It’s peak brunch time on Saturday morning in Hindley Street and you can’t get a seat inside Cafe Bang Bang.
That’s because some of the AFL’s biggest names have unintentionally gathered together (sorry!), occupying most of the tables on offer.
Carlton chief executive Brian Cook is having breakfast before he’s greeted by Collingwood counterpart Craig Kelly, who’s just placed a takeaway coffee order. Kelly will be able to watch his son, Jake, play for Essendon later in the day before seeing his Magpies take on the Saints on Sunday in the highly-anticipated conclusion to Gather Round.
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Cook and Kelly aren’t the only club bosses in the house. New Essendon chief executive Craig Vozzo is seated at a table with long-time West Coast integrity services manager Peter Staples. It’s been nearly four-and-half-months since the Bombers appointed former Eagles football boss Vozzo to lead the club’s administration.
Vozzo is then pleasantly surprised to see another familiar face walk into the cafe in Eagles star Tim Kelly, who greets him with a smile and firm handshake. Vozzo was central to West Coast’s trade negotiations with Geelong in 2019 as the club struck a deal for the midfielder.
Kelly also makes a beeline for Cook, who was Geelong’s chief executive during the midfielder’s brilliant two-season stint at Kardinia Park.
Four-time premiership Hawk and Fox Footy commentator Jordan Lewis is also standing outside the venue waiting for his hot beverage. He’s about to venture to Mt Barker for the historic North Melbourne-Brisbane game, while he’s also rostered on to cover the Power-Bulldogs clash for Fox later in the night.
“I’ve absolutely loved the week,” Lewis says.
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Andrew Dillon — potentially the AFL’s next chief executive — also drops in momentarily with jacket and notepad in hand. There also several club recruiters, who are in town to watch the AFL Academy take on Port Adelaide’s SANFL side in Adelaide Hills after the Lions-Kangaroos match.
And, of course, there are some fans wearing footy scarves and jumpers taking in the festival vibe. They are the heartbeat of the game and the concept.
This was a true, almost literal, interpretation of Gather Round. Players, officials and fans from all over the country mingling in the same place at the same time. The game has brought them together.
Footy fever was still at fever pitch outside Gate 20 at Adelaide airport on Sunday night, with all eyes on a big screen as the Giants-Hawks clash came to a thrilling conclusion. Passengers cheered, clapped, oohed, ahhed and cursed as they got swept up in the emotion of a tight finish – even through most wouldn’t have supported either club – with the Giants eventually holding on.
‘SOME OF THE BEST AFL DAYS EVER’
AFL boss Gillon McLachlan said last week the intention behind Gather Round was “bringing people together and celebrating the game and what it means and that connection”.
In that case, it was nothing short of a resounding success. McLachlan on Sunday night declared it’d been “some of the best days and events the AFL has ever delivered”.
All nine games were sold out – although there was some scepticism around the league trumpeting the ‘sellout’ term, considering there were lots of empty seats for the first games of both Adelaide Oval double-headers because one ticket got you entry to both games – with more than 220,000 fans attending matches across three venues.
The footy festival on the banks of Torrens was consistently heaving and humming. The array of activities on offer meant families were everywhere, with kids bouncing footballs and practising their marks. But there was also a place for the more seasoned fans, who proudly wore their colours without fear of ridicule by family members.
And the city of Adelaide was, in Crows coach Matthew Nicks’ words, “rocking” all week. Seemingly every second person you walked past was wearing a club jumper or scarf, or on their way to a game or an event.
The Gather Round branding was unapologetically blatant. The posters were in your face from the moment you stepped off the plane, then walking through Rundle Mall and across the famous footbridge to Adelaide Oval — a walk surely you could never get sick of.
This week, Adelaide was the centre of the footy universe as fans, clubs and players united from all over the country. More than 60,000 fans purchased tickets from interstate, according to the AFL.
“It feels like half of Australia’s population has descended on Adelaide … the joint is buzzing,” Hawthorn legend Jason Dunstall told Fox Footy.
While the South Australian government hasn’t yet calculated the full cash injection generated from Gather Round — early reports suggested an estimation of $85 million — Premier Peter Malinauskas said its “value” had been proven, highlighting the record hotel booking numbers.
“It has undoubtedly exceeded all our expectations and hopes,” the SA premier told reporters.
One AFL insider described Gather Round to foxfooty.com.au as “Grand Final week on steroids”. Yes the premiership cup wasn’t on the line – although the trophy did the promotional rounds – there were 18 teams, rather than two, in one city.
‘UNBELIEVABLE’ PLAYER REACTION
For the concept to work, it needed buy-in from fans, corporate partners, clubs and, crucially, players to work. Yes the players will be paid extra for the weekend – as the round was an addition to the 23-week hole and away season – but they needed to commit to it.
Foxfooty.com.au spoke to five players after their respective Gather Round games. All of them loved the experience.
“It’s actually been unbelievable,” Essendon ruck Andrew Phillips told foxfooty.com.au. “We flew in (on Friday) and just seeing the amount of supporters – and not just not just Adelaide people, the amount of people that have come in from interstate – it’s unbelievable.
