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If the AFL take note of Port Adelaide President David Koch’s audacious idea, we could be watch the 2016 AFL grand final live from the Adelaide Oval.
Koch’s idea is that every year each state bids for the right to host AFL grand final.
And why not? Some say the MCG is the home of football, but I say the Adelaide Oval could do it just as well.
And other stadiums around the country, like the SCG and Subiaco in Perth, should be given the opportunity to do the same.
The only reason the AFL grand final hasn’t been hosted away from Victoria is because no state government has made a big enough noise. OK, there is the issue of the lease with the Melbourne Cricket Club, but let’s not get bogged down in detail. And there’s the issue of capacity at other venues, again I hate it when things get too complicated.
Koch told Gerard Whateley on Fox Footy’s Round Table that the money raised would help the weaker clubs to survive.
Let me be selfish for a moment.
South Australian treasurer Tom Koutsantonis told us that the Adelaide Oval should be used for all major events, not just football. And fair enough, the Rolling Stones concert was an extraordinary success, and AC/DC will no doubt fill the stadium later this year.
But what bigger event could we attract than the AFL grand final? And let’s grab the Brownlow Medal and the parade as well.
Adelaide local Bruce McAvaney would be happy – for the first time in years he wouldn’t have to travel.
Imagine how busy the city would be, with thousands of visitors from interstate.
Imagine the grand final parade starting on the Norwood Parade, and working its way to the city through the newly built $160 million bus tunnel under the Adelaide parklands, saving the parade seven minutes of travel time.
And then turning right into the mall from King William street and finishing in front of the Malls Balls, where the two coaches would sit and take questions.
Of course I”m being silly, of course I’m having some fun with the idea, because I wouldn’t think the AFL in its wildest dreams would ever let the grand final be played anywhere but the MCG.
But what a wonderful thing it would be if it did happen, and Port or the Crows won the flag at home.
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