Speaker 1: Here at Two Good Sports.
Speaker 2: We would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the
Speaker 2: land on which we record this podcast. There were innerie people.
Speaker 2: This land was never seated, always was always will be
Speaker 2: Hello and welcome to two Good Sports.
Speaker 3: In a week in the sporting landscape, that kind of
Speaker 3: feels like those days between Christmas and New Year.
Speaker 4: You don't know what day it is. It's been a
Speaker 4: wonderful time.
Speaker 3: There's leftover food in the fridge because we have had
Speaker 3: the AFL Grand Final and there is a gap to
Speaker 3: the NRL Grand Final, but it is just a sporting
Speaker 3: smagert sport and joining us on the show this.
Speaker 4: Week Laura Spallway again, Laura are you going.
Speaker 1: I'm good, jeez, I'm a bit tired from the weekend.
Speaker 4: A bit tired too. It fits a marathon, isn't it.
Speaker 1: It is.
Speaker 3: It's a long season. It comes to this point. It
Speaker 3: culminates in this Grand Final, which should have been a
Speaker 3: bit tighter. I feel, however, here we are, We've made
Speaker 3: it through another year. I feel like the swansa be
Speaker 3: a bit tired too. It was pretty anticlimactic, I think
Speaker 3: to last year with the NRL Grand Final. If you
Speaker 3: were to show someone a game and go this is
Speaker 3: our sport. This is why it's drama and you love it.
Speaker 3: They had the perfect showcase and so do we a
Speaker 3: four point result in the AFL. But then it comes
Speaker 3: to this year and you're sort of like, do we
Speaker 3: need a mercy rule? That need to get to three
Speaker 3: quarter time where you can go And unfortunately for the
Speaker 3: Swans that's twice in three years that they've probably got
Speaker 3: three quarter time and said if we could press a
Speaker 3: button and go home, we probably would. It would have
Speaker 3: been so painful playing that game out with the result
Speaker 3: that we had. However, credit to the Brisbane lines, there's
Speaker 3: a very credit to the boy very happy Georgie Tunny
Speaker 3: somewhere somewhere. So she has messaged me somewhere from the
Speaker 3: Italian Mediterranean, essentially saying could there be a more Georgie
Speaker 3: coded week that I'm not here for? Brisbane have won
Speaker 3: it is the NRL Grand Final. I could he rubbish
Speaker 3: on the Panthers and I unfortunately am in Lake Como
Speaker 3: and I'm like, you're really sorry for you, So hello, George.
Speaker 3: Sounds like having a terrible, terrible time, but we need
Speaker 3: to get into our good sports, bad sport and I'm
Speaker 3: gonna start off with a good sport that probably suits
Speaker 3: the way that we talk about sports news and being
Speaker 3: told a little bit differently. Katie Perry, she gave it
Speaker 3: everything this week. No PR machine has worked harder.
Speaker 1: She did a great job.
Speaker 3: And I know there's been a lot of conversation about
Speaker 3: how much she may have been paid, the hypothetical figure
Speaker 3: we've heard his five million.
Speaker 4: Dollars, five million dollars for seventeen minutes.
Speaker 1: But it wasn't just the seventeen minutes.
Speaker 3: Was it all the pre promotion, She plugged the Tasmanian team,
Speaker 3: she got the messaging from the AFL down pat.
Speaker 1: I thought she did a great job.
Speaker 3: She referred to the footy as a Sharon, which was amazing, amazing.
Speaker 3: Even had a chat being like, oh poor Oscar and
Speaker 3: his shoulder. Didn't that look terrible? And I just went,
Speaker 3: you know what. And I had the privilege of last
Speaker 3: year I did the Kiss press conference, so I sort
Speaker 3: of got a bit of an experience of them. But
Speaker 3: I guess the benchmark was set with Robbie Williams, wasn't it.
Speaker 4: He's the best pre match entertainment we've ever had.
Speaker 3: And again I was lucky enough to interview Robbie in
Speaker 3: the lead up and it was very uh shall I say, sterile.
Speaker 3: And this wasn't during COVID, but it was. He sat
Speaker 3: two meters away sort of you had your seven minutes
Speaker 3: with him, and he sort of knew a little bit
Speaker 3: about footy. We know now that he's the Carlton ambassador
Speaker 3: to the world, but he certainly hadn't lent into it
Speaker 3: the way that.
Speaker 4: We saw Katie do it this week.
Speaker 1: She was great.
Speaker 3: I think she's worth the money, I really do. She
Speaker 3: embraced it while she was here. She seemed enthusiastic at
Speaker 3: every opportunity. Maybe when you get a five million dollar paycheck,
Speaker 3: that gives you more pep in your step. Is there
Speaker 3: any sporting league in the world where someone who comes
Speaker 3: as the pre show entertainment earns that much more than
Speaker 3: what the best player in the league does annually?
