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We’re in the midst of one of the darkest seasons in AFL history, but some much-needed comic relief has emerged from the most unlikeliest of sources – Lefty Round.
If it sounds ridiculous to dedicate an entire round of football to a celebration of left-footers, past and present, that’s because it is.
And that’s completely okay, because Lefty Round is not the preposterous next chapter in the AFL’s fetish for themed rounds we first thought it was.
Fortunately, it is a laugh riot – one that the wider AFL community could truly do with given what’s dominating the headlines at the moment.
When the first teaser ads promoting Lefty Round first appeared on screens a few weeks back, the initial reaction was somewhere between disbelief and restrained anger.
What were they doing? The AFL was only just coming down from the overboard tokenism of Multicultural Round, which – while delivered with all the right intentions – would be best left in the dustbin of history.
It was probably the straw that broke the camel’s back, coming after the likes of Rivalry Round, Women’s Round, Indigenous Round, Heritage Round, ANZAC Round and what feels like at least a thousand other variations, each more ridiculous than the last.
Lefty Round? That was the AFL outdoing itself. A joke, surely.
Turns out, however, that the league is not behind it at all – it’s simply a Fox Footy marketing initiative, run using International Left-Handers Day on August 13 as an excuse, and it’s bloody brilliant.
Or, as Gerard Whateley described it on AFL 360 last night, it’s “good, clean fun”, at the very least.
The closer we’ve crept to Lefty Round, the more the accompanying ads have revealed it is not what we thought it was.
The fact that AFL 360 used Kanye West’s aggressive but self-deprecating (and amazing) new track I Am A God as a promo for tomorrow night’s interview with one of the best southpaws in the business – Lance Franklin – should tell you all you need to know.
The fact the AFL doesn’t have its grubby little fingers all over Lefty Round gives it instant credibility as a carefully-crafted pisstake of City Hall.
It comes off as a not-so-subtle joke at the expense of the themed round concept. The players are not only in on it, but revelling in it.
Fox Footy has produced a cavalcade of ads that poke fun at the game’s overwrought fetish for themed rounds, all with a level of self-awareness you wouldn’t normally expect from the AFL.
Luke Hodge, for instance, waxes lyrical in his ad about his concern for when a fellow left-hander goes down injured – and his lack of interest when a right-hander does the same.
Travis Cloke somehow uses his left-handedness as an excuse for his goalkicking yips, and manages to get away with it.
Nick Dal Santo speaks of how playing in Lefty Round is his “grand final”.
At the end of his ad, Buddy – not quite but almost breaking the fourth wall – asks if the whole ‘Lefty Round’ thing is a joke.
The answer is yes, and it’s a timely one.
Even Ned Flanders and the Leftorium gets a mention. There’s hearty chuckles all round in Lefty Round.
Good on Fox Footy for thinking outside the square. It seemed like anything but at the start but Lefty Round has turned out a winner.
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