Traditions are dumb.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Not all of them, but for the most part, only doing a certain thing or acting a particular way because "that's how it's always been done" is a poor line of thinking.
Take Australia's two showcase domestic leagues, the NRL and AFL (sorry, A-League but a rebrand doesn't put you up there just yet).
Both have had a long history with playing their sport's biggest game in a particular area, Victoria with the AFL and New South Wales with league. But the last two years has seen a shakeup.
The NRL's biggest match of the season took place in Brisbane and broke a 114-year tradition of the game being held in the Blues state. From what I can tell, this brought delight to many a fan who would've been itching to watch the game in person...let's not forget that Bunnies fans are everywhere.
The 2020 AFL clash between Richmond and Gelong took place at the Gabba. This came after the AFL Commission ratified a recommendation by the AFL Executive and comes with the endorsement of the Victorian State Government, who have a contract to host the event annually until 2057. Obviously this wouldn't have happened if not for COVID, but it was an attempt to salvage tradition that would resonate with for a lot of people.
Comically, a piece of turf from the MCG was taken up the Brisbane where it was believed it would be made part of the playing surface. If this wasn't bad enough, not only was the square piece of dirt taken up north, it sat just outside the playing field...all in the name of tradition.
Who exactly was this to satisfy? Those in Victoria who wouldn't be able to watch the game as fans in the MCG? I don't think they got much joy out of it. The men and women in Brisbane wouldn't have given a second thought to trying to meet the needs of their southern statemen. The players then perhaps? I doubt it, when if anything, adding a piece of ground to the field just days out from the biggest clash of their lifetime may have brought some injury risk (albeit miniscule at best). So the only people I can think of who this would satisfy would the top dogs and those with platforms big enough to critique any and all decisions...speaking of.
Much to the displeasure of many a Vic (I'm looking at you Eddie McGuire), the 2021 grand final also didn't take place in Melbourne, rather, being moved to Perth once again because of COVID which is currently raging through the southern state.
But was this a bad thing?
Host broadcaster Seven Network reported an average national audience of 3.91 million viewers for Melbourne's 74-point thrashing of the Western Bulldogs at Perth's Optus Stadium on the Saturday night.
The viewership was an increase from 3.81 million for Richmond's win over Geelong under the Gabba lights last year and a huge 33 per cent increase on the 2019 decider, when the Tigers beat GWS in the most recent afternoon grand final at the MCG.
Seven said the Demons' victory was watched by an additional 197,000 viewers on connected televisions and recorded more than twice the number of online streaming minutes of last year's decider.
Now I'm not going to pretend like I am privy to the inner workings of television networks and can tell you exactly why the numbers have shot up so drastically this year. But surely a case can be made for more attention being brought to the game, simply because the game wasn't played on its traditional field.
Sport Australia have been trying to expand, expand, expand as much as humanly possible for what seems like forever.
Tasmania has been talked about as a market the AFL could exploit, the A-League seems to have a new team from a new city every other year and the NRL have all but confirmed a 17th team will be joining the league in years to come.
When a business model is so focused on expansion and growth, why does it want to shoot itself in the foot at the biggest opportunity?
Now don't get me wrong, there are some traditions that I love. I love dressing up in all pink and heading to the SCG at the start of the year to support the Australian men's cricket team against whoever they are playing.
I love hearing Queen's 'We are the Champions' when a local club side receives their winners medals.
But I'm not the one in charge of making millions and millions of dollars.
I'm also not saying that the AFL grand final should never return to the MCG, in fact I think - COVID withstanding - that the game should be brought back to Melbourne in 2022. That isn't because I want to cave to the masses, instead I think they'll be so desperate for the game to be back home that there will be record numbers once again.
What I would suggest in either contemplating either adopting a system that would see the top ranked side heading into the match gaining hosting rights, or a rotating cast of locations for the game, for both NRL and AFL. If that latter was chosen, you could easily have the AFL grand final at the MCG two out of every three years and then rotated throughout the other states.
Similar with the NRL, have NSW host in two of every three and then split the third match between Queensland and Victoria.
I understand that technology nowadays is at its very peak and that if you want to watch the match, you won't have too much trouble.
But if we've learnt anything from the growth in women's sport in recent years is that in-person visibility is a huge factor in getting kids excited about the game. Make the final games moveable and you will surely see more people take up the sports, creating a better product long term and keep the viability of the things we love most alive.
Make this a new tradition.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark www.centralwesterndaily.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Catch up on our news headlines at Google News