Speaker 1: I mean, for one show super Bowl?
Speaker 4: Do you reckon though, oh Patrick Mahomes it out earned whatever.
Speaker 1: Their paying I suppose that's fair.
Speaker 4: Surely, surely.
Speaker 3: But what I will say is I was lucky enough
Speaker 3: to be at the ground and because so much of
Speaker 3: that show was built around the television spectacle, myself and
Speaker 3: Beck Madam we Err and I was like, was that good?
Speaker 4: I don't know if that was good, but the.
Speaker 3: Overwhelming response from home was that it was amazing, amazing.
Speaker 3: I did have one friend who I will not name,
Speaker 3: message me and say was that hologram stuff just for
Speaker 3: the TV?
Speaker 4: And I replied, yes, yeah, babe, Yeah it was yes.
Speaker 1: I couldn't see the CGI at the stadium.
Speaker 3: Oh we all have that one mate where you're like, oh,
Speaker 3: you're right, Ah, you're right. But we have been speaking
Speaker 3: so much about AFL. But it's a massive week for NRL.
Speaker 3: It is, so I'm going to throw the Melbourne Storm
Speaker 3: in there for the good sport as well.
Speaker 4: Should be.
Speaker 3: They've had an incredible year Minor premiers. They're coming up
Speaker 3: against an absolute dynasty in the NRL at the moment
Speaker 3: in the Penrith Panthers. Yeah, this is their fifth consecutive
Speaker 3: Grand Final. They are the benchmark in the rugby league
Speaker 3: in Australia at the moment. They've got a gun in
Speaker 3: Nathan Cleary who is twenty six years old and has
Speaker 3: already he stamped himself as a future immortal in the game.
Speaker 1: His dad's the coach.
Speaker 3: It's just really nice to have a co host that
Speaker 3: can say the Panthers without going oh, I think they've
Speaker 3: just got Georgie actually has a physical response. I feel
Speaker 3: where she's coming from, and I think you've just got
Speaker 3: to respect how good they've been.
Speaker 1: But this is why it is time for someone else.
Speaker 4: You think, But the Storm aren't new.
Speaker 1: They're not news, they're not new.
Speaker 3: They're so successful, so successful their coach Craig Bellamy, it's
Speaker 3: his tenth Grand Final. Yeah, the man's record I think
Speaker 3: is unmatched in any code in Australia.
Speaker 1: He is unbelievable. They've got a great team as well.
Speaker 3: They've just had their open press day, so we've come
Speaker 3: from talking to them.
Speaker 1: They're in a great headspace. Sunday nights the big battle.
Speaker 3: They've got to go to Sydney to do it, which
Speaker 3: is fitting when we talk about our subject matter today
Speaker 3: of where we play these big games.
Speaker 1: But to me, I wish them all the best.
Speaker 3: They've had a great I like it when we shake
Speaker 3: up the premieres, let's see someone new. Let's just hope
Speaker 3: they can battle to be somewhere in the back pages,
Speaker 3: because as we mentioned, they are such a successful team.
Speaker 3: But to try to get interes during this week in
Speaker 3: the paper that are about anything other than AFL.
Speaker 4: They are pushing it uphill. But Melbourne Storm couldn't have
Speaker 4: been more successful.
Speaker 3: And that's why strategically I think they've separated the Grand Finals. Yes,
Speaker 3: you shouldn't because happening them both in a weekend, well,
Speaker 3: it's a bit of a waste really, like if you
Speaker 3: want to be able to celebrate the occasion separately. They
Speaker 3: do have different audiences, but we're seeing more of that crossover,
Speaker 3: I think absolutely. You mentioned the fact that, of course
Speaker 3: the NRL Grand Final is in Sydney, it's always in
Speaker 3: Sydney in the same world that the AFL Grand Final
Speaker 3: is always on the hallow turf of the MCG. But
Speaker 3: should that just inherently be the case? Is that fair
Speaker 3: and is that what we're going to see going forward.
Speaker 3: That's our deep dive of coming up. Growing up as
Speaker 3: a sports lover in Australia, there was no pinnacle higher
Speaker 3: than the thought of going to watch anything at the
Speaker 3: Melbourne Cricket Ground. This is a stadium that was built
Speaker 3: in eighteen fifty three. Given Australia's history, there are not
Speaker 3: many things in our dear country that has that much
Speaker 3: history and gravitas, it is special. So, Laura, I'm going
Speaker 3: to start our discussion today by saying, do you remember
Speaker 3: the first time you went to the MCG.
Speaker 4: Yes, I do.
