Opening Round. Four games, all in the non-traditional footy states.
For us in the northern states, this is our time in the spotlight. At least it should be.
Victoria has their blockbusters. ANZAC Day, Dreamtime, the Big Freeze and more. Massive games. Massive crowds. Massive publicity. Good for footy.
Here in Sydney, Opening Round is our blockbuster. The concept started last year and worked well. SCG and Engie Stadium both had good crowds in.
It was no surprise that it was scheduled again this year.
But the clouds are circling up north, and an ill wind is blowing in.
When the fixture was made late last year, no-one could have predicted the weather forecast. No-one could have predicted that Cyclone Alfred would blow into Queensland this week.
We don’t have weather forecasts that far ahead. That sort of meteorological technology doesn’t exist.
And with the cyclone heading towards the coast, and predictions of flooding, damage and carnage to come, the AFL made the only decision they could make. The two games in Queensland were postponed.
Unfortunate. Particularly for Brisbane, who were to unfurl their premiership flag on Thursday. But the risk in letting the game go ahead was too great. The AFL had no choice but to reluctantly postpone the game.
The reaction on social media and elsewhere was extraordinary. “Only two games this week, therefore Opening Round is a bad idea”, or comments along similar lines.
Really?
Let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater here.
A cyclone coming in is unfortunate. It’s rotten luck. But the suggestion that it makes the concept of Opening Round flawed is utterly bizarre.
Scheduling games only in NSW and Queensland doesn’t cause cyclones.
If a full round of nine games had been scheduled this weekend, the cyclone would still have blown in. Two games would still have been postponed.
There have been later starts to the season, and weather has still impacted them. One example, a couple of years ago, the GIANTS played the Swans in Round 1 at the Olympic Stadium in late March. Half of Sydney was under floodwaters and 10,000 people with tickets didn’t show, many because they couldn’t get there. No-one’s fault, just one of those unfortunate events that happen.
And no shortage of unfavourable weather events during the season. These things happen.
Opening Round’s two Sydney games will go ahead. On Friday night, the Swans will play Hawthorn. There’ll be a big crowd in, and it should be a good game of footy.
No Saturday game, but with no free to air footy on Saturdays, that’s no great loss.
And on Sunday the GIANTS host Collingwood. The GIANTS don’t get massive crowds, but this one will be respectable and a welcome boost to the crowd metrics. And despite injury worries, this should be an absorbing contest.
Two good games of footy to whet the appetite for the season to come.
The Spanish Armada met its fate in 1588. Nature was unkind. He blew with his winds, and they were scattered. Emperor Philip was forgiving of his fleet. “I sent my ships to fight against the English, not against the elements.”
The elements conspired against the AFL this time. That was unlucky.
But Opening Round should return next year. Our four blockbusters in the north.
Next year the sun may shine. And the AFL will be ready to make hay.
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About Michael Shillito
GWS Giants foundation member and cheer squad member. It's been quite an adventure so far, and the best is yet to come.
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You know it makes sense Michael!
Go Giants
Why should Collingwood wreck its season before it starts at a venue we have not won at for 9 years. Meanwhile the team that made the 8 at our expense, Carlton, opts out of opening round and gets a featherbed start against Richmond. Two years in a row my dear people we have put up with this debacle. Even though I live three train stations away it will be a cold day in hell before I set foot in Giants “stadium”.
We have been putting up with this crap for years – in 2016 the Swans moved the opening match from the Olympic Stadium to the SGC at the last minute with the inevitable one sided walkover to the home side. Other times they schedule good old Hawthorn to start – goodbye season.
As for the crowd, there were a lot of empty spaces in the Giants Members area, which was most of the ground.
Getting sick of the Cardinals monkeying around at our expense. Put this failure to bed along with other Gareth Evans moments (seemed like a good idea at the time). Give these clowns a different toy to play with, like I don’t know, Tasmania…
I wouldn’t say it’s stuffed up Collingwood’s season.
GWS away was always going to be a tough game, whether it was the first game or a random weekend later in the season. But they’ve got that out of the way, and they’ll have an extra bye in a couple of weeks to reset.
No, it stuffed up Collingwood’s season two years in a row, for a similar result, only this time it was much worse. This time I left at quarter time instead of 3/4 time because i would not subject myself to this rubbish two years in a row.
I notice that the crowd was 19 thousand, what a multitude…
Collingwood may or may not play an away final at this venue either this year or in years to come but they can do it without me. I am not naive enough to believe that Parramatta will make the finals, but if the miracle occurs, I would rather be there, or at Newcastle beach or anywhere along the coast rather than Giants “Stadium.”