The AFL has been criticized for allowing Brisbane to host the AFLW grand final at a venue that is “nothing more than a glorified training ground”.
The Lions won the right to host the season seven decider on Friday, but with the bigger Gabba and Metricon Stadium unavailable, Brisbane have turned to Springfield as their new base.
Shockingly, the new $80 million Brighton Homes Arena only has 600 grandstand seats available and only holds 8000 people.
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Fox Footy’s AFLW expert Chyloe Kurdas questioned whether the right decision was made to send the game to Springfield, where the Lions’ players have yet to hit the grass.
“It’s an interesting decision,” he said Friday night.
“It’s only got 8,000 capacity, it’s been a rush to get it ready, is the surface going to be OK?
“There will be a lot of questions, a lot of eyes on it. I don’t think the competition is ready to say no to growth yet.
The Lions still have a chance to host the AFLW final | 01:08
“When you have venues that can hold 30/40/50,000 available next week, I don’t know if it’s the right call.”
SEN reporter Sam Edmund also questioned the choice of Brighton Homes Arena, where Brisbane will play either Melbourne or North Melbourne.
“He’s never hosted a game, he’s only put on turf for God’s sake,” he said.
“It could host an AFLW grand final which history has shown can attract more than 50,000 people.”
The AFLW grand final has attracted an average of 23,000 fans across the five deciders, with Adelaide Oval hosting the last three, including the 2019 grand final which was attended by 53,034.
3AW reporter Tom Elliott believes Marvel Stadium would have been the best choice for the AFLW given its capacity.
Lions won’t be afraid of GF drama | 00:44
“They’re talking about a ballpark called Springfield that’s nothing more than a glorified training camp,” he said this week.
“I find it totally amazing.
“The AFL continues to say it takes women’s football seriously – playing the grand final at Marvel Stadium!
“If 50,000 people want to get up and watch the two best women’s teams go head-to-head … play it at Marvel Stadium here in Melbourne because Marvel Stadium is owned by the AFL and already you are done
“Don’t give home advantage. Just don’t have a women’s grand final on what amounts to a practice track.”
Fox Footy’s David King believes the AFL set a precedent when it came to crowd size priority by allowing Richmond to lock thousands of fans out of last weekend’s elimination final .
The Tigers keep the final home decision | 01:15
The Tigers chose to play their home final at the club’s “spiritual home”, Punt Road, which only held a few thousand fans.
“Richmond has set the course here – it’s not about the volume of people you can get to the venue,” King told SEN.
Edmund was concerned the AFL had “walked into a battle they can’t win” by moving the AFLW season to later in the year, outside of its usual summer timeslot.
With the grand final in November instead of March/April, Brisbane’s biggest venues, the Gabba and Metricon Stadium, are already booked.
The Gabba continues under the authority of cricket, with a Sheffield Shield game and an Australian Test in the coming weeks, while the Metricon Stadium hosts a music festival featuring international superstar Calvin Harris.
Gabba will not be available for AFLW GF | 00:36
“Now there’s a debate every year from interstate clubs: ‘We want the grand final in Perth, Adelaide, whatever’. With the MCG contract it’s never going to happen. I think that’s admirable, but with this new time slot on the calendar , they have gone straight into a battle with cricket that they cannot win,” he said.
Even Lions star Emily Bates admitted the players had yet to step onto the newly laid Brighton Homes Arena turf.
“While the turf was laid just a month ago, we traveled to a nearby community field to train,” he said after the preliminary final win.
“(But) we’ll be able to train there this week.”
In a statement, the AFL confirmed it had carried out an “independent turf inspection” this week, where the pitch was deemed “fit for play”.