Speaker 3: And I grew up in New South Wales. I grew
Speaker 3: up with rugby league. I grew up not knowing the
Speaker 3: experience of the MCG. And the first time I went,
Speaker 3: which was for a regular home and away AFL game,
Speaker 3: I could not believe, first of all, the size of
Speaker 3: the venue. I could not believe the number of people
Speaker 3: that turned up for a game that had no consequence
Speaker 3: on finals or anything like that. And it was just
Speaker 3: this moment, as someone who's always loved sport, where I
Speaker 3: just went, what is this place? This is unlike anything
Speaker 3: I've ever seen. It's a different feeling. It's not just
Speaker 3: how big it is, it's a different feeling when you
Speaker 3: go in there. The way that it's constructed is you know,
Speaker 3: you're so close to the action and you're so high,
Speaker 3: but you've got such a great view and you look
Speaker 3: around and there's I think at that time it was
Speaker 3: eighty five thousand people, but on the weekend just gone
Speaker 3: we've seen one hundred thousand people in there, so yes,
Speaker 3: I do remember it, and being from Sydney originally, it's
Speaker 3: tough to say to people, Okay, there's nothing like the MCG,
Speaker 3: because I constantly then hear from everyone back home like.
Speaker 1: What's happened to you? Where have you gone? But I
Speaker 1: do remember it. Do you remember it?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 3: And at the risk of offending those that are religious,
Speaker 3: it's almost spiritual. There's something about it that feels larger
Speaker 3: than life. And again I realized that in terms of
Speaker 3: world stadiums, we're probably a minno, but there is something
Speaker 3: about the MCG and the history. And you know, I
Speaker 3: grew up in Perth and we came over and did
Speaker 3: the tour of the MCG when I think I would
Speaker 3: have been no older than ten, and I've got photos
Speaker 3: of me like there with my little jacket and going
Speaker 3: through the sports museum and I just remember thinking, well,
Speaker 3: I stole some of the grass, is point one. I
Speaker 3: remember putting some of the grass in my sock and
Speaker 3: wanting to get Lord knows where that's gone.
Speaker 4: But it was just it was this other.
Speaker 3: Worldly colosseum and the scale of it, as you said,
Speaker 3: is something that just put me in awe and again
Speaker 3: on the weekend, as you mentioned, we had an AFL
Speaker 3: Grand Final where there was a six figure crowd. There
Speaker 3: was one hundred thousand and thirteen people in a stadium
Speaker 3: with a capacity of one hundred thy twenty four, so
Speaker 3: it was packed to the rafters. But the two teams
Speaker 3: doing battle in Brisbane and the Swans obviously are from interstate,
Speaker 3: so it was really a state of origin game happening
Speaker 3: in Melbourne. And it begs the question, and it begs
Speaker 3: the question every year about the fairness of whether or
Speaker 3: not you should just inherently have the big dance, the
Speaker 3: AFL Grand Final held at the MCG. And there's a
Speaker 3: lot of different arguments to this, some of them financial,
Speaker 3: others in does it not give you the opportunity to
Speaker 3: grow the game in different markets, But also for me,
Speaker 3: it's just the romanticism of the fact that even these players,
Speaker 3: and you could ask them for Brisbane or for the Swans,
Speaker 3: would have grown up dreaming of being at the MCG
Speaker 3: on the last Saturday September.
Speaker 4: Yes.
Speaker 3: So I was with the Brisbane Lions yesterday and Chris Fagan,
Speaker 3: the coach of the Brisbane Lions, actually said we'd love
Speaker 3: to play them more. Yes, because their home grounds in Brisbane,
Speaker 3: and obviously being an interstate team you don't get that
Speaker 3: exposure to the MCG during the season, but he said,
Speaker 3: we'd love to play there more.
Speaker 1: Everyone loves playing at the MCG.
Speaker 3: The support you get there, the crowds you get there,
Speaker 3: the atmosphere.
Speaker 1: It's hard to emulate that anywhere else.
Speaker 3: And we've seen that with some of the other finals
Speaker 3: games this season where we speak of the GWS game
Speaker 3: where the crowd was negligible, so I think it was
Speaker 3: about seventeen thousand in a stadium that does hold.
Speaker 4: I mean, you just.
Speaker 3: Remember a Mason Cox at the start of the year
Speaker 3: being like, is this a showground? Are they going to
Speaker 3: be cows? Is there a petting zoo? Like he was
Speaker 3: really taking the mickey because they had a maximum capacity
Speaker 3: of twenty three thousand, And look, you can have a
Speaker 3: great experience in a smaller arena as well, rely.
Speaker 4: But you've got to have those impassion fans yep that
Speaker 4: carry it.
