Social media is blowing up after Damien Barrett’s latest thought bubble, with the veteran journalist now suggesting that the Showdown between Adelaide and Port Adelaide should be played in Melbourne.
At the end of Tuesday’s Access All Areas that Barrett hosts alongside Nat Edwards and Matthew Lloyd for AFL.com.au, the trio addressed the ongoing debate around the fixturing for one of the biggest clashes in football.
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“Damo, should the Showdown be given the marquee timeslot on Friday night football every year?” asked Essendon legend Lloyd.
“Oh, absolutely,” replied Barrett.
“I’ve been saying this for a couple of years, and I know it’s a minority view, but I feel bring it to Melbourne,” he said.
“Not just to make it a top Friday night timeslot, but bring it to Melbourne, the MCG.
“The entire competition’s coming to Adelaide in Round 5, if you schedule that game, if you don’t say MCG, let’s go with Marvel Stadium, you fill it.”
The idea was met with derision from co-host Nat Edwards.
“What? No!” said Edwards.
“Adelaide Oval is amazing, the atmosphere there, to watch a Showdown.”
“You’ve got to grow the game,” Barrett said.
“They’re two South Australian teams!” an incredulous Edwards replied.
“You’re going to upset a lot of South Australians,” she said.
Edwards turned out to have plenty of support, with proverbial steam coming out of the ears of South Australian footy fans.
Crows supporter Twitter account @CamryCrowback called it a “mind boggling Victorian take”, while proud South Australian and journalist Daniel Brettig said “burn it down”.
“We haven’t seen paternalism like this since Kitchener,” Brettig wrote.
“The Melbourne man’s burden.”
Nick Harris said it was a “tale as old as the League itself”.
“Victorians see something profitable in football they don’t have and want it for themselves,” he said.
“It’s not the Grand Prix, you can’t just take it,” said Nathan Glennie, referring to the shift of the Formula One Australian Grand Prix in 1996 from Adelaide to Melbourne.
Darren Murphy called it “the worst take in Australian football history.”
“Not even an AI engine could have come up with something like this,” he said.
Another Twitter account said it was the “most insane footy take anyone has ever had.”
“Any Victorian want to understand the frustration with AFL media around the rest of the country? Here it is. In pure form.”
Another echoed Barrett’s trademark Sliding Doors column, saying “IF this is the stupidest idea you’ve ever heard, THEN obviously, it came from Damian Barrett.”
Supercars journalist James Pavey quote-tweeted the clip: “tonight, on Planet Melbourne”.
AFL Tasmania historian David Ingram said it was “an early clubhouse leader for the ‘Dumbest S**t Said By An AFL Journo in 2023’ award.
“It’s not a ‘minority view’, it’s a view of one and it’s mind-blowingly stupid.
“The only reason a Showdown should ever be brought to Melbourne is for a Crows vs. Power Grand Final.”
Hobart-based Seven reporter John Hunt joked it would be okay, “only if Collingwood and Essendon play on ANZAC Day in Adelaide or the Grand Final gets played in Adelaide.”
Brisbane-based Seven reporter Ned Balme joked “while we’re at it, Collingwood vs Essendon on ANZAC Day should be in Launceston.”
The suggestion was roundly criticised as being a product of a perceived bias in football media towards Victoria, as the original state of Australian rules football and the biggest state for the code.
Port Adelaide great Kane Cornes came out last year to call out the bias, saying “anyone who says it’s not the best rivalry in the game I think is certainly (showing) Victorian bias” on SEN SA.
“They’re a little bit threatened by the rivalry between these two teams, and when you look at the history across 51 games and 20-odd years of what has gone on behind these two and the way they continue to deliver in these games, there’s no comparison behind it,” he said.
