Someone at the Brisbane Lions must have broken two mirrors, as the club’s rotten run with luck continues into its 14th year, missing out on hosting the AFLW grand final.
In 2004, contract terms with the MCG saw the Lions cheated out of a home preliminary final that, on ladder positions, should have been rightfully theirs. And although the Lions fell over the line in that game at the MCG, the strain of back-to-back road trips took their toll as they ran out of legs in the next week’s grand final.
The Lions men’s side have been barely competitive since, only making the finals once in the subsequent 12 seasons. Luck has continually deserted them as recruit after recruit becomes injury-prone, scandal-plagued and homesick as soon as they are drafted.
And now it’s happened again. Despite finishing top of the ladder after an undefeated season, the Brisbane Lions will not be hosting the AFLW grand final.
Instead it will be played at Metricon Stadium. As a curtain-raiser to an AFL men’s game.
A game where the Gold Coast Suns, who don’t have an AFLW team, will have the hosting rights. Where, unlike the free entry that has been part of the AFLW model, tickets will have to be purchased at AFL men’s prices.
Suns members will sit in the prime seats, if they even bother to arrive before the AFLW grand final is over. Suns sponsors will be on the ground signage and sitting in the corporate boxes. With the AFLW game a before-thought, their fans almost invisible in isolated corners of the ground.
It shouldn’t have been that way.
In the football tab of The Roar last Friday, Mike Tuckerman wrote a piece that in part lamented the poor quality of surfaces that the Socceroos have to play on.
Among the comments, there was talk of the danger to the turf from having a Waratahs game at Allianz Stadium on the eve of a possible A-League grand final.
It’s not an ideal situation. The world game certainly is a better spectacle on a good-quality surface.
But at least the Socceroos still get to play. At least Sydney FC, should they qualify, will still get to play a home grand final.
But for our game, the Brisbane Lions AFLW team are denied even that.
The Gabba reportedly failed a ground inspection. The surface had been damaged by Adele concerts there.
But those concerts were weeks ago. Etihad Stadium and Adelaide Oval, which hosted Adele more recently, are fine to host AFL games this weekend. ANZ Stadium will be hosting NRL games.
The competence of the Gabba ground staff must be questioned.
But the most bizarre excuse for not wanting to host the AFLW grand final was that they’re worried about what effect it would have on the wicket for the Ashes Test.
That game isn’t until November! Eight whole months!
Ground surfaces have been dug up completely and re-turfed into pristine cricket conditions in barely a fraction of that time. That excuse fails any common-sense believability test.
Yes, I’m sure the Gabba wasn’t expecting to be asked to host the AFLW grand final. The Lions exceeded all expectations to finish top of the ladder.
Yes, it’s been wet.
But for any other stadium, the prestige of having this game would be enormous.
Sadly, Australian football doesn’t seem to be a priority for the people running the Gabba.
It’s a shame that the climax of the AFLW season has descended into such a farcical shambles. There’s been so much to celebrate about this season.
From the opening night lockout, we’ve seen some solid crowds. The media has been positive, and the standard of footy has improved as the season progressed.
There’s no shortage of players who, in the last few weeks, have developed into stars. Saturday night’s grand final will see the likes of Tayla Harris and Sabrina Frederick-Traub taking on the likes of Erin Phillips and Sarah ‘Tex’ Perkins – names that we’ve enjoyed seeing in action over the last two months.
It’s such a shame that, when the winner thanks the fans for their support, all you’ll see are red seats and the odd early-arriving apathetic Suns fan. While the fans are relegated to some invisible pocket up in the nosebleeds.
It shouldn’t have been this way.
Paul D
Roar Guru
Nemesis/Fussball seems convinced you are AR
northerner
Guest
Well, I have to confess, I've never bothered to set up an account so I guess I'm at fault on this one. In my own defense, I've never used any other identity, though. So, when I see individuals who've gone through four identities that I know of, and occasionally use two of those identities on the same thread, I kind of think making accounts obligatory is a waste of time unless The Roar is actually prepared to police it. Let's face it, the interwebz is a haven for trolls, and The Roar has its share, though its not by any means the worst website I've ever encountered. I do think the AFLW has brought out some real ugliness among a few: not sure why, but I guess weak people can feel threatened by change. Oh, and the cricket thread has caught the virus as well now. What is it with guys who can't deal with women earning a living playing sports?
Nathan
Guest
Interesting, While imagine that would be annoying if you were going to both, it answers the question of cost. Thanks Gyfox
TomC
Roar Guru
Two bits of good news: In two days time we have AFL to talk about. The anti-AFLW whingers aren't making headway, and the AFLW is surely here to stay.