Speaker 3: So outside of a few exceptions, the MCG has hosted
Speaker 3: nearly every AFL Grand Final. There have been only eleven
Speaker 3: occasions when other venues were used. And when you think
Speaker 3: in recent history, you're thinking about the fact there was
Speaker 3: one opt To Stadium COVID and then we're also thinking
Speaker 3: about the Gabba COVID, and they're really difficult I guess
Speaker 3: examples for us to compare the pair, because not everyone
Speaker 3: wanted to go to a stadium when there was a plague,
Speaker 3: and also that there was distancing and you didn't allow
Speaker 3: home fans to travel, so you couldn't get into wa
Speaker 3: And famously there are a few restauranteurs that still found
Speaker 3: their way in and then found their way to jail
Speaker 3: for Melbourne in order to go to OPTAs Stadium. But
Speaker 3: you couldn't have that traveling pack of fans to show
Speaker 3: their support, which also is what we've sort of seen
Speaker 3: with gather Around, right, is that everyone travels to Adelaide
Speaker 3: and what that does for tourism and sport in the state.
Speaker 3: So I think what they're trying to do by putting
Speaker 3: something like gather Around on and making opening round, opening round,
Speaker 3: let's let's leave that. Let's see if that reads its
Speaker 3: head again next year. Look. What they're trying to do, though,
Speaker 3: is create these occasions in other states.
Speaker 1: Yes, because the game is growing, and.
Speaker 3: When you think about occasions like things like like the
Speaker 3: ANZAC Day Game, MCG, King's Birthday, Big Freeze MCG. So
Speaker 3: those bigger events are still held at the home of football.
Speaker 3: That makes sense to me because they involve Victorian clubs totally.
Speaker 3: And I think you know, there's been this argument around
Speaker 3: the finals games and being able to host those games
Speaker 3: if you're into state to get somewhat of an advantage,
Speaker 3: But that's not happening in Melbourne with the teams here
Speaker 3: that are making the finals, is it that's automatically gone?
Speaker 3: All right, We're going to have them at the MCG
Speaker 3: as well, which is where the commercial argument comes into it,
Speaker 3: I think, and those big clubs like Collingwood and Richmond
Speaker 3: that play their home games at the MCG have an
Speaker 3: undeniable advantage. The other thing is that we need to
Speaker 3: highlight here.
Speaker 4: Let's be real.
Speaker 3: The AFL's current contract with the Melbourne Cricket Club is
Speaker 3: locked in until twenty fifty nine. But is that a
Speaker 3: contract allah player contracts that seem to mean nothing at
Speaker 3: the moment, or is that a contract that we are
Speaker 3: seeing some leaders from other clubs and Ely Sidney saying
Speaker 3: how fair is this? Dom Mongmeia always puts a slide
Speaker 3: comment in there just being like, oh yeah, because that's
Speaker 3: not an advantage playing at the MCG all the time.
Speaker 1: It is an advantage. It has to be and that's
Speaker 1: the thing. You can't really argue with that.
Speaker 3: And you talk about Collingwood being one of the big clubs,
Speaker 3: and I think it was they played seventeen, sixteen or
Speaker 3: seventeen of their games there this year. Like, that's a
Speaker 3: huge number of games to have on your home turf,
Speaker 3: And especially when you have games like Anzac Day that
Speaker 3: are locked in in the fixture of being a team
Speaker 3: like Collingwood, you have the experience of running out in
Speaker 3: front of a near capacity crowd of one hundred thousand
Speaker 3: people screaming if you come from any of the other clubs.
Speaker 3: And also that as an appeal for players to want
Speaker 3: to be traded to your club to have that experience
Speaker 3: locked in. And I think the thing is a lot
Speaker 3: of people look at that and go, oh, I really
Speaker 3: envy clubs like Collingwood. I really envy clubs like you know,
Speaker 3: Richmond or Carlton who have these fixtures locked in. No,
Speaker 3: they're going to get to play those games. No, they're
Speaker 3: going to get those crowds. So even when we look
Speaker 3: back to the final between the Western Bulldogs and Hawthorne
Speaker 3: which was at the MCG because it was the only
Speaker 3: all Victorian finals.
Speaker 4: So not a Grand Final, just a final, just a final.
Speaker 3: The Western Bulldogs their home ground is another stadium that
Speaker 3: holds around fifty thousand people. They were the home side,
Speaker 3: but that was held at the MCG, which is not
Speaker 3: a rule that's enforced in other states. That's not what
Speaker 3: we see in Sydney, right. But I think being here
Speaker 3: and having access to the MCG, you just have to
Speaker 3: accept that that's where the AFL wants to play these
Speaker 3: big games because you're going to get double the crowd,
Speaker 3: They're going to make a lot of money, and hey,
Speaker 3: this is a commercial exercise. It is a commercial exercise.
