Eddie McGuire, Gillon McLachlan reveal AFL Grand Final could be played on a Sunday night
The AFL is considering a Sunday night Grand Final that would fall between Derby Day and the Melbourne Cup. And Eddie McGuire has revealed it isn’t the only radical change in the pipeline.
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The AFL is contemplating a Sunday night Grand Final to be played the day after the VRC Derby.
Collingwood president Eddie McGuire made the stunning revelation, which wasn’t dismissed by AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan.
The radical timeslot change would see the 2020 Grand Final scheduled on Sunday November 1, after Derby Day and two days before the Melbourne Cup.
The blockbuster sporting weekend won the backing of veteran Herald Sun journalist Jon Anderson on the Herald Sun Footy Podcast. “I think it’s a great idea ... absolutely perfect,” he said on the latest podcast episode.
Co-host Michael Warner agreed: “Win the quaddie on Derby Day then roll into a Richmond premiership — that sounds like a great weekend.”
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The idea has the support of Sports Minister Martin Pakula who assured the Grand Final and VRC Derby “won’t go head-to-head.”
The AFL decider is currently slated for October 24 — on the same day as the Cox Plate — but the league could be forced to add a bye into the fixture to overcome border restrictions with Western Australian and South Australia, which would push the Grand Final back a week.
McGuire said a potential Sunday move has been “discussed in high places”.
“You know how people’s heads have exploded because we’ve mentioned that we may play this year’s Grand Final at night … how about if I told you we might play it on a Sunday night?” McGuire said on Triple M on Tuesday morning.
“If Victorian clubs are required to go to a hub in Western Australia and for that matter New South Wales clubs, if they have to go up there and they have to quarantine for two weeks … but there is a break of one week if you time it out, so it would mean we need to get a bye in there somewhere so that means instead of playing on the Cox Plate weekend we would have to play the Grand Final on Derby weekend.
“... We’d have the Saturday Derby, Sunday afternoon or Sunday night Grand Final, Monday the Grand Final public holiday to get over the Grand Final and have the two days into Melbourne Cup, Tuesday Melbourne Cup and another public holiday, Oaks Day on Thursday, Saturday Stakes Day.”
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McLachlan said he was open to the possibility of a Sunday Grand Final.
“If you had the flexibility and I’m not saying, I haven’t even talked to the AFL Commission about this, just having an open conversation, we wouldn’t run it against the Derby, that’s not helpful but you’ve got Sunday,” McLachlan told SEN.
“What happens if it is a public holiday Monday? I don’t know. There are some grown up conversations to have but I think everyone is in the right mindplace.
“It is a great four days of sport.”
Racing Minister Martin Pakula said the chances of the AFL Grand Final being held on the same weekend as the VRC Derby was “eminently possible”.
“I think Gillon said as recently as yesterday that he’s in discussions with South Australian and West Australian governments about their border closures and one of the possibilities is that those border closures might mean they have to fit a bye in,” Pakula said on RSN.
“If they have to fit a bye in. It’s more likely the AFL Grand Final is on Derby weekend.
“One thing I can assure you is that the AFL Grand Final won’t go head to head with the Derby.
“Whether or not the Grand Final is on Saturday night on Sunday or Sunday night all those things are possible.”
“You could have a bumper period over four days where you’ve got the VRC Derby, the AFL Grand Final and the Melbourne Cup all held in in four day. It would be enormous.”
The AFL is determined not to clash with the major Victorian race dates.
“We got to work with other sports and we’ll do that generally,” McLachlan said.
“We’re allies and friends, footy and racing, and we don’t need to be running over the top (of each other) it doesn’t work for either of us let alone them and we can work around it.
“We will do everything we can to work around that (clash with major race days) and that includes all the finals but the bigger stuff, the preliminary finals and Grand Final.
“It’s that sort of year and we can work around that. We can make it work, I feel very confident about that.”
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Last week, McLachlan wasn’t ruling out having 100,000 fans at the MCG on Grand Final day.
The AFL boss conceded crowds were unlikely in the first month of the restarted season due to COVID-19 restrictions, but he is still dreaming of a packed MCG on Grand Final Day.
“I still haven’t ruled out – I love the thought of a full Grand Final,” McLachlan told AFL.com.au
“You’ve got to be ready, you’ve got to dream, but we’ve got to do it in a way that works in with where our governments are and our communities.
“It’s an ambition (100,000 fans on Grand Final Day).”
The AFL season was ravaged by the pandemic after Round 1 but resumes on Thursday and McLachlan gets more confident “every day that goes by” fans will be back sooner rather than later.
He said detailed plans had been mapped out for each venue that would dictate how crowds would be brought back.
“I feel a sense of commitment to our members, our supporters, our fans to try and do that (bring fans back) if it’s safe, so we’ll be ready,” he said.
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“I’m more optimistic than I was. I think there’s certainly a chance in some form, yeah, but probably in four weeks, we’ll talk to governments and others.”
McLachlan said the weekend of October 24 loomed as the most likely date for the Grand Final – if everything went to plan – but he would also work in with other sports, like racing (Cox Plate) and cricket to ensure the best result.
He remained noncommittal on the time for the big match.
- with Michael Randall
Originally published as Eddie McGuire, Gillon McLachlan reveal AFL Grand Final could be played on a Sunday night
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