AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan has given the strongest indication yet about the location of future Gather Rounds following the concept’s popular start.
All 18 clubs, fans and media have descended on Adelaide for the inaugural Gather Round, which sees nine games played in South Australia across four days.
The round kicked off on Thursday night, with home team Adelaide sending an ominous statement to the competition with a 56-point thumping of Carlton in front of 47,395 fans.
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McLachlan revealed to 3AW on Friday morning that the initial plan was to hold Gather Round in different parts of the country.
But after an incredible build-up and electric opening to the nine-game weekend, McLachlan suggested it would be tough to move the round away from Adelaide.
“If I’m direct, we anticipated moving it next year if it worked … but Adelaide just feels the right spot,” McLachlan told 3AW.
“One of the things that I guess we hadn’t contemplated – we knew about the city and the Adelaide Oval and the suburban venues and the accessibility – but the fact it’s in the middle of Australia and people can drive from Melbourne, you can get here from Perth pretty easily – there’s so many Western Australians here and people from everywhere – that’s an asset as well.
“I think there’s a pretty strong case to support that probably it’s got its roots down here and needs to be here for a while.”
The AFL on Friday morning announced all nine games had been sold out, with the last remaining tickets to the Swans-Tigers clash snapped up overnight.
Gill backs Adelaide in huge Gather Round | 02:52
McLachlan said over 60,000 people had flown into South Australia ahead of the footy festival.
“There’s a real charm and intimacy here. There’s a lot of football people in this town, all 18 teams and Adelaide has got that scale where people can get around and wander around … I think it’s why it’s a great location for this concept,” he said.
“There’s just 10s of 1000s of people here wandering around having a great time, enjoying their connection with the footy and their holidays with their family and their mates. It’s got a great feel.
“We couldn’t have asked for any more. I’m not sure we anticipated this.
“I think what we saw in it – which was actually just bringing people together and celebrating the game and what it means and that connection – I think it’s delivering on that and the numbers speak for themselves.”
McLachlan is expected to leave his position as AFL boss soon, however he stressed his departure depended on the process to find his replacement. Although, he said he could “see the finish line”.
“It’s playing out. The process with the replacement and the Commission is playing down to its last bit,” he said.
“I think we’ve been pretty clear from the start that the chairman’s keen for me to finish a couple of things. Tassie is the last thing on the agenda there.
“Footy is pumping and playing out going well – and I think that process is playing out in parallel pretty well.”