Speaker 3: And when you talk about those arguments for obviously for
Speaker 3: you and I and little teeny boppers thinking god, the
Speaker 3: MCG is amazing, the arguments for is the history and
Speaker 3: the wealth of history the MCG takes with it, the
Speaker 3: tradition if it ain't broke, don't fix it. There's something
Speaker 3: beautiful about knowing what Grand Final week is going to
Speaker 3: be and having that consistency. But you mentioned capacity and finances,
Speaker 3: so I went and found out the numbers because I
Speaker 3: actually thought, wait, how many how many do these different
Speaker 3: stadiums hold, and again something like Stadium Tasmania being built,
Speaker 3: how many are they planning to hold there? So the MCG,
Speaker 3: as we mentioned, just a touch over one hundred thousand.
Speaker 3: The next largest is Sydney Stadium, which is out at
Speaker 3: Olympic Park. If you haven't been there, dear listener, My god,
Speaker 3: they spent six hundred and ninety million dollars on something
Speaker 3: that has zero ATMOS.
Speaker 1: Well, it is a long way from anything.
Speaker 3: Ah. And also it's just not a joy to watch
Speaker 3: sport there. Well, it's just hard to get to. That's
Speaker 3: the other thing, and I think Sydney Olympics has a
Speaker 3: lot to answer for. Again, it's an eighty three and
Speaker 3: a half thousand capacity stadium, So from the MCG to
Speaker 3: the next you're looking about a twenty thousand jump, yep.
Speaker 1: And that is a lot of dollars.
Speaker 3: Yes, it's also a lot of spots for the fans
Speaker 3: who want these seats at Grand finals, which are hard
Speaker 3: to get yet because there's a lot of commercial corporates
Speaker 3: who get these seats in the round finals. So the
Speaker 3: other thing is the fans are always complaining about how
Speaker 3: we've only got this sort of allocation because income the
Speaker 3: corporates for the Grand Final after not being there all years.
Speaker 3: So that is a significant jump twenty thousand people. And
Speaker 3: the next is Perth Stadium, which has built only recently
Speaker 3: at sixty one thousand, two hundred and my brain when
Speaker 3: they built that, it felt like they were extending a freeway.
Speaker 3: You know, when you see all that construction and they
Speaker 3: extend a freeway by one lane, and you go, why
Speaker 3: wouldn't you just extend it by two, Like if you're
Speaker 3: building a world class stadium and the highest capacity in
Speaker 3: the countries one hundred thousand. Yes, budget has to come
Speaker 3: into it, but wouldn't you build an eighty thousand seat
Speaker 3: stadium if you ever wanted to be eligible to put
Speaker 3: your hands up for these things.
Speaker 1: Well they missed out on Taylor Swift.
Speaker 3: They did, and did they want at Speaking of which,
Speaker 3: Katie Perry is now going to Adelaide Oval and they
Speaker 3: have fifty three thousand, so they're number four. Docklands as
Speaker 3: you mentioned, Marvel has fifty six, SCG forty eight, the
Speaker 3: Gabba forty two, and then you find your way down
Speaker 3: at Hobart Stadium, which is the new one that they're building.
Speaker 3: And I understand this because of the population and how
Speaker 3: sparse it would look in the regular season to have
Speaker 3: anything bigger than this. But it's only twenty three thousand
Speaker 3: that it can be able to watch a game at Hobart.
Speaker 3: So when you think of arguments against ie why should
Speaker 3: it move around? And you look at global examples ie
Speaker 3: the NFL and what they do with the Super Bowl
Speaker 3: in that they lock in a venue and it's a
Speaker 3: neutral venue and you know that well in advance, so
Speaker 3: fans can plan to travel there.
Speaker 4: There's stadiums that the curve ain't.
Speaker 3: That's steep in terms of capacity and what they can
Speaker 3: really offer. Well, if you're not going to sell the seats,
Speaker 3: I would understand. Yeah, but every year it's a sellout.
Speaker 3: There's one hundred thousand people that come, and this year
Speaker 3: with two interstate teams, it was still a sellout. So
Speaker 3: that argument that the fans wouldn't travel, or that people
Speaker 3: wouldn't come because you know there wasn't a Victorian side
Speaker 3: that made the Big Dance, Well that's redundant. Could you
Speaker 3: have things like the AFL Grand Final Parade in Brisbane,
Speaker 3: I would argue, no, I don't know in the same
Speaker 3: way that the NRL Grand Final wouldn't feel the same
Speaker 3: if they held it here. I think there's a bigger
Speaker 3: gap with that sport in Victoria because there's only one
Speaker 3: team in the NRL that is from Victoria. Whereas obviously
Speaker 3: you know the Brisbane Lines now they're the premiers and
Speaker 3: they're one of the teams to beat in the competition.
Speaker 3: But also you've got the Gold Coast Sons who are
Speaker 3: languishing a bit further behind. Let's be honest, but you
Speaker 3: have made an effort to create a two team town.
Speaker 3: You've done that in New South Wales as well. Obviously
Speaker 3: there's always been a good rivalry in South Australia and
Speaker 3: Western Australia, so maybe that gives it a bit more sway.
