The AFL has “only scratched the surface” of the Gather Round potential, according to AFL 360 co-host Gerard Whateley, who believes next year’s extravaganza should expand to five days.
The inaugural event, which saw the 18 clubs, their players and their fans descend on Adelaide for a nine-match round, has been widely regarded as a resounding success, with AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan on Sunday declared it “some of the best days and events the AFL has ever delivered”.
Speaking on Fox Footy’s AFL 360, Whateley on Monday night declared Gather Round was “one of the most powerful demonstrations of passion and the way that we engage with our game”, but added there were “questions and learnings” from the weekend as he put forward some suggestions for 2024.
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THE TRIUMPH OF THE WEEKEND
Both McLachlan and South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas said Gather Round wouldn’t have been so successful if fans hadn’t bought into the concept.
Whateley, who was in Adelaide for a week working for Fox Footy and SEN, said footy supporters “answered the call”.
“Above all else there is a splendid legacy here – to live through something for the first time that you know will outlast all of us,” he said
“My children‘s children will be going to Gather Round one day – and it’ll harp back to 2023 when the idea was first hatched in Adelaide.
“Having thought about it a lot, I think in the McLachlan years, this is the equal to anything that‘s happened in the men’s competition. To have something capture people to such a degree instantly and make sense.
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“The most important part was it was a demonstration of passion of the game – and it was everywhere. It was at the footy festival. We were there (on Sunday) and the line for Marcus Bontempelli’s autograph and the line for Sam Draper‘s photo – kids with all different guernseys – the footballers were the heroes, not just the allegiance to the club.”
Triple Coleman Medallist Jason Dunstall said Premier Malinauskas and his government deserved ample credit for the success after an “aggressive” bid, which saw the state and the AFL agree on a three-year deal to keep Gather Round in South Australia.
“They wanted this and they virtually demanded this and they did whatever it took to make it happen,” Dunstall told Fox Footy’s AFL 360.
“I think it‘s a pretty good partnership with the AFL. They’ve now got three more years and it’s only going to get bigger each year, I suspect.”
THE GROWTH POTENTIAL
The AFL only confirmed the 2023 Gather Round would take place in December last year, meaning the SA government had just over four months to prepare.
Whateley said all parties had done a tremendous job, but added the “growth potential is everywhere”.
“Think about Adelaide Oval. For the Test match, they set up the Village Green. There‘s clearly an AFL equivalent there – which already runs in Grand Final week, which is The September Club – I imagine that will be there,” he said.
“Norwood, the parade wasn‘t used to its full capacity. I think you would shut all of Norwood down and you can have any number of people and stalls in the street there.
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“The Barossa is obviously going to be a centrepiece. You can imagine one of the biggest wine festivals ever staged in South Australia in the Barossa with the centrepiece of a game to work around it. McLaren Vale is clearly in the mix in the years to come and somewhere like Glenelg has all the charm of Norwood.”
Dunstall, who covered the Fremantle-Gold Coast clash for Fox Footy, said the atmosphere was electric at Norwood Oval, but added the AFL should look at other SANFL club venues for future games.
AN EXTRA DAY?
The AFL said more than 60,000 fans from interstate purchased tickets to Gather Round, which saw matches played from Thursday to Sunday.
Whateley said it wouldn’t be an overstatement to suggest twice as many would travel next year.
The Fox Footy broadcaster suggested the round could start on a Wednesday, which would alleviate the need for a double-header or any crossover of matches on a Sunday. The potential fixture could be:
— One match on Wednesday night
— One match on Thursday night
— Two matches on Friday night
— Three matches on Saturday
— Two matches on Sunday
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“Test matches – and this is what Adelaide does so well – they run theoretically over five days. I wondered whether you might start on a Wednesday to move people through the city, get the extra night,” Whateley said.
“Maybe the first sets of families start to arrive on a Monday, start the round on a Wednesday, you’ve got your Thursday, Friday double-header – it takes a little bit of pressure out of those weekend games and the double-headers … and then you still bring it to its conclusion in the Sunday twilight.”
Asked how the league would manage the day-break lengths between games with the AFL Players’ Association, Whateley said: “The new CBA should do that. It should mandate, to some degree, a five-day break. And that‘s been a sticking point.
“I think you treat it a little bit like Anzac Day. You go: ‘There is going to be a short break, but we‘re going to ask you to manage, knowing that there’s a long break in the aftermath of it.’
“I think that‘s a possibility, because accommodation is going to be at an absolute premium with all the travel.”
