The Roar
The Roar

Advertisement

Opinion

The A-Leagues are on fire, so how do we get more people to watch?

13th February, 2022
Advertisement
Autoplay in... 6 (Cancel)
Up Next No more videos! Playlist is empty -
Replay
Cancel
Next
Expert
13th February, 2022
133
2461 Reads

When Henry Hore bundled home the scrappiest goal of the round in Brisbane Roar’s 3-1 win over Macarthur, he set the seal on what was one of the most entertaining weeks all season.

Warren Moon’s underrated Roar side took barely 60 seconds to open the scoring against the Bulls, with Jay O’Shea’s defence-splitting pass allowing Nikola Mileusnic to round Filip Kurto and open the scoring in Redcliffe.

The Roar could have been three or four up by halftime had they not been so wasteful in front of goal, and it took a decent cross from 200-game veteran Jack Hingert to ease the hosts’ nerves when the Bulls failed to clear their lines and saw Corey Brown rattle home in response.

Even then the Roar still couldn’t quite put the game to bed, and it was only when young attacker Hore added an unsightly third on the back of Adrian Mariappa’s unmarked header that the locals knew they were heading home happy.

(Photo by Jono Searle/Getty Images)

So what did we learn from the Roar’s third win in five home games this season? Surely one recurring theme this season is that a lot of the social media critics who bag teams like Brisbane Roar never actually watch them play.

The campaign started with plenty of Sydney-based observers claiming Ante Milicic was the coach to watch, but it was Moon who had all the answers for a Roar side for whom new Japanese striker Ryo Wada is waiting in the wings.

The Roar game kicked off before Central Coast’s clash with Perth Glory had been completed, meaning plenty of us missed Daniel Stynes’s stoppage-time equaliser for Perth in the 1-1 draw in Gosford.

Advertisement

Sports opinion delivered daily 

   

Let’s dispel another false notion that has popped up on social media throughout the season – that playing A-League games at the same time is no accident.

Just like taking drinks breaks in torrential rain, the whole point of simultaneous kick-offs is for TV, since it forces viewers – at least in the case of Saturday nights – to take out a Paramount+ subscription if their team is not playing in the free-to-air game on Channel Ten.

And judging by the reported ratings, not a whole lot of people are watching those games on free-to-air anyway.

It’s a shame Saturday night’s affair between Sydney FC and Western United was played in such a torrential downpour, even if it showcased the full limitations of open-air Kogarah.

Completion of the new Sydney Football Stadium can’t come quickly enough for the Sky Blues, who are starting to suffer the same dwindling attendances that plagued the Western Sydney Wanderers towards the back end of their long and frustrating stint in Homebush.

Advertisement

Now the Wanderers have attendance issues of their own at CommBank Stadium and although Mark Rudan has tightened them up considerably since signing on as coach, they were no match for a rampant Melbourne City in their 3-1 win on Friday night.

The much-maligned Mat Leckie bagged a brace in his finest performance of the season, but it was Frenchman Florin Berenguer who scored the goal of the game with an absolute belter for City’s third.

Yet it wasn’t even the goal of the round. That accolade belongs to a Macarthur player, although whether Tommy Oar or Craig Noone scored the better volley is a matter for debate.

The Mariners’ 3-3 draw with the Bulls on Thursday night was the sort of exhilarating encounter that deserved to be seen by a much larger audience.

And with the likes of Oar and Noone, Leckie, Mileusnic and Berenguer all scoring great goals – to say nothing of new cult hero Jason Cummings – there’s no shortage of quality on show in the A-League Men.

The trick seems to be getting anyone to watch it. Like the recently completed Big Bash League, the A-Leagues seems to be suffering from fixture fatigue, which is a shame, because the past week yielded the best football we’ve seen all season.

Advertisement

We’ve got more content than ever. All we need now is for a few more people to watch it.

close