WA-out theory for host of finale

THE man who brought the grand final to Queensland says the AFL should consider a Perth grand final this year.

Gold Coast president Tony Cochrane says the WA and SA governments should be formulating proposals to secure the grand final at Optus Stadium or Adelaide Oval.

As former coronavirus cabinet member Eddie McGuire pushed the prospect of a month-long finals hub in Perth, Cochrane said the league should also consider the early adoption of vaccination passports in the AFL.

He said with a million Pfizer shots arriving each week, it was not too early for the league to consider proof of double vaccination to boost the attendance at the grand final.

The league is still a month from having to consider finals venues with NSW, SA and Victoria in lockdown.

It remains adamant the game will be played in Melbourne, only moving the contest in grand final week in the event of a lockdown.

Moving the finals series to Perth would involve all eight teams having to quarantine over the pre-finals bye, but then able to move around the community and play in front of 60,000 fans.

But regardless, Cochrane, who helped run the successful 2020 Queensland grand final bid, said a 6pm Perth start time beamed into the eastern states at 8pm would be the perfect timeslot.

“I don’t have any privileged information, but with eight or so weeks to go, it is starting to look extremely unlikely we will have the grand final take place at the MCG again this year,” he said.

“So I hope the AFL are keeping their options open. I would like to see the AFL grand final moved around every few years anyway, to give this great Australian game a great Australian chance in every state.

“I hope Adelaide and Perth are well and truly on the ball and keeping their options open.

“If I was the South Australian or WA government, I would be putting together my own little war cabinet.

“Victoria is heading toward half a year of total lockdowns and that’s a shocking position to be in, and you need to be smart enough to work out you need strong alternatives.

“We need to start becoming more liberal around letting supporters attend games and one way the AFL and other sports can play a role is start declaring that you can come across the border to watch games if you can prove you are fully vaccinated.”

Cochrane said it was obvious that the AFL needed to have a yearly grand final in a night timeslot.

“Of course you have got to have it at night,” he said.

“I have driven Gill (McLachlan) nuts and the AFL Commission nuts. We need eyeballs which create media interest and media rights are the single biggest income line for any sport in the world. And you get more at night.

“It’s not a sweeping statement, we proved it conclusively last year by running it at night.

“You could start the game at 6pm (in Perth) and with a two-hour time difference, you are in great shape.”