Chris Judd of Carlton and Brendan Fevola of Brisbane acknowledge each other after the AFL NAB Challenge match between the Carlton Blues and the Brisbane Lions at Visy Park, Melbourne.
Another Good Friday, another missed opportunity for the AFL. The Friday before Easter remains the dullest day on the calendar for any Aussie Rules follower. It’s a divisive issue, but with footy fans showing an increased appetite for Good Friday footy, it is time for the AFL to change tact.
There’s no doubt the hype about the topic has been hastened this year by the NRL’s move into Melbourne on Good Friday, with the Storm scheduled to host St George Illawarra on the sacred holiday.
Nevertheless, in the last few years, footy on Good Fridays has been increasingly discussed. Typically, it has divided opinion.
In 2009, the AFL captains did an informal poll, with nine in favour of the idea and seven against. While later in that year, the Herald Sun ran a footy fans survey where 63% of voters said they’d support the concept.
During the off-season just gone, Port Adelaide floated a suggestion that they’d like to play a game on Good Friday, while a few years ago Carlton and Hawthorn made official submissions to do just that.
But for a long time, the AFL has been steadfast in its stance against footy on Good Fridays.
Even when chief operating officer Gillon McLachlan declared before the release of the 2010 season fixtures that the year would be all about blockbusters, Good Friday (a public holiday, with the perfect opportunity for a blockbuster) remained untouched.
The commercial benefits of a Good Friday game are obvious, too, but the AFL remain steadfast.
As mds1970, a member of The Roar community, explained in a good article yesterday, the AFL’s key issues are religion and the sacredness of the holiday and Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital Appeal.
On religion, a few years back, Geelong president Frank Costa (a practicing Christian and keen AFL lover) suggested he was open to a Good Friday game, but not before the religious devotions of the day were completed.
Thus, anything after 5pm was okay.
And with rival Australian codes, such as NRL and Super 14, playing matches on Good Friday (this year in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth), the idea appears fairly acceptable to the general public, especially as an evening activity after ‘the day’s devotions’.
On the other hand, the issue of the Royal Children’s Hospital Appeal is something as a West Australian (excuse my ignorance), I wasn’t aware of until I began researching this topic earlier in the week.
I’m informed the Appeal is a Victorian tradition of goodwill and has its place. Channel Seven (who have the rights to Friday night AFL games) always televise the day-long Appeal on Good Fridays.
It appears AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou doesn’t want to mess with that, which is honourable.
But with the Appeal only televised in Victoria, it is perhaps easier to understand, not only my ignorance, but also the reasoning behind a Good Friday game for the national audience.
As the AFL seeks to expand the game throughout the nation, it needs to address the nation-wide demands. The Victoria-only Appeal doesn’t affect a lot of their desired audience.
As well, the Storm have been quite clever in creating a link between the Appeal and their game (by offering attendees the chance to contribute to the charity at the match) which is an initiative the AFL could potentially employ.
And ex-Storm chief executive Brian Waldron was also tactful when said at the time of the announcement: “We fully respect the religious aspect of the day, however, we would like to give people the choice to come along.”
Indeed, while this topic inevitably divides opinion, surely it is all about choice.
Those people who don’t support the idea can choose not to watch or attend the game, while those who want AFL footy on Good Friday can choose to view it.
But right now, AFL on Good Friday isn’t a choice for footy fans, and that’s hard to understand.
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