TOPIC:

Bazza wrote: Hate to break it to the pro Optus crew but the chances of it returning next year are slim with a 30% cut in revenues next year across The board austerity will be in place for quite a while.

Surely then we should be trying to get more people through the gates not less Bazza - all the more reason to have it at the best stadium in the country not some dump like Fremantle oval.

Bazza wrote:

BC wrote: Yes it wasn't a great look on tv. It'll be interesting to compare yesterday to the SANFL GF in a couple of weeks where they'll have 30k at Adelaide Oval...chalk and cheese for mine and an indictment of the WAFC.

Actually it was far better look
On TV than a sea of Empty Plastic seats which is what recent WAFL GFs have presented , The full banks presented far better than that. And the crowd rushing onto to ground after the siren was mint ,
Classic WAFL from the 70s, thats another thing you can’t do Optus with the Nazi
like security.

Those sort of things should not take priority over having the grand final at the only venue that provides the suitable and fitting stage for the players, can accommodate the media requirements and provide fans with the best of amenities.

Agree with you Bazza about the atmosphere and the empty seats. Look at the premier league highlights with no crowd. Looks like a game of park soccer.

Another point: the season is played at local grounds. The other finals are played at local grounds. Why aren't those grounds good enough for the grand final?

If you can get 20 000 at Optus, i suppose that's a win, especially if it rains; but it's more expensive, looks worse and is less exciting.

Yeah nah... Fremantle Oval was OK as a stop gap this COVID year but not as a long term solution. I've heard a number of WAFL players say that they love playing the grand final at the best football ground in WA because it is a special event and such a rare occurrence for the average player. Surely the geniuses at the WAFC can work out some sort of financial model to make OPTUS feasible even if it means charging a bit more and closing off the upper tiers of the ground. Then market the game properly and you will get 20000 plus all packed together and plenty of atmosphere.

Have the crowd at Optus spaced apart every second row etc on all levels like they have had with the afl games there this season for their 20-30k allowable crowds.
It then looks and sounds fantastic and not that hard to achieve.
SANFL footy fans must be laughing their arse off about how backwards our WA Football League has become.
Fancy playing a GF at a ground where you have fark all cover and have to sit on 70yo concrete slabs in the sun in the outer for 9 hours if you like to watch all 3 grades, or sit in a grandstand that is another post code from the playing field, you cant make this shit up!
At this backwards rate some would have us playing on open parklands like the amateurs soon for goodness sake!

I'm happy to own up to being a fool, but not to being a south Freo supporter.

My 'last' word on the subject: it was a great day and for a long time it looked like we weren't even going to have a wafl season. I really enjoyed the season.

Stand the Test wrote: Anyone who thinks holding the gf at a suburban ground was a win for the comp is either a sffc supporter or a fool or both.

Honestly I know we disagree on a lot of things on this site but why are we getting blowback on this.

The WAFL GF should be at football HQ. If that is too much to ask for bazar or JL etc just give it away boys, just give up.

The case for having the GF on the biggest and best stage is a compelling one - bazza's intransigence on the matter seems based entirely on self centred whims and fancies.

unfortunately it appears the WAFL Grand Final will once again be held at another suburban ground next year due to current conditions by all information
at least there will be 12 months for whatever ground this time to get prepped
but no state stadium

they were very lucky it was a dry day -- would have got no more than three or four thousand. Nineteen thousand is the record for the ground, from what I nave read.

Southerner wrote: unfortunately it appears the WAFL Grand Final will once again be held at another suburban ground next year due to current conditions by all information
at least there will be 12 months for whatever ground this time to get prepped
but no state stadium

Southy if the weak as urine WAFC wanted too they could just tap the WCE (as their owner) on the shoulder for that 100k to play at Perth Stadium and then there is no issue.
The fact they wont and refuse to touch the $50+ million sitting in the WCE bank account is absolutely disgusting especially when you read their original prospectus from 1986 that Ron Alexander brought up in the recent parliamentary enquiry!

And just another point for the muppets at WAFC HQ to digest 10,179 attended the GF when there was 11,000 available too.
-10,179 is the smallest WAFL GF attendance since 1930 (outside the WWII underage comp years).
That by any measure is not a success it is actually a massive failure!