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
Yeah, sorry my point about reputation made sense in my head when I typed it. Probably is a bit of a stupid argument in hindsight. You make sense though. It is a fine line between blatantly blocking their free speech, and allowing them to rubbish whatever they want, whenever they want, with a aspiration to seemingly annoy everyone else. Like you, I'd be in favour of a firmer line, but it would no doubt be difficult. This stuff is complicated, aye.
Judy
Guest
If the Gabba is run by the cricket club priorities why can't the AFL invest in our own ground for Brisbane and tell them to go jump. This was partly the problem years ago at Fitzroy [ Brunswick St ] The cricket club ruled the ground and the football club [Fitzroy ] I believe had no say. This competition is run by the AFL,the ruling body of football , with big money and if football is not wanted in Brisbane why are we there.?The girl 's football has been great to watch but I think the AFL really wanted Adelaide to finish on top so it could be played at their ground, with their supporters .We get allot of publicity for Adelaide , in Melbourne , not much at all for Brisbane. Our girls on a good day can beat any team on any ground .Good luck LIONS.
TomC
Roar Guru
I guess no one 'needs' to respect anyone's reputation, such as it is. I'm torn. I was quite sincere when I said that this handful of clowns really do serve a purpose; anyone who is in any doubt how difficult things are for women's sport only needs to read the comments section of this site. Every one of these posts reinforces to me how important competitions like the AFLW are. And the right to free speech is redundant without a forum to express yourself. I don't particularly want to make it harder for anyone to speak their mind, but I certainly don't believe anyone should be protected from criticism for what they say. But all the same there are obviously some people who come to this site for sports discussion whose main interest is the visceral thrill they get out of being unpleasant to people. The Roar would be better without them.
northerner
Guest
The AFL doesn't own the Gabba. No wonder it took you only 20 seconds to read the story. You didn't get past the headline.
I hate pies
Guest
No, the AFL doesn't.
northerner
Guest
No, the Gabba doesn't. Other folks, however, do care about it. Including quite a lot of women. I guess the Gabba doesn't care about women either. Unless, of course, they're Adele.
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
This is a great example of an issue that deserves widespread discussion and a range of views, but a small few are only interested in sabotaging that discussion. But, the Roar's ability to provide these folks the anonymity and throwaway accounts allow them to do this. They don't need to respect the "reputation" that you and me and Paul (and others) have, and they can do this over and over. Ironically enough I just got out of a lecture about identity and anonymity on the internet, so this is all in my mind.
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
Yeah, I'd prefer to see them require mandatory accounts. It's bull**** that anyone and everyone can come onto the site.
TomC
Roar Guru
I'd be in favour of a harder line, but I think the editors feel it would be against the principle of the site. This is a great example of an issue that deserves widespread discussion and a range of views, but a small few are only interested in sabotaging that discussion.
Paul D
Roar Guru
The Roar has only itself to blame - they want to promote discussion but allowing people to comment anonymously without needing to at least create an account and confirm it via email facilitates this sort of stuff Would love to see IP addresses of some posters. I think you'd be amazed how many sock puppet accounts are on this site.
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
Superbly well put, Tom.
TomC
Roar Guru
Wow. I can't help but feel that it's the same people who post this stuff under multiple usernames. It's really noticeable how some drift in, post something nasty about something they say doesn't interest them, and then disappear. Then a couple of weeks later someone else pops in and posts something nasty about something they say doesn't interest them. Anyway, whether or not it's a small or very small group of bigots, all it does is reinforce the need for more comps like this, and the need for them to be even more publicised than it has been. If we can't change their mind, then let's drown them out.
FARMER
Guest
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWN
mds1970
Roar Guru
I don't think the AFL expected Brisbane to finish top. Few people did. I certainly didn't - I did The Roar's live blogs for a few Lions games, and every time I tipped against them in the preview article but they got up. The AFLW season has been full of surprises; and has been bigger than the AFL expected or budgeted for. It's been a learning curve, and they didn't get this one right. But yet again it's the Brisbane Lions who cop the bad luck. They must be feeling cursed up there that they cop these sort of unlucky breaks all the time; as if someone's been pointing the bone at that club since the 2004 Prelim Final.
mds1970
Roar Guru
It's always a risk when you have a system of the highest qualifier getting a home Grand Final instead of a pre-determined Grand Final venue that the ground may not be available. If the venue has a definite booking offered to them, that will over-ride a tentative booking. Happened with the A-League at Etihad a couple of years ago, when a communication stuff-up saw an AFL game booked on A-League Grand Final day. In this case, there was no other event booked. But the Gabba refused a booking for the AFLW Grand Final.
I hate pies
Guest
I'm sure that 20 seconds wasn't a great impost.