Discussion General Discussion

[Lost In The Sky]

Attendances according to www.austadiums.com

22,077 Geelong v Collingwood
25,306 Fremantle v West Coast
24,824 West Coast v Collingwood
20,251 Fremantle v Geelong
12,304 Carlton v Hawthorn
26,211 West Coast v Geelong
20,912 Fremantle v Collingwood
19,092 West Coast v Carlton
18,512 Fremantle v Hawthorn

Pretty Impressive if you ask me, and especially considering the AFL have jacked tickets prices right up over here... Not the $30 discount tickets they have been offering in QLD. Though this weekends FRE v CAR game is being advertised as cheap tickets.

From the crowd figures that have been released on that site...

Gabba

11,061 Brisbane v Bulldogs
3,606 Richmond v Sydney
10,161 Brisbane v Port
7,354 Brisbane v Adelaide
1,965 Brisbane v West Coast


Metricon

4,863 Brisbane v Adelaide
4,949 Essendon v Bulldogs
2,178 Carlton v Bulldogs
450 Port v West Coast
5,106 Gold Coast v Fremantle

Have to wonder how many will bother showing up to a GF at the Gabba... and especially if it involves no QLD teams. They don't even bother showing up for games with discount ticket prices.

Or you could hold the GF at a world class stadium (Optus), with a likely 60,000 Crowd by then, a top class playing surface that isn't hacked up, and (usually) great weather. Hell you could even experiment with the Night Grand Final the AFL has been wanting to try for so long and utilize the world class lighting system on offer.

Pretty obvious which option is going to offer the best experience to both fans at the game and footy fans at home if you ask me.

 

[Shannon]

https://www.sen.com.au/news/2020/08...ba-could-host-capacity-crowd-for-grand-final/

Brisbane Lions chairman Andrew Wellington strongly doubts the Gabba will be able to host a capacity crowd if they are awarded hosting rights for the AFL Grand Final.

Crowds at both Metricon Stadium and the Gabba are currently capped to limit the spread of COVID-19, with 11,061 fans in attendance for Brisbane’s home clash against the Western Bulldogs on Saturday night.

Unlike Western Australia – which has forecast a tentative date of August 29 to lift all restrictions besides their hard border closure – there’s no current timeline when Queensland will once again open their stadiums to their full capacity.

Wellington cast extreme doubt on the Queensland government allowing the Gabba to be at its full 37,000 capacity for a mid-October Grand Final, but still said the ground would be a worthy host of the biggest game of the year.

“I’m not sure about a full Gabba (for the Grand Final),” he said on SEN’s Whateley.

“But I think certainly you would be able to have a significantly greater crowd that what we’re currently at."

Wellington confirmed the club is currently in discussions with government officials about raising the amount of fans they can accommodate in the lead up to finals.

“(I don’t have) exact dates and numbers but we are in discussions with Stadiums Queensland about how we might build (crowd numbers),” he said.

“We’re hoping to build that to 15,000 and more over time. The logistics are a little bit more of a challenge … you obviously can’t sell tickets on the day as you have to trace people and you have to give members priority which pragmatically limits exactly how many tickets you get sold.
“We are certainly working to increase those numbers.”

Gerard Whateley says the AFL will balance a number of aspects before deciding who will host this year’s Grand Final, but says there is no point pretending a showpiece event at the Gabba would be superior to one in Adelaide or Perth.

“You would be hard-hearted to oppose Queensland for all its done but a Grand Final at the Gabba would be an inferior spectacle to a Grand Final at Optus Stadium or Adelaide Oval,” he said.

“So as long as you balance that up and make your choice but I don’t think we should pretend that it would be as grand as holding it at that magnificent new stadium in Perth or at what I think is the best ground in the country which is Adelaide Oval.”

 

[Bomber18]

All good points.

However can I play the devils advocate and make the point that if WA ultimately misses out on the grand final then you can point the finger squarely at their super popular premier and his government. Had they taken a more cooperative view in the early days of COVID they could have filled the role Queensland has and assured themselves of the big day.

You reap what you sow.

No doubt the Mandatory Quarantine period WA requires has played a large part in decisions made so far, But the Perth footy hub has been working perfectly fine so far and there is absolutely no reason it couldn't have continued until at least the end of the regular season.

I don't reckon you will find anyone over here who is upset with the way our state has handled things... It's the reason the East Coast is in harsh lockdowns at the moment and we are safe over here and allowed to go about our daily lives as per normal. Wouldn't trade that for anything.

Interesting rumor on the radio here in Perth this morning, that overnight the Grand Final Venue odds have absolutely plummeted for Optus Stadium being the GF venue. The rumor was that all finals are to be played in QLD but the GF will be played at Optus Stadium. Interesting to see if there has been a leak somewhere or someone has inside information.

Yeah, don’t think you can fault a conservative approach being taken by WA in the midst of a pandemic.... Clearly a good decision to keep strict quarantine in place given how poorly Victoria handled it.

Perhaps whoever finishes higher out of Brisbane and WCE can get it, which hopefully removes the “politics” from the decision.

 

[jel]

No idea to be honest , sounds like the fixture will be released tomorrow so we might get some answers and clarity then.

From the outside looking in it seems a very odd decision that their are suddenly going to be no games at all in Perth even if Fremantle (confirmed) and West Coast are on the move.

Unless they can't get the right combo of 4 teams left to play each other over a 3 Round period.

I wonder how much influence Telstra has on where the Grand Final is going to be played ?

I haven't checked the figures for Adelaide Oval since one game they admitted counting the corporates twice and including the staff in the numbers.