Speaker 3: Whereas you know, the NRL Grand Final this week Melbourne
Speaker 3: Storm one team in Victoria, very successful team, but you're
Speaker 3: drawing on people to support that one team only. And
Speaker 3: I think we've seen a good success story in the
Speaker 3: AFL of GWS coming through of the Sun's coming through,
Speaker 3: where you're trying to expand those fan bases, give people
Speaker 3: an option of someone else to support, and now that
Speaker 3: they've been able to do that and grow the game,
Speaker 3: that's why they're saying, hey, we'll give you a home final,
Speaker 3: maybe not the big one, but we'll give you a
Speaker 3: home final in a.
Speaker 1: Stadium that holds twenty three thousand people. Not many, if any,
Speaker 1: if any.
Speaker 3: But the game does need people that come out without
Speaker 3: landish things, and we absolutely love when people just go, hey,
Speaker 3: what about this? And one of those is Sydney Swan's
Speaker 3: president Andrew Priddam. Now you may remember him as the
Speaker 3: bloke that said we're the most popular team in the competition.
Speaker 3: I do.
Speaker 4: I love him, I love him. He was like stuff Collingwood.
Speaker 3: We've got two million fans, which as again as news
Speaker 3: journals we go, we'll take that headline, thank you very
Speaker 3: much and blow it up deluxe. And he doesn't care.
Speaker 3: He stands by it. But he's someone that's come out
Speaker 3: with this theory of going the AFL is throwing money
Speaker 3: out the window. Why don't we have a best of
Speaker 3: three AFL Grand Final? Is his suggestion that it could
Speaker 3: move around to different venues and therefore showcase the sport
Speaker 3: in different states. You make me do this week three times?
Speaker 3: I am in the ground. That's a very selfish response,
Speaker 3: but he's basically saying that you're missing out on forty
Speaker 3: million dollars worth of revenue. His's his argument to the AFL,
Speaker 3: and given Sydney's recent success in finals, that's probably why
Speaker 3: he wants a best of three so they can eat
Speaker 3: one where they choke and then hopefully come back and
Speaker 3: prove why they're the minor prepers. But Caroline Wilson probably
Speaker 3: put it best in her response to the.
Speaker 4: Suggestion that we should have a best of three, Get
Speaker 4: over yourself the Grand Finals at the MCG.
Speaker 3: What a brilliant competition to have those two clubs playing
Speaker 3: at the best stadium in the land. Best of three,
Speaker 3: you'll never die wondering.
Speaker 4: Like I do agree with her.
Speaker 3: But I do love Andrew Pridham and what he brings
Speaker 3: to the landscape. I think that he's so important to
Speaker 3: have those people that keep challenging and keep asking questions.
Speaker 3: But the next question is and I feel strongly I'm
Speaker 3: a traditionalist.
Speaker 4: If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Speaker 3: But I deeply believe that the AFL Grand Final would
Speaker 3: be a better spectacle as a twilight game.
Speaker 1: Ah. Yes, the old time of day debate.
Speaker 4: It has to be. It has to be.
Speaker 3: I mean, if you're Katie Perry and you're coming out
Speaker 3: onto the field on the giant duster buster is a
Speaker 3: description sure, yeap, either or both great Australian things exactly,
Speaker 3: and you're singing firework and you've got the Pirate tech.
Speaker 4: And there's no lighting.
Speaker 1: It's bright, the sun's in your eyes. Yeah.
Speaker 3: I mean I think obviously with a specky show, I
Speaker 3: think if it's a little bit darker, it would have
Speaker 3: looked better. But even being at the MCG like, forget
Speaker 3: the entertainment because of course that's going to look better underlights.
Speaker 4: The Brisbane Geelong pre limb was perfect.
Speaker 1: Yep.
Speaker 3: It was perfect with that five o'clock slot, Like, I
Speaker 3: just think it's that time, and you know what if
Speaker 3: it's less, be honest, if it's a broadcaster's fault and
Speaker 3: we wanted at two o'clock, you're gonna watch all day anyway.
Speaker 1: Yep.
Speaker 3: The only reason I could think that there would be
Speaker 3: arguments against is God love Australians, but we do love
Speaker 3: a drink on Grand Final day, so how blind would
Speaker 3: everyone be by the time I got to five pm
Speaker 3: to watch the granny, and you're just saying, you know,
Speaker 3: this has been a very long week. Can we just
Speaker 3: start this already? The Melbourne Bulldogs Grand Final in Perth
Speaker 3: that was in a twilight slot to allow for the
Speaker 3: time difference, and that also looked fantastic. Every year they
Speaker 3: defend this two thirty slot because it comes up.
Speaker 1: I like a twilight fixture as well.
