Home final? Sorry Cats

Thursday a definite, but no Kardinia Park

THE AFL is determined to schedule a Thursday night week one final, but has officially ruled out a Kardinia Park final in September.

The league is desperate to maximise its attendances across the season, hopeful it can break last year’s homeand-away record attendance in the next fortnight.

That same policy is certain to result in the Cats playing an MCG final if they qualify — potentially against Richmond — rather than Kardinia Park.

AFL fixturing boss Travis Auld said while teams had the right to play in their own state, “we want to give as many fans a chance to watch their team play”. Brisbane has the chance to win a potential Thursday Gabba home final if it finishes top-two, but the league also hasn’t ruled out a Melbourne final to kick off the finals on a Thursday night.

That would present a challenge if Geelong hosted that game given their fans struggle to get to Thursday and Friday night contests in Melbourne.

Auld said yesterday it had been made clear to clubs that the league was determined to allow the most fans to watch its finals series.

“Our approach is unchanged from the past years, we want to maximise attendances,” he said.

“We want to give as many fans the chance to watch their team play. We have demonstrated that ... the Dogs have played in front of a lot of fans at the MCG in finals and that is our broader priority.

“There is a general rule that says if you get the opportunity to host a final you do it in your home state.”

The league is just ahead of last year’s home-and-away record but with Round 23 games in Ballarat, Hobart, Kardinia Park and Metricon Stadium need a bumper Round 22 to break the record.

The AFL’s post-Round 23 bye has been in place for three years, allowing the league to host Thursday night finals.

The Eagles hosted West Coast in 2016, Adelaide hosted Greater Western Sydney in 2017 and last year Richmond’s qualifying final against Hawthorn drew 91,446 fans to the MCG on a Thursday.

Auld said the league was open to another Thursday final in Melbourne or even Brisbane given the AFL wants to schedule top-two teams early in the first week of finals to give them longer breaks.

“Thursday night finals have built momentum and we have had record crowds and record TV audiences since we brought them in. What has worked to date has been SA and WA games, but for the right final more games carry that slot [than those two states].

“It would be appealing to have a home final in Brisbane. We have got options.”