Off the back of the success of Gather Round, SEN’s Nathan Buckley wonders whether the AFL would consider a similar concept in Victoria at suburban venues.
With fans of clubs having close affinities to the grounds their sides played at during the VFL era, Buckley believes playing games one weekend at venues such as Victoria Park, Princes Park, Junction Oval and Punt Road would do wonders for supporters.
After seeing how well boutique venues like Norwood Oval and Mount Barker looked during the inaugural Gather Round in South Australia, Buckley wondered if the AFL would be thinking down the same line in Melbourne.
“We had those boutique grounds during Gather Round,” Buckley told SEN Breakfast.
“Do you think the AFL would be thinking, ‘If a state can spend the money on a suburban ground, to put makeshift stands around Mount Barker – an oval in the Adelaide Hills – why couldn’t you have a round in Victoria where you played at Vic Park, at Ikon Park or Junction Oval?’.
“Why can’t we have a round where we don’t play at the MCG.
“We play at all suburban grounds and see how that goes.
“It just makes you think, if you can make something at Norwood Oval or you can at Mount Barker, you could do wonders with taking the game back to the suburbs.”
Buckley’s co-host Kane Cornes is also a fan of the idea after seeing how well a state-league venue like Norwood positioned itself across the weekend.
“I really like it,” Cornes said.
“There’s been some talk about those lesser drawing games, should they be played on a suburban oval in Victoria?
“My concern was with Norwood oval, this was a really small oval and I thought, ‘Why have they chosen to play there?’, but didn’t it come up well, the games were terrific that were there.”
The last AFL game played at a suburban ground in Melbourne took place in 2005 with Carlton facing Melbourne at Princes Park.