Braden Quartermaine: Why WA being denied for a potential preliminary final doesn’t add up
The Gabba is known for its pace and bounce but AFL boss Gillon McLachlan also produced some spin today when explaining why Perth had been overlooked for not just the grand final, but indicating West Coast would probably be denied a home preliminary final as well.
Repeatedly using the phrase “hard quarantine” when referring to WA’s restrictions, McLachlan gave the impression something over and above was now being requested for finals in Perth as compared to the regular-season games that have been successfully staged at Optus Stadium.
In fact, it’s not. It’s now even easier with 14 days reduced to seven. Finals could be played in Perth under a similar basis to what games have been played in WA for the past two months.
The official confirmation of the Gabba as host of the AFL grand final came on a devastating day for WA football and, more specifically, the Eagles’ premiership hopes.
We knew Brisbane was getting the big one but there was a couple of slaps on the way out for WA footy.
Optus Stadium, the so-called world’s most beautiful, was trumped by Adelaide Oval as the runner-up and back-up plan should anything go awry in Queensland.
And the Eagles have been all-but barred from hosting a preliminary final in Perth should they earn one.
It would mean West Coast would have to play their entire finals series on the road if they finish third or fourth and win their qualifying final in the first week. Under that scenario, the grand final would be the Eagles’ eighth consecutive away game.
It’s obvious Premier Mark McGowan and his team have been the most difficult State Government for the AFL to work with.
It’s not obvious why the health advice in WA is that teams can’t fly in and out for games, but in South Australia the health advice is that they can - despite that State actually bordering coronavirus-hit Victoria.
Though it is obvious this has long been about politics as much as it has been about health.
Missing out on the grand final is one thing. But we are yet to hear a single good reason for why a semi or preliminary final could not be held in Perth if the Eagles earned it.
McLachlan said the league would endeavour to allow West Coast to host a final at Optus Stadium in week one if they earned it by finishing first, second, fifth or sixth, with the pre-finals bye helping to navigate the WA Government’s requirement of a “seven-day hard quarantine”.
Any visiting team could train during those seven days just like Geelong, Collingwood, Hawthorn, Carlton, Sydney and Greater Western Sydney already have.
There is no obvious impediment to a semifinal or preliminary final in Perth either.
You simply fixture the final that leads into that match-up on a Thursday or Friday night, have the travelling team fly into Perth on the Saturday morning and play on the following Saturday night.
Yes, it cuts the seven-day rule fine but that’s exactly what’s been happening for the past two months, when team were required to be in Perth for 14 days before playing one of the WA teams.
The loss of a potential home preliminary final is a throwback to the past for the Eagles and an ugly echo of what happened in 1996 and 1999, when they were forced to host finals against Victorian teams at the MCG due to the MCG contract rule.
And it makes an absolute mockery of the Victorian cry of “what about integrity” in recent days in response to West Coast’s bid to play an eighth game in Perth against North Melbourne in round 18.
Even if the Eagles had been granted that ‘extra’ game, they still would have had less than half their matches in Perth.
West Coast might not even qualify for a home prelim or the top four. They’ve got the job ahead of them on both counts.
But the prelim hosting issue is worth the fight.
West Coast football operations boss Craig Vozzo indicated the club hadn’t given up yet, after McLachlan left the door slightly ajar when he described it as “difficult” and “very challenging”.
Both words could also be used to describe the Eagles’ premiership hopes in an extraordinary 2020.