“Driving in on the bus seeing along the waterfront, the zipline and everything going on, that was a big wake up to how big this weekend really is.
“Initially I thought it was going to be shared around and I was sort of all for that, sharing it around state by state. But I tell you what, Adelaide has put their case forward. It’s pretty impressive.”
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Glenelg product and Swans player Will Gould – who made his AFL debut on his home state – was proud to be South Australian.
“It’s so good to see so many people in the city … the hotels are full. It’s a pleasure to see the city buzzing,” he told foxfooty.com.au.
“We’ve just had the Fringe Festival and it sort of feels like that around the city.”
Port Adelaide star Connor Rozee said: “I think we’ve proved that South Australians love football, that’s for sure.”
“It’s pretty amazing for South Australia and hopefully we can keep it.”
And they will.
ONTO THE NEXT ONE… OR THREE
The AFL on Sunday confirmed it’d struck a deal with the SA state government that will see Gather Round held exclusively in the state for the next three seasons. Adelaide Oval — which by the way held up superbly across the weekend despite the, at time, torrential weather, hosting six of the nine matches — will remain the central venue, but the league said it intended to take matches to the Barossa/McClaren Vale region as early as 2024.
There will no doubt be some disappointed parties now Gather Round will remain in SA until 2026.
Lions coach Chris Fagan on Saturday pitched Queensland as an option, while North Melbourne’s Alastair Clarkson said it would be great to showcase the AFL “anywhere – Northern Territory, Tasmania, Queensland, WA”.
Swans coach John Longmire told reporters Gather Round would be “wonderful in Sydney”, adding: “We can’t rotate the Grand Final, but wouldn’t it be great to take this on the road? It’d be unreal.”
Triple premiership Cat and Giants football director Jimmy Bartel suggested on 3AW Football if the “goal” of the weekend was to increase awareness about the game and introduce it to new people, then “you have to move it around – and if you’re truly investing in New South Wales, well then the next one goes there”.
But the reality is South Australia “really turned it on”, to use McLachlan’s words, and nailed the brief. While McLachlan indicated the league had plans to eventually take Gather Round to other states, the concept needed to continue to be built in SA.
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What became clear as the round progressed was that, geographically, Adelaide made so much sense as its centrality made it easier for the footy world to descend on it.
“We love the fact that New South Wales and Queensland are growing the game for us, but coming to a football city in Adelaide and how much the local population have embraced the week – all the functions, all the pubs, all the hotels, everything has been set up perfectly to celebrate South Australia but also celebrate our great game – they have done a great job,” Fremantle legend Matthew Pavlich told Fox Footy.
“I’m a huge advocate for it being back here again next year. It’s just been perfect so far.”
LESSONS
There are, of course, some issues and questions for the AFL to ponder ahead of the 2024 version.
A strength of the NRL’s ‘Magic Round’ is that every game is played at the same venue, meaning fans have the option of attending every game.
In Gather Round this year, three venues were used and there were only two double-headers, so fans would’ve had to purchase seven separate tickets to watch all nine matches. And the tight turnaround between the Lions-Kangaroos clash in Mt Barker and the Bombers-Demons clash at Adelaide Oval on Saturday, as well as the crossover on Sunday with the Giants-Hawks match clashing with the Adelaide Oval double-header, meant you couldn’t have seen every minute of every match live, anyway. Unless, of course, you have Foxtel and/or Kayo.
The AFL can’t compete with the NRL in this space. The longer match times and consequent extra pressure on turf means having all games at one venue is unrealistic. Therefore, it mightn’t feel like a true ‘footy festival’ for any rusted-on fan.
The league said it plans to lock in the fixture dates of the 2024 round “in the coming weeks” so fans have ample time to organise travel and accommodation. They have an opportunity to schedule shrewdly and give footy lovers the best chance of seeing as many games live as possible.
But at the same time, it doesn’t seem to be a priority for the AFL, considering they want to take the matches regional and broadcasters won’t want significant time gaps between games.
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There’s also the potential challenge of getting the clubs and players on board again.
While the players embraced the concept wholeheartedly, the league said it would work closely with the AFL Players’ Association on the commitments to the players. Whether that’s an easy process remains to be seen.
And in an 18-team, 23-round (now seemingly 24-round) competition, how will clubs feel about the possibility of missing out on cash injections for big home games that will instead be in South Australia? For instance, a Friday night home game against Sydney at the MCG would’ve been a big boost for Richmond.
To try and make up for this, all 18 clubs were given $750,000 including an extra $500,000 in their salary caps – with players paid pro-rata based on their current contracts – thanks to the financial boon of the weekend.
Meanwhile some analysts have argued moving the Showdown to Gather Round would help negate the home ground advantage given to the Crows and Power by the extra weekend in SA.
Either way the momentum the AFL has generated across the past week is undeniable.
It was hard not to feel a touch flat boarding a flight home to Melbourne on Sunday night. You know the strange feeling when you watch the final episode of your favourite TV show and it sinks in there won’t be another season? That’s what it felt like.
Except there will be another Gather Round season. Many more, it seems.
By the way, highly recommend the veggie breakfast at Cafe Bang Bang.