Speaker 3: I agree, but I also think, you know, one of
Speaker 3: the arguments they throw at it is, oh, that's really
Speaker 3: family friendly having it at two thirty in the afternoon.
Speaker 3: Everybody can watch without any dramas of it being too late.
Speaker 3: You don't care during the season, No, you're prying your
Speaker 3: eyes open to watch the end of a semi because
Speaker 3: they're finishing at stupid o'clock.
Speaker 1: Seven to four. Start.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, I can't stay what like Again, granted, I
Speaker 3: probably have some some indurances with my villainy to stay
Speaker 3: awake late in the third drimester, but I was trying
Speaker 3: to nap during the daid to plan to stay up. Like,
Speaker 3: if the AFL really want to make the argument that
Speaker 3: they're trying to make it family friendly by not having
Speaker 3: a twilight, you have to look at what you're doing
Speaker 3: mid seas during the season for sure, and I do
Speaker 3: wonder whether that will change because that comes up as well.
Speaker 1: But yeah, I like a twilight fixture as well.
Speaker 3: I think there's got to be broadcast restrictions or preferences
Speaker 3: that come into this, but yeah, I don't see why
Speaker 3: they couldn't do it. People are going to watch no
Speaker 3: matter what time of date is maybe clearly not if
Speaker 3: it's too late, but I think it's also it probably
Speaker 3: is about the teams as well, their movements. When can
Speaker 3: they leave, how can they slink off like the Swans
Speaker 3: did in deep disappointment? And well, I think something that
Speaker 3: we probably haven't considered here is also the financial expectation
Speaker 3: of fans. So the pilgrimage, and we do stories on
Speaker 3: week about the fact that Quantus in virgin conveniently decided
Speaker 3: that a flight from Brisbane or Sydney to Melbourne that
Speaker 3: week is going to be exorbitantly more expensive. Then you
Speaker 3: have to look for accommodation, which is again going to
Speaker 3: be spiking. It's a lot more expensive for these fans
Speaker 3: to have to travel into state to have the opportunity
Speaker 3: to go, and that's a hindrance too. The thing is
Speaker 3: it takes a lot of planning to free up grounds,
Speaker 3: the size of the MCG probably even valid Sydney Stadium
Speaker 3: in advance for events when you're factoring in not just
Speaker 3: the AFL, but NRL concerts, whatever else is going on.
Speaker 3: So you probably can't pivot that late on a game
Speaker 3: of that magnitude.
Speaker 1: And that size.
Speaker 3: True, it's probably going to be difficult to say, you
Speaker 3: know what, oh man, a week out, it's too into
Speaker 3: state teams. Maybe that means we should change things. It's
Speaker 3: not going to be doable. That's the reality of it.
Speaker 3: And I think the ex selling corporate spaces because as
Speaker 3: you mentioned, a lot of people, particularly for a Grand Final,
Speaker 3: which is why some people say that the prelims actually
Speaker 3: have better atmosphere than a Grand Final because they're the
Speaker 3: real fans, whereas a lot of corporate boxes have just
Speaker 3: been sold that you know you're going to a Grand Final,
Speaker 3: but you don't know who particularly you're going to see.
Speaker 3: That's also something that I think a lot of the
Speaker 3: fans when they have this argument, don't consider is just
Speaker 3: how much is sold in advance. Yeah, a lot of
Speaker 3: it is, And so yeah, the atmosphere is different, and
Speaker 3: I mean there were i'd say good contingent of interstate fans,
Speaker 3: particularly Sydney Swans fands there on the weekend.
Speaker 4: Oh, it was so sad.
Speaker 1: You were sad. I know it was sad.
Speaker 3: And you know the footage of them at the airport
Speaker 3: on their return to Sydney.
Speaker 4: Can you imagine driving home?
Speaker 1: It was like a funeral.
Speaker 3: Oh, in mourning, in mourning. But I think speaking of
Speaker 3: a funeral, I think that this argument is dead. I
Speaker 3: think I think that I don't see a way it
Speaker 3: should be at the MCG until what was it, fifty
Speaker 3: eight twenty four? Just lock it in, Yeah, lock it
Speaker 3: in in our completely impartial, non Victorian opinions.
Speaker 1: Hey, I like Queensland's warm.
Speaker 3: I mean, if you said to me, you can go
Speaker 3: to Brisbane and escape whatever is going on in Melbourne
Speaker 3: at this time of year, we were lucky we.
Speaker 4: Had nice weather, considering Sunday was horrendous.
Speaker 3: Then yesterday or Sunday in the rain with the Brisbane Lions.
Speaker 1: Anyway, No, the.
Speaker 3: MCG forever, may it stay, Laura. It is time for
Speaker 3: our fun fact And this is me being a little
Speaker 3: bit cheeky, because really I wanted to have two good sports,
Speaker 3: but we're allowed to have one.
