AFL yet to confirm women's final venue

That's exactly right. The Lions have never had any bargaining power when dealing with Stadiums Queensland. So the decisions made by that organisation tend to reflect whoever has political clout within Queensland, which seems to be Rugby League and cricket. So to carry on from my comments on the other page, let's make a noise! Let's demand answers! That's the only way I can see to change anything.

In answer to that I guess I would say that the Gabba has the Lions over a barrel because there's nowhere else the Lions can play except at the Gabba - Cricket Australia could schedule test matches elsewhere if the wicket was stuffed.

I'm not a groundsman but I know from experience turf cricket wickets are particularly delicate beasts. Turf experts said the ground wasn't safe to play on - whether that's a political decision or a horticultural decision I don't know. But I don't think standing there hand on hips and saying "it's bloody grass" is an overly scientific argument.

I don't believe AFL has ever been front of mind for the Gabba Trust or for Stadiums Queensland, and as a result when something gets neglected or stuffed up its likely to impact on AFL rather than any other sport. That's not assuming malevolence, nor does it assume those organisations talked to each other. Whether its a drop in pitch, unavailability of the surface during pre-season, charging extortionate rates for its facilities, or now the AFLW grand final, Stadiums Queensland clearly don't regard the AFL as a stakeholder they particularly need to accommodate.

Three weeks is still an awful lot of time to not be able to replace some grass. It's not like we're talking about some intricate and delicate operation, it's bloody grass.

Matthews has overlooked the fact Etihad stadium does not have a permanent cricket wicket square present. That is the real reason the Gabba is out of action. People are being far too harsh. There hadn't been an event like this held at the Gabba for years and years and I guess they assumed it would come up fine, or that the damage would not be as great. In hindsight it was a mistake but not a hanging offence, and grandstanding on twitter achieves nothing. It's exactly this sort of publicly unhelpful behavior that saw Matthews eased out of the Lions boardroom.

A tweet from Leigh Matthews sums it up pretty succinctly.

Adele at Etihad , OK for footy 1 week later , Adele at Gabba , unsafe for footy 3 weeks later, who is liable for the embarrasing stuff up ?

The use of the Gabba was a bit of an ambush from the promoters of this concert. Usually Suncorp gets these sort of events because of its better rail connections. I think you're seeing malevolence when in fact it's just disorganization. You assume stadiums queensland, BCC, the state government, the AFL, Cricket Australia & Kevin Mitchell Jr all talked to each other over the past few months. I think that's sublimely optimistic. I'd also add none of this would be an issue if the Gabba had a drop-in wicket. That's the real debate here.

The fact there is no gold coast team means most neutral fans will be on our bandwagon. I'll see how my Saturday goes. I would like to get down to see both games but real life sometimes gets in the way.

Stadiums Queensland has to be held to account for this. There has always been the possibility that the game would be held on this date in this city but the first we heard of the Gabba being unavailable was a week ago. The first AFL game at the Gabba is being held exactly seven days after the AFLW Grand Final. It's hard to believe that whatever was done to ensure the surface was playable for round 2 couldn't also have made the ground available for what is a pretty significant event. And if there was a danger that the Adele concert could impact on the Gabba's long-standing relationship with the Brisbane Lions, then presumably another venue could be found for a one-off music show. The Gabba is the least used of our major cricket grounds. It doesn't host AFL pre season games and only one AFL team plays there. Stadiums Queensland's purpose is to make sure these kinds of events can be held, and that's why they receive government funding and are allowed to operate as a virtual monopoly. That they can't hold a footy grand final in a city of two million people does not reflect well on their competence. The Brisbane Lions have always been seen by the Gabba as a second-class stakeholder. That must change.

Oops, this was supposed to be a reply to Paul.

You gonna head down for the game? I can't, though, see too many Gold Coast fans supporting the Lions women's team and then immediately switching back their support to the Gold Coast means team. Maybe I'm wrong though; there could be a greater Queensland footy comraderie than I assume.

They've just moved it to Metricon. Happy with that. Better for fans, not so good for the players, but that's ok with me. Ultimately this code is played for the fans and having both games at the same venue will be much easier. Should be a great afternoon/evening down there.

It’s a very sensitive issue up here. The decline of the WACA has left the Gabba as arguably the best wicket for pace bowlers in Australia and the cricket test crazies are preparing to die in a ditch if they talk about removing it. There’s even talk of lodging a heritage application similar to what old buildings have to protect it. The enduring crappiness of the Lions too has meant their political clout doesn’t carry much weight. I can see this coming to a head in about 7-8 years time when the underground crossrail link is completed with a station directly under the Gabba and the QLD government wants to use the stadium for more events similar to the Adele concert. Going to be an interesting debate.

Why in 2017 the GABBA doesn't have a drop in pitch is beyond me. Common Queensland get with the program!