DO WE NEED DOUBLE-HEADERS?
There were two Adelaide Oval double-headers across Gather Round.
Essendon and Melbourne played in the Saturday twilight slot before Port Adelaide hosted the Western Bulldogs at night.
On Sunday, Geelong and the West Coast Eagles kicked off the day, before Collingwood and St Kilda met in the highly-anticipated Sunday twilight match. In between those two clashes was the Giants-Hawks game at Norwood Oval.
Whateley said that must be tweaked next year.
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“We wouldn‘t do two double-headers and we certainly wouldn’t do a double-header with one of the Adelaide teams,” Whateley said. “The Bulldogs-Port game didn’t need to be part of a double-header.
“I suspect there does need to be one (double-header), but there probably has to be a sophistication in the ticket selling of that. Do you want to go to a double-header? Do you want to go to the first and you‘re happy to trade off your ticket to the second for somebody else or the other way around? I don’t know (if it’s feasible) … Our ticket agencies aren’t that nimble.
“I think there are a lot of people who really enjoyed the Sunday double-header, but equally some Geelong and West Coast fans left and some St Kilda and Collingwood fans arrived late, so you had patches of the stadium that were empty. Whereas if all 44,000 had been there at once, it‘d have been brilliant.”
THE SA ADVANTAGE
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.
Eagles football boss Gavin Bell also confirmed to The West Australian his club would be “seeking and asking for an additional home game in Perth” due to the Gather Round commitment in Adelaide for the next three years.
Whateley said playing a Showdown in Gather Round made little sense.
“I think this is the Victorian-centric thinking that drives South Australians mad,” he said.
“So the economics of Gather Round are completely different to a home and away game in the box office, the ticket sales. The biggest cash grab for the South Australian clubs is their home Showdown, so if you put one in to Gather Round, that has enormous fiscal consequences. In fact, it simply can‘t be done.
“The other part is that when the Crows host their Showdown, very few Port fans get in and when the Port fans host their Showdown, fewer Crows fans get in. So you‘re actually excluding some of the locals from being able to go and support their team during Gather Round.
“As for the fairness aspect, I would say, to channel a South Australian: ‘If you sought out Victorian teams travelling six times against us travelling 10 times, then I‘ll talk to you about Gather Round.
“I do think that‘s just overly simplistic thinking and it’s not necessary. In fact, I think you would waste a Showdown in Gather Round as you want the Crows and the Power with a big drawing team with them to maximise ticket (sales). That’d be the two biggest crowds traditionally there.”
Whateley said this year’s Friday night fixture, which saw Fremantle and Gold Coast clash at Norwood Oval in a twilight clash before Sydney and Richmond met at Adelaide Oval, was ideal.
“The school holiday early start into a game that was just ever so slightly later – that worked from five o‘clock to 11 o’clock to be transfixed by footy – and so many people were,” he said.
“The games are probably too long to make it a regular thing like the NRL does – their timeframe of the game suits perfectly. But there is something about the Friday night double-header that, from time to time, works.”
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Whateley also suggested a non-SA team should never play the Crows or Power twice in the four-year Gather Round.
That would mean Carlton – who kicked off Gather Round with a clash against Adelaide – and the Western Bulldogs – who played Port Adelaide – wouldn’t face an SA-based club in Gather Round for the next three seasons.
THE STATES THAT MISSED OUT
The Gather Round commitment to SA for another three years has robbed other states of hosting the event in the short-term.
Whateley said there was “discord in Western Australia”, while Swans coach John Longmire and Brisbane coach Chris Fagan also lobbied for Gather Round to be held in Sydney and south-east Queensland respectively.
“I know the headlines read amazingly well and we‘re talking big dollars and it’s a two-way street, the tourism impact there in South Australia is enormous,” Dunstall said.
“To tie it up for four years, I kind of thought it might’ve been a two-year thing and then: ‘Let‘s test the waters, let’s have the let the other governments see what’s going on here and maybe grow this even bigger and perhaps spread it around a little bit.’”
Asked if he was surprised the AFL struck a three-year Gather Round extension with the SA government, Whateley said: “I think it was staged so brilliantly first up and it is so natural to Adelaide that I thought they would lock it for two and they ended up locking it for three, so it becomes a four-year block. Then it will be fully revealed and fully exposed and it should be a pretty powerful force to go to market.
“There are those who are close to the bidding initially who are surprised that it was locked away. But that was the power of what Adelaide was able to do.”