Speaker 4: We try to limit it.
Speaker 3: So I found a roundabout way of bringing another good
Speaker 3: sport into the fun fact. So do you know what
Speaker 3: the term medita means?
Speaker 1: I do not.
Speaker 3: So Medita is a Buddhist term and it means and
Speaker 3: I love this sympathetic joy, being able to find happiness
Speaker 3: in other people's joy and the person that there's a
Speaker 3: term that you can just take out into your But
Speaker 3: Oscar McInerney, has anyone ever been more impressive in a
Speaker 3: Grand final week, and also in a Grand final without
Speaker 3: actually playing, as an example to young children about how
Speaker 3: you can be when you're injured. And we saw that
Speaker 3: he had a double dislocation in his shoulder. That footage,
Speaker 3: I can't watch it. He is so much pain his
Speaker 3: face and the agony and the realization that he's not
Speaker 3: going to be able to play in a Grand Final.
Speaker 3: But it went back out there anyway. But the way
Speaker 3: that he handled himself this week, the way that he
Speaker 3: mentored Darcy fought in the lead up to the Grand Final,
Speaker 3: he was just so impressive. He was, And those pictures
Speaker 3: of him, if you didn't see them, hugging Darcy for
Speaker 3: joy with such joy after they had won the premiership.
Speaker 1: He was so happy for him and his teammates and it.
Speaker 3: Was earnest, it was it was this authentic joy and
Speaker 3: I just went, oh, it was so impressive. It is
Speaker 3: a a really nice lesson for people because I think
Speaker 3: so often in competitive industries, ours is another example of that.
Speaker 1: You know, you're looking at.
Speaker 3: Other people that get opportunities, you find it really hard
Speaker 3: to muster up the well done.
Speaker 4: You know, sometimes it just falls that way.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but in his case, it was a great example
Speaker 3: of someone who just got some crap luck at the
Speaker 3: worst time and you know, tapped his teammate on the back,
Speaker 3: mentored him and then congratulated him on his performance. So
Speaker 3: he doesn't get a Premiership medal. No, and I think
Speaker 3: that's something that should change. All players that played in
Speaker 3: the final should receive a medal. Yeah, and that's something
Speaker 3: that I think might get some serious this example well yeah,
Speaker 3: and you know what, it was the same last year
Speaker 3: with Taylor Adams for Collingwood.
Speaker 4: And Taylor Adams again this year arguably.
Speaker 3: Yeah. I mean, I think the saving grace there is
Speaker 3: that they lost. Had they won without him, that would
Speaker 3: have been really, really tough. Yeah, I agree. I think
Speaker 3: he conducted himself so well, maybe the reality will hit.
Speaker 3: Of course there's some sadness there, of course there has
Speaker 3: to be. But I think the way that he for me,
Speaker 3: I just think as a young man that put himself
Speaker 3: out on was able to handle himself the way that
Speaker 3: he did under so much pressure with so many eyes
Speaker 3: on him, and it's what you grow up dreaming of.
Speaker 3: And obviously the way that the Lions have supported him,
Speaker 3: it says so much for their club and their ethos.
Speaker 3: The fact that they had his guernsey hanging up. We
Speaker 3: know they do the boxing gloves as they run out
Speaker 3: and they all touch the boxing gloves. They were also
Speaker 3: tapping his guernsey in the runout, and that had obviously
Speaker 3: been part of the message. But what terrifies me is
Speaker 3: I'm like, how motivated are they going to be for
Speaker 3: next year to win him one? Yep, yep, nat So
Speaker 3: let's get back there and do it again. Got some
Speaker 3: great talent coming in as well. They're going to be
Speaker 3: a force, I think sometimes and why we love sports.
Speaker 3: It can be the example of the best in people.
Speaker 3: And I think the moodita that we saw in Oscar
Speaker 3: mac and there needs such a message for kids and
Speaker 3: a message for everyone that you can find in yourself
Speaker 3: in a really, really, as you said, cracky situation, the
Speaker 3: ability to find joy.
Speaker 4: For other people.
Speaker 1: Let's just hang that up in our office, shall we.
Speaker 4: App Yeah, I think we should.
Speaker 3: I think I think we should also hang up the
Speaker 3: mics for this episode. Thank you so much for listening
Speaker 3: to Two Good Sports and iHeart production, Laura.
Speaker 4: Thank you as always for coming in. We've absolutely loved it.
Speaker 3: Please follow us at two Good Sports Podcasts.
Speaker 4: We'll catch you.
Speaker 3: Next week and where I'm sure it's going to be
Speaker 3: a NRL. We've had our AFL stint. It's going to
Speaker 3: be talking about whoever comes out on top in the
Speaker 3: Grand Final.
Speaker 4: But until then, be a good sport.