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Thank God for Jamie Elliot’s mark last Saturday night. The Collingwood forward launched himself skyward, drifting in from the side to hang over Geelong’s Jimmy Bartel in a classic pose that is unique to Australian football.
It happened in an instant, a fraction of a second out of the 18 or so hours of senior AFL football played over the weekend, but it highlighted so much about what is good about this game. In a way it restored faith in a sport which, at its highest level anyway, is being battered from all angles.
Even discounting the supplements scandal that has haunted the League for the past 18 months, a perception of poor decision making, stubbornness, and even arrogance continues to swirl around the highly paid administrators who have been entrusted with our game’s future.
It is a shame, as there is no doubt that Andrew Demetriou and company put in the time and effort expected of people in their positions. But they are holed up in their ivory towers, on salaries that not even the country’s best footballers can dream of, there is a real concern that the power brokers have lost contact with the ordinary fan.
One area of concern has been the introduction of variable pricing for matches where fans are expected to pay a premium for attending blockbuster or high-interest games. Another has been the scheduling of matches, especially those in unfriendly family time slots such as Thursday or Sunday nights.
It has been suggested that both issues could be contributing to crowds being lower than expected at some games. Demetriou’s reaction to that very question late last week was interesting, some would say typical, in that he refused to admit that there was a problem.
With a straight face he stated that people were in fact buying the tickets, but just not turning up on match day to use them. Really Andrew? Do we really look that silly?
Yes, there would be people who, for whatever reason, may not be able to use the tickets they have purchased, but are we really expected to believe that they run into the thousands, even the tens of thousands?
On the subject of scheduling, which has been something of a dog’s breakfast over the first three rounds, his underwhelming response was that the remaining Sunday night games will precede either public or school holidays.
That may be so, but it doesn’t cover the games that have already been played or the smattering of Thursday night games that litter the fixture.
The fourth game of the year, Carlton’s Round 1 Etihad stadium clash against Port Adelaide, was played on Sunday March 16, at 7:10 pm. It was followed, surprise, surprise, by an ordinary working day. It attracted just 24,460 fans, a poor showing for one of the League’s most well supported clubs.
And the Thursday night clash between Richmond and Carlton, which was used to kick off Round 2 rather than being the season opener as in time’s past, failed to garner the support and enthusiasm that it usually commands. While 62,037 through the gates is not a poor crowd, it is down substantially on past years.
Last Sunday’s Essendon versus Carlton showdown at the MCG attracted similar numbers. 62,730 watched the Bombers thrash the Blues, but the time slot cost it at least 10,000 spectators. Many of those missing fans would have been country based.
The games might finish at around the respectable time of 10:00pm, but when you factor in a couple of hours of travelling time for our regional friends, that becomes a late night, especially with work the next morning.
Throw in the added costs of travelling in the first place – whether by car or train – rising ticketing costs and exorbitant food pricing, and a day at the footy begins to place the weekly budget under enormous strain.
Those who doubt the impact that country supporters have on AFL attendances in Melbourne only need to hang around Southern Cross station on match day. Every regional line is filled to overflowing with footy fans.
Of course, we all know the reasoning behind the scheduling. It is all to do with the television coverage, which it must be said, is enjoyed by all footy fans. With the networks willing to pay many millions of dollars to broadcast the footy, it is only fair that they get to show the games when it best benefits them.
The AFL, and ultimately the clubs, benefit from the financial gain and added exposure that the television coverage gives them, but what will be the cost to the game in the long run?
Football will always attract people through its turnstyles – action as provided by Jamie Elliot will ensure that it is always so. But the game which was once proud to boast that it was ‘of the people, for the people’ has strayed from its roots, and if it is not careful will lose its lifeblood – the ordinary, everyday fan.
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