Brisbane players lined up for the national anthem before a packed Gabba on preliminary final night. Photo: AFL MEDIA
There was an unmistakably flat feeling around the Gabba late in last Saturday night’s preliminary final as it became clear Brisbane would not make the grand final.
The home team, the one that felt most like the sentimental favourite on the penultimate weekend of the season, was gone in the blink of an eye, booted from the premiership race a fortnight after its breakthrough qualifying final triumph.
In Victoria, meanwhile, two of the AFL’s biggest and most passionate supporter bases celebrated, lapping up the chance to experience joy in a year of widespread misery around the state.
Geelong will meet Richmond in the season decider and you can just imagine what the atmosphere around Melbourne would have been like leading into the grand final had it been a normal season, or normal year.
In normal times, the Cats and Tigers in a grand final in front of 100,000 fans at the MCG is just about as “blockbuster” as it gets for the AFL.
But for all those conspiracy theorists who sarcastically refer to the league as the “VFL”, here’s a reality check: you can bet your bottom dollar that Gillon McLachlan and his executive were privately hoping for a Brisbane win over Geelong.
For the AFL, this was in many ways a massive opportunity missed.
A Brisbane appearance in the first – and probably only – Gabba grand final would have been the icing on top of a big Queensland footy cake in 2020.
It would have been a free hit of advertising for the AFL to ram home the game’s progress, conveniently in a year when the NRL powerhouse Brisbane Broncos have hit rock bottom.
Alas, it was not to be, but the AFL’s latest numbers in the Sunshine State are positive.
Finals TV audiences are reportedly up and comparing favourably to the NRL, crowd figures are positive when COVID-19 restrictions are taken into account, and participation has been growing steadily in recent years.
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The AFL is more bullish than ever about its position in Queensland.
“I’m not saying we’re the No.1 sport, but it’s great to be in the conversation,” chief executive Gillon McLachlan said as he officially launched grand final week. “The numbers reflect that and I want to thank Queenslanders for putting us in the position.”
McLachlan added: “It does feel we’re closer than ever and the momentum’s incredible … right now it feels we’re pretty close to being Queensland’s game.”
The positivity should come with a warning label, though. Queensland footy has been here before, sort of.
A little over 15 years ago, “Lethal’s Lions” were kings of the footy jungle, the Gabba was heaving and the XXXX-swilling banana benders couldn’t get enough of the “Fab Four” tearing shreds off all comers from down south.
Then, within a few short years, Queensland footy had turned to dust and old ways were restored in the traditional rugby league heartland after a brief challenge to the natural pecking order.
The AFL has invested too much time and far too much money into the nation’s third-most populous state to let its opportunity slip this time.
Now, as a silver lining to the AFL’s temporary relocation to Queensland – and more specifically as an added bonus of a new and improved relationship with the state government – McLachlan and co. have fresh backing with which to capitalise on the game’s growth up north.
“We’re mapping out our plan for next year and we will build on this,” McLachlan said ahead of a series of meetings with government and football officials in the state. “We have incredible momentum in Queensland, like we do across the country, like we do in New South Wales and every other state.
“Clearly Queensland’s going to have its own plan ongoing with investment because at the moment people can’t get enough of the AFL up here.”
One wonders just how close the AFL really is to taking over Queensland. If I was to hazard a guess, I’d say it’s still a long way off.
But the AFL’s building blocks appear to be made of sterner stuff this time around. Perhaps natural order might get a real shake up one day.
Been a footy person in QLD for all of my 50 years. The best time for footy here was pre Bears when the QAFL was a genuine state league, team line ups were announced on the radio and tv on Thursday nights, crowds at weekly games were in the thousands and there were Sunday morning segments on Channel 7 sports shows. Since then its been sort of ok but not for local footy. The Lions generate interest when they are successful and this year has been quite nice for giving footy and the AFL a boost locally.
Footy will always have to co-exist with the other codes in this state. There are some demographic changes that have worked to footy’s advantage a little and the focus on girls footy has been great for the AFL. The main issue generally I think is the very Victoria-centric nature of the AFL in terms of scheduling, decision-making and focus. Even this year the messaging is all about how QLD has been given a little gift because things aren’t working well in Vic but things will be back to Vic normal next year. It’s not good messaging for QLD. The NRL is far less national but no one here really thinks about it being Sydney-centric