Suns chairman wants states to bid for decider

GOLD Coast chairman Tony Cochrane has challenged the AFL to move the grand final interstate every five seasons to shrug off its old-fashioned “VFL” mentality.

Cochrane said on Friday the example of season deciders at the Gabba and Perth Stadium showed the profound difference relocating the grand final could make.

He believes states would pay up to $50m on top of the AFL’S usual grand-final windfall and could bid on the game like the NFL does with its Super Bowl.

AFL chief executive Gillon Mclachlan on Friday boasted about a 28 per cent rise in Queensland Auskick numbers and record-breaking participation as well as spectacular ratings.

It is why Cochrane said moving the grand final every five years makes sense despite an MCG contract until 2059.

“Move it every five years and make states bid for it,” he said. “The AFL would make at least $50m extra out of it and you would have every state in Australia bidding for it.

“Do four grand finals at the MCG and then a fifth elsewhere, then four at the MCG again.

“But I understand they won’t do it because it’s still the VFL. The industry is located there, 10 of the teams are from there, the majority of the media, so work it out for yourself.”

Cochrane said, apart from the money, the underlying reason would be to grow the game.

“It has been proven now,’’ he said. “We have two test cases and it doesn’t matter what I think.

“The test case here shows by every parameter how the game has grown in the last 12 months and now in Perth it’s elevated AFL to a unique status across the state of West Australia.”

Mclachlan said the game was only a one-off in Perth but has proposed moving the Dreamtime clash to Perth every three seasons.