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‘The marquee game’, ‘the big stage’, ‘prime time’ – call it what you like, Friday night footy is the biggest time slot in the AFL. Unfortunately, however, it is reserved for the ‘the top sides’, ‘the heavyweights’.
The clubs you mainly see on a Friday night are Collingwood, Carlton, Hawthorn, Essendon and Geelong. These sides are gifted with regular Friday night games each season, while sides like St Kilda, North Melbourne, Richmond and a few interstate sides get to make occasional appearances.
However, sides like Melbourne, Western Bulldogs, Gold Coast, Port Adelaide and GWS are left out.
The AFL seems to think if sides are good enough they will be rewarded with the time slot, however if not, you will receive none.
Throughout season 2013, the bottom five sides from season 2012 have not and will not receive one game on Friday night.
It’s quiet insipid, how are bottom/developing sides going to make a name for themselves when they are not given the opportunity to be on the big Friday night stage?
They can’t be given at least one chance?
They will regularly get the Sunday twilights instead, and even if they do get the occasional Saturday night time slot, it is overshadowed by the other blockbuster.
Saturday night Round 14 this season we had the Melbourne Football Club going up against the Western Bulldogs at the MCG and just down the highway at Simonds Stadium we had The Geelong Cats taking on Fremantle.
Obviously the Cats-Dockers clash was be put on Channel Seven for everyone to see, while the Demons and Dogs were on pay TV for the ‘exclusive’ viewers.
What were the results? The Cats over the Dockers by 41 points, a distant margin which was quite one sided in a scrappy unexciting game, while at the ‘G’ we had Melbourne winning in a thriller by three points in a reasonable high scoring game.
It was a chance for two underdogs to make a name, and they did that, unfortunately it was overshadowed by Geelong and Fremanlte.
Moral of the story, give the underdogs a go throughout the season, we don’t want to see the same teams each week.
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