Collingwood President Eddie McGuire has made the stunning revelation that the AFL Grand Final could be played on the Sunday night after the VRC Derby, with AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan not dismissing the idea.
McGuire stated the time slot change would see the Grand Final played on Sunday November 1, after Derby Day and two days before the Melbourne Cup.
With the AFL decider currently slated for October 24, the same day as the Cox Plate, a bye would likely need to added to overcome Western Australian and South Australian border restrictions which would push the Grand Final back a week.
Sports Minister Martin Paluka has thrown support behind the idea, stating the VRC Derby and Grand Final "won't go head to head", while McGuire has said the idea has already been "discussed in high places".
โYou know how peopleโs heads have exploded because weโve mentioned that we may play this yearโs Grand Final at night โฆ how about if I told you we might play it on a Sunday night?โ McGuire said on Triple M's Hot Breakfast on Tuesday morning.
โIf Victorian clubs are required to go to a hub in Western Australia and for that matter New South Wales clubs, if they have to go up there and they have to quarantine for two weeks โฆ but there is a break of one week if you time it out, so it would mean we need to get a bye in there somewhere so that means instead of playing on the Cox Plate weekend we would have to play the Grand Final on Derby weekend."
โ... Weโd have the Saturday Derby, Sunday afternoon or Sunday night Grand Final, Monday the Grand Final public holiday to get over the Grand Final and have the two days into Melbourne Cup, Tuesday Melbourne Cup and another public holiday, Oaks Day on Thursday, Saturday Stakes Day.โ
Speaking onย SENย on Tuesday, McLachlan said he was open to a Sunday Grand Final.
โIf you had the flexibility and Iโm not saying, I havenโt even talked to the AFL Commission about this, just having an open conversation, we wouldnโt run it against the Derby, thatโs not helpful but youโve got Sunday,โ McLachlan told SEN.
โWhat happens if it is a public holiday Monday? I donโt know. There are some grown up conversations to have but I think everyone is in the right mindplace.
โIt is a great four days of sport.โ
McLachlan also stated that the AFL is looking to avoid clashes with the Victorian spring racing carnival.
โWe got to work with other sports and weโll do that generally,โ McLachlan said.
โWeโre allies and friends, footy and racing, and we donโt need to be running over the top (of each other) it doesnโt work for either of us let alone them and we can work around it.
โWe will do everything we can to work around that (clash with major race days) and that includes all the finals but the bigger stuff, the preliminary finals and Grand Final.
โItโs that sort of year and we can work around that. We can make it work, I feel very confident about that.โ
This comes as McLachlan expressed his hope for a full 100,000 people at the MCG for the AFL Grand Final during an interview on afl.com.au
โI still havenโt ruled out โ I love the thought of a full Grand Final,โ McLachlan said.Mc
โYouโve got to be ready, youโve got to dream, but weโve got to do it in a way that works in with where our governments are and our communities.
โItโs an ambition (100,000 fans on Grand Final Day).โ
