Today, the boss of the AFL, Gillon McLachlan, announced that The Gabba will be the venue for the code’s flagship event.
That’s all great…..but it will be staged on 24 October, the same day as the Gr 1 Cox Plate at Moonee Valley.
With the hue and cry the clash has created, the AFL has Not announced when the game will be played but are strongly considering an evening match because of the clash.
Regarding the Grand Final entertainment, there are growing whispers iconic Brisbane rock band Powderfinger will be the game’s half-time entertainment drawcard.
It is a little annoying for the Ladbrokes Cox Plate Carnival organisation because this year is the 100th running of the iconic Gr 1 WFA race.
The race is worth $5million.
This is history for the AFL and it is hoped the AFL Grand Final returns to the MCG next year.
MVRC CEO Michael Browell is hopeful there will be a small crowd at the track for Cox Plate and is happy the AFL Grand Final is on in the evening.
“I’d be betting the game kicks off at 7pm so it isn’t a great clash and because we can’t have a full crowd, it wont effect us.
“We’ve mapped out different scenarios and if they kick off at 7pm, then we will change. Normally we run the Ladbrokes Cox Plate at 5pm but we will run it at 4:15pm this year.
“That will give channel 7 time to cover us extensively and then get into the preamble for the Grand Final coverage,” said Browell.
“We expect if we do that an anticipate there will be over 1 million viewers. As the day builds and we get deeper into the race day program, we know the numbers grow.”
Browell indicated there is at least two internationals already locked in to compete in the race.