SA Government I think reduced it from 25,000 to 20,000 capacity as well.

I'm pretty sure they're down to 10,000 now.

I'd imagine Port supporters would be pretty annoyed if none of their finals were held in Adelaide.

 

[Herbie66]

Is their a minimum number of games that need to be played each round under the TV deal ?

Was something earlier I read saying Whately said on SEN that Round 14-17 might be a 4 , 9 , 9 , 9 game format over 20/21 days.

Guess all will be revealed tomorrow or Friday , then Virtual Sports will communicate what they propose to do.

 

[KLo30]

Is their a minimum number of games that need to be played each round under the TV deal ?

Was something earlier I read saying Whately said on SEN that Round 14-17 might be a 4 , 9 , 9 , 9 game format over 20/21 days.

Guess all will be revealed tomorrow or Friday , then Virtual Sports will communicate what they propose to do.

If it was the normal Friday-Sunday coverage 4 is the minimum. However, games on nearly everyday of the week has been a bonanza for TV ratings.

 

[Herbie66]

I'm pretty sure they're down to 10,000 now.

I'd imagine Port supporters would be pretty annoyed if none of their finals were held in Adelaide.

You are spot on , they reduced it again early in August.

They appear to be doing a good job social distancing the people sitting in the stands , it's when everyone is leaving at once the problem begins.

The footbridge is supposedly only to be used for those people that travelled to and from the game by train only.

When interviewing some people on the TV they said they forgot or distracted , start locking people up for breaches 24-48 hours or shorting them , people might start to learn to do the right thing.

Same as this so called self quarantine , when being checked on 1 in 4 are not home , chuck em in the clink and people might learn.

 

[Herbie66]

If it was the normal Friday-Sunday coverage 4 is the minimum. However, games on nearly everyday of the week has been a bonanza for TV ratings.

Cheers

Every day feels like a Sunday for some reason , games/teams day after day , starting to roll into one.

Freo and Swans heading up your way , you might be able to get to attend a game live time permitting.

 

[doc ron]

Guessing SC doesn operate in round 18. League finals are 14-16 and GF 17 or maybe there is no round 18 (which is my expectation).

I think once SC klnows that there will be a round 18, they may adjust it to take that into account. Maybe.

 

[doc ron]

I think once SC klnows that there will be a round 18, they may adjust it to take that into account. Maybe.

It would be nice to know soon so we can decide how much risk to take for those that are trying to make league finals.

 

[KLo30]

Cheers

Every day feels like a Sunday for some reason , games/teams day after day , starting to roll into one.

Freo and Swans heading up your way , you might be able to get to attend a game live time permitting.

All day I've been thinking it's Thursday. I can't get it out of my head.

Hopefully, I'll get to see a game or two live. However, I think the crowd limit is 4,500, so getting tickets might be tough going. And our Premier thinks this will be a good boost to the Cairns economy. Clueless.

 

[Herbie66]

All day I've been thinking it's Thursday. I can't get it out of my head.

Hopefully, I'll get to see a game or two live. However, I think the crowd limit is 4,500, so getting tickets might be tough going. And our Premier thinks this will be a good boost to the Cairns economy. Clueless.

Thursday makes more sense with team announcements.

Strange to work out how these politicians think , was reading some articles earlier where it sounded like they were expecting 10,000 ' s of people just to flock on Cairns.

 

[Herbie66]

Remaining fixture being released tomorrow.

AFL.com.au

 

[freowho]

Just noticed Geelong vs Port teams on the AFL website has no late changes at the top despite them playing tomorrow! So no late changes for tonight's game doesn't mean anything.

 

[jaca]

Remaining fixture being released tomorrow.

AFL.com.au

Wish it was today...

 

[lavenderbandit]

"Ten teams will have byes in the rounds 14-17 blocks" (direct quote from AFL app on my phone)

wonder if they will be bye rounds best 18 or best 22? this changes my trade plans.

 

[Herbie66]

Wish it was today...

my guess by lunch time tomorrow we will know and then Virtual Sports will know as well and will let us know what is going to happen moving forward 😀

 

[jaca]

my guess by lunch time tomorrow we will know and then Virtual Sports will know as well and will let us know what is going to happen moving forward 😀

Here’s hoping!

 

[Nathan]

"Ten teams will have byes in the rounds 14-17 blocks" (direct quote from AFL app on my phone)

wonder if they will be bye rounds best 18 or best 22? this changes my trade plans.

Any round with less that 9 games will be best 18

 

[Matt]

From the H/Sun

"
The AFL will schedule football in 17 of 18 days with its Rounds 14-17 fixture in a second compressed Footy Festival in coming weeks.
The league played football on 20 consecutive days and will on Friday unveil a fixture beginning on Thursday August 27 after a three-day break from Round 13.
The AFL will compress those three rounds but have a conventional Thursday-Sunday round 18 that will not have official days or times for games until later in the home-and-away season.
The AFL has announced Hawthorn-Essendon will be played on Thursday August 27, with 10 of the 18 teams to be handed a bye in that block.

Melbourne and Essendon will play their catch-up game in that block, and are among the teams with a gruelling schedule ahead.
The league’s Round 18 schedule will have games put into slots closer to finals and could allow the league to schedule a final on Thursday in the first week of the major rounds.

But the league might also decide to hand clubs a break before the first week of finals.
If clubs are not given a bye there could be mass resting of players in teams that cannot change ladder position.
The league had been keen to canvass clubs on the toll taken on their players in the compressed schedule featuring 20 straight days of footy.

But clubs including Geelong and Collingwood were happy to forge ahead, with both those teams set to get byes in coming weeks."