Robbo: AFL must act in good faith

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 16 April 2014 | 18.49

Essendon could be one of the teams to play on Good Friday next year. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: Wayne Ludbey / News Limited

The fury will come if his Western Bulldogs miss out on a Good Friday match, tipped to be in the 2015 fixture.

Already, Carlton reckon they've secured one of the spots, while North Melbourne is on war footing and, with the Blues, believe they are going to be the other Good Friday specialist.

Both clubs are so confident they've booked priests for the pre-match.

However, it might be best they kneel down and pray for calmness.

Under their noses, it has emerged Essendon is one of the teams most likely.

It is a staggering revelation.

Do you agree with Robbo? Have your say below

Every year, Essendon, one of the established powerhouses of the competition, have Anzac Day, Collingwood twice and Carlton twice. And this year it's Richmond twice.

They don't need or deserve Good Friday football.

If they do get it, the AFL would stand accused of looking after their KPIs and bank balances, instead of looking after the greater good of its 18-team competition.

It is an accusation with merit.

The fixture has always been doctored by the AFL to facilitate maximum crowds, money and the TV audience.

With Good Friday, they have an opportunity to facilitate good faith in a competition needing as much as it can get.

Essendon looms as a Good Friday threat to Western Bulldogs, North Melbourne and Carlton. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: News Corp Australia

Good faith in the sense that the clubs and the fans know the AFL is serious about equalisation.

The league instituted variable ticket pricing which forces the fans to cough up for blockbuster games, and it would appear they are trying to inject Essendon into another prime-time event.

It's not right. Indeed, what becomes of a competition which continually ignores opportunities for clubs with moderate-sized fan bases?

The Western Bulldogs president stressed yesterday his club wanted the Good Friday fixture and said the AFL had an ''obligation'' with the draw to execute it in the "best interests of the game as a whole".

Gordon spoke of "structural inequities" in the draw, including existing blockbuster features "which lock out other teams".

"One of the principles of equalisation is that clubs need to remain entrepreneurial and hungry," Gordon said.

"We as a club are entrepreneurial and we are hungry. We want to showcase our product and show it to a whole new generation of supporters, particularly in the western region of Melbourne.

"But it doesn't make it easy for us when every Friday night and every Saturday night, kids who we want to be influencing to become Bulldog members and supporters for the next decades to come, are watching the same old teams from the other side of town.

"Good Friday is a new product and I think the principle the AFL should use to decide this question (of who plays) is very much linked to equalisation.

"The AFL needs to measure itself not just against how much it grew the aggregate attendance from year to year, but also how much it's doing to build the attendances of the smaller franchises.

"This a rolled gold opportunity for AFL to take a long-sighted vision."

After all, Good Friday is a time of giving and sharing.


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