witness the moment that might sustain them for their football lives.

Football loyalty that refuses to die, despite all the obstacles, is a peculiar beast.

It can be acquired through a single autograph from a favourite player or a school visit from a league superstar or just ruthless blackmail from a died-in-the-wool parent who refuses to contemplate their kid supporting another club.

The single moment that almost guarantees your kids are locked in for life is witnessing that final siren of a premiership together.

In the flesh. Hugging and cheering and snot and tears dripping down your face as you celebrate a day you never believed would come.

For Melbourne fans it would be worth all the MCC cheese board taunts and 186-point Kardinia Park losses and haunting MCG afternoons where the lone bugler never got to play his victory anthem.

Half time entertainment of the 2020 AFL Grand Final in Brisbane. Picture: Sarah Reed

The silent train rides home NOT mentioning the preceding three hours’ events or the quiet pleading to retain the faith of kids who refused to share your optimism that Melbourne would one day come good.

The league would ideally prefer a halftime entertainment on nightfall to maximise the showbiz impact.

Snap quiz: who played the halftime entertainment last year at The Gabba?

Who cares (the answer is Sheppard, who, by all accounts, were excellent), when the main priority should be allowing kids of a reasonable age to hit full time.

Last year’s Richmond-Geelong contest was a hit — 3.812 million for metro and regional combined, bigger than 2019 but not as large as the 4.121 million who watched the 2016 Dogs defeat the Swans in a Victoria-NSW clash that always maximises ratings.

With a 4pm start time, the AFL could have the best of both worlds in this extraordinary season.

It could have locked in the monetary value of this game but maximise the capacity for joy within families in a year where that commodity has been in shorter supply than ever before this century.

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Chris Scott’s Geelong is under the pump once more and the “losing in straight sets” expression — one that reeks of inability to handle the finals heat — has reared its ugly head again.

But before the footy masses feel a need to join the pile on, AFL legend Malcolm Blight advises them to grab a calculator first.

Next, he says, punch in “one divided by 18”. The answer: 0.0555555. Or less than six per cent.

That’s how hard it is, says the former Geelong and Adelaide coach, to win an AFL premiership in any given year.

The pressure is on Cats coach Chris Scott. Picture: Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images

“If you were starting a business now and you only have a six per cent chance of success, would you start the bloody thing?” Blight says down the line from Adelaide.

“The trick is you have just got to keep fronting up, you have got to keep appearing. As funny as it sounds, it takes courage to keep appearing.

“If you look at the volume of work with Chris Scott and Geelong, he has done an enormous job to stay relevant for as long as he’s been there.

“You just have to keep dusting yourself back off.

“Going out in straight sets, I was never part of it as a player or coach. I don’t know what I would do.

“And I guess in all fairness if it happens, people are going to ask the question.”

And therein lies the rub.

For all of Scott’s achievements, which include a premiership and footy’s greatest home-and-away record, there is still an asterisk for those who believe the Cats have underachieved.

As the Cats trudged off Adelaide Oval last week — with Cam Guthrie and Joel Selwood among the modest contributors — it was obvious where the heat was going to be focused.

To Patrick Dangerfield, whose broken finger subsequently gave him something of an alibi, and to Scott after another mediocre finals performance by his side.

How can a coach with the greatest home-and-away win-loss record serve up seven week-one finals losses, many of them as meek as the loss to Port Adelaide?

More to the point, is Geelong a home-and-away over-performer or a finals underperformer?

So the only possible scenario for Geelong against Greater Western Sydney in Perth on Friday night is to win.

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Tom Hawkins leads the Cats off the ground after the qualifying final loss. Picture: Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images

Because a loss will reignite every narrative that has emerged about Geelong and finals over these past 10 seasons:

■ That the premiership window is slamming shut with 13 players aged 30 or over by Round 1 next year.

■ That Geelong’s home-and-away advantages — slow ball use, regular wins at GMHBA Stadium — are not built to maximise September glory.

■ That Scott’s Cats will have significantly underachieved if they cannot add another premiership to his 2011 flag.

From all of Geelong’s harrowing finals defeats this past decade — and there is an ever-growing catalogue of despair — the 2018 elimination final loss to an emerging Melbourne had an end-of-days quality to it.

To everyone but Scott.

“I can’t work out when our era started and if it’s finished or not,” he said.

“I’m not a really big believer in that ... I think every year is a year in its own right.”

The problem for Scott is that it is increasingly difficult to make the case Geelong’s premiership window is wide open long past this year.

The Cats paid a heavy price for Jeremy Cameron (picks 13, 15 and 20 and a future fourth-rounder in return for two-second rounders slated to come in at No. 30 and 31).

They handed over pick 30 for Shaun Higgins, an acclaimed move given his potential, but one that now seems over the odds given his knee issues and lack of output.

Can Patrick Dangerfield lift against the Giants on Friday night? Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos

When you give up four picks within 30, your time is now.

By next year’s finals, Selwood, Higgins and Tom Hawkins will be 34.

Geelong needs to replicate last year’s finals journey — rebounding from a qualifying final loss to Port Adelaide for dominant 68 and 40-point victories before the Grand Final loss.

While Blight admits there are questions over Scott’s finals record, he says those who downplay his premiership status are just plain wrong.

“There is that bit about turning up at the joint and having good timing but Mark Thompson has said he doesn’t think they would have won it if he was there (in 2011),” Blight says.

The other concern hanging over Geelong is the growing noise that rivals will make a play for their coach if they lose on Friday night.

But that is harder to see happening.

New CEO Steve Hocking’s first order of business will be to sit down with Scott and broker an extension of his contract beyond 2022.

Scott’s Cats have stared down many big moments across their careers — including the pressure of having to front up after four week-one finals losses — but the stakes have rarely been as significant at Friday night’s semi-final.

Originally published as Jon Ralph: Families to be impacted by a night Grand Final