The Buzz: Gil must listen to fans

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ANDREW Demetriou took a decade as AFL boss to find out what Joe Punter is shocked to find the minute he enters the MCG.

Demetriou recently took his kids into the MCG outer away the fine dining of the official AFL lunch and was stunned to cough up $32 for three buckets of chips, a sports drink and two waters.

The Pascoe Vale-raised, former AFLPA boss has shown himself to be a man of the people, but he sounded like a suit-wearing toff venturing into the cheap seats for the first time.

Like a politician out of touch with the concerns of the voting public.

WHAT ISSUES SHOULD GILLON MCLACHLAN MAKE TOP PRIORITY? CHAT LIVE WITH RALPHY AT 1PM ON WEDNESDAY ...

Especially given he continues to say the AFL is not responsible for food prices, when of course the AFL deigns to play at the stadiums that put catering rights up for tender.

That kind of comment makes it clear why Gillon McLachlan — set to be announced as the new AFL CEO in the imminent future — must conduct a listening tour of the AFL this year as he takes over from Demetriou.

Spending the rest of the year in the outer listening to Joe Punter wouldn't be the worst start.

So what are the key issues for McLachlan and how best should he go about tackling them as the AFL attempts to reinvent its public profile?

— Ticketing. Don't tinkle down the public's back and tell them it's raining.

If the AFL needs to ramp up ticket prices to support the game, don't disguise it as "variable" or "dynamic" pricing, just fess up.

If that money goes to the clubs or the AFL or the expansion clubs or equalisation, then tell us exactly what the breakdown is too.

And don't drop big-ticket items like variable in a sneaky press release on a Friday arvo then apologise for lack of communication because it insults the intelligence of the fan.

North Melbourne and Western Bulldogs have signalled their intentions to play on Good Friday. Picture: Michael Klein Source: News Corp Australia

— Good Friday. Build it and they will come.

Ignore power clubs like Essendon and give it to Dogs and North Melbourne and give them five years to build something special.

If they can't sell it out and make extra millions for the Good Friday Appeal, strip them and give someone else a crack.

— Make 2015 the Year of the Fan.

Every club holds one open training session a week, the fans get into NAB Challenge games free if they buy a club membership.

Urge clubs to open up their clubs to allow inner sanctum experiences, and make them speak regularly through the media to their stakeholders — the fans.

They are the game's heroes and we rarely hear them speak but for paid TV show appearances.

Make 2015 the Year of the Fan, says Jon Ralph. Source: News Limited

— Congestion and mauling.

Tug the coat of those on the AFL Commission and footy boss Mark Evans and convince them rotations are hurting the game. Not killing it, but hurting it. And then hasten slowly.

Reduce interchange to 90 or 100 next year, and then take another look. Don't waste another year with the meaningless 120 cap.

— Improve the AFL's brand through plain speaking and transparency.

Less spin, more consistency and less trickery.

The AFL should be there to serve the fans, not take them for granted. The fans still flocked through the turnstiles through the global financial crisis and the Essendon saga yet the AFL put up ticket prices again both in general admission and blockbuster games.

— Don't kill the golden goose. People love footy, but for 29 weeks of the year including finals, plus 18 pre-season games in 18 days?

Demetriou said this weekend that every year we debated the game's aesthetics before crowds and the game itself bounced back, and he may prove right.

But McLachlan would do well to tap into what on face value seems a more long-lasting discontent and ask the fans themselves about the issues at the heart of this great game.

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