Gather Round Feedback

[Big Sauce 21]

Still think there should be more games at Adelaide Oval. I just don't think Norwood should get 2 games, I'd give them one and the state game. Other issue is the fixtures seem very similar every year, seems like North play Brisbane every year.

I'd personally go with something like:
Thursday opener- Crows or Port vs vic club
Friday double header Adelaide oval with an assortment of GWS, GC, Sydney, Freo, North, Melbourne, St Kilda etc.
Sat arvo- Adelaide oval
Sat twilight- Norwood game
Sat night- Adelaide oval
Sun lunchtime- Adelaide oval, state game at Norwood
Sunday mid afternoon- Mt Barker/ McLaren Vale/Barossa
Sunday night- Crows or Port vs vic club

Have every game at the AO. Start on Wednesday with Port, Crows on Thursday, Pies On Friday, Hawks Saturday and Carlton Sunday then work the fixture from there. 1 Ticket gets your 3 games on Sat and Sun. Would have the same crowd number as last weekend if every game sold out. I hate the small fields. Too exposed to the weather/winds

 

[Cmarsh]

The Premier of SA is happy to mock the suggestion of Sydney hosting gather round with his 'crowd of 15' comment, but doesn't realise the irony of this when there are four of the nine games in Adelaide held at 10k capacity grounds designed to stave off very bad looking crowds at Adelaide Oval.

 

[garlic munchers]

Gather Round Feedback.

Good to see Butters embracing a thread on BF!

 

[Dory_77]

Went this weekend for the first time. Saw Crows v Blues; Dees v Bombers; Giants v Tigers.
Agree the games should be mixed around more (sick of Melbourne losing to Essendon each year!), with more of the form teams/premiers getting games at AO.

Not sure if having all 9 (or in future 10) games at AO feasible in the event of pissing rain like this year? How chopped up would the ground be for the Sunday games? Granted it's unlikely, but would need to be planned for.

Liked visiting Lyndoch for a game and the atmosphere in the Barossa. Haven't visited before but really enjoyed it; the towns all seemed to really get into it. I enjoyed the city/country split of the weekend. Yeah having all games at AO is probably best footy wise, but as an overall weekend I liked getting around to different parts of Adelaide/Barossa to see and do things and think it makes for a better experience.

 

[Interstater]

Thank you to those that have provided feedback, have enjoyed reading it.

I'm going to scrounge up some FUIC from a Foodworks tomorrow, the withdrawal symptoms are too much.

 

[ShooterMcGavin8]

Have every game at the AO. Start on Wednesday with Port, Crows on Thursday, Pies On Friday, Hawks Saturday and Carlton Sunday then work the fixture from there. 1 Ticket gets your 3 games on Sat and Sun. Would have the same crowd number as last weekend if every game sold out. I hate the small fields. Too exposed to the weather/winds

I don't hate this. One thing I like with the Nrl version is the entire weekend at suncorp stadium. Fans will miss out but they do anyway with those 10k capacities.

 

[Romano]

The Premier of SA is happy to mock the suggestion of Sydney hosting gather round with his 'crowd of 15' comment, but doesn't realise the irony of this when there are four of the nine games in Adelaide held at 10k capacity grounds designed to stave off very bad looking crowds at Adelaide Oval.

Even if the 4 Norwood/Barossa games got 10k each (also capped by capacity too) his point still stands that those similar games played around Sydney would struggle to get much of a crowd at all.

 

[Blackhawk42]

Went this weekend for the first time. Saw Crows v Blues; Dees v Bombers; Giants v Tigers.
Agree the games should be mixed around more (sick of Melbourne losing to Essendon each year!), with more of the form teams/premiers getting games at AO.

Not sure if having all 9 (or in future 10) games at AO feasible in the event of pissing rain like this year? How chopped up would the ground be for the Sunday games? Granted it's unlikely, but would need to be planned for.

Liked visiting Lyndoch for a game and the atmosphere in the Barossa. Haven't visited before but really enjoyed it; the towns all seemed to really get into it. I enjoyed the city/country split of the weekend. Yeah having all games at AO is probably best footy wise, but as an overall weekend I liked getting around to different parts of Adelaide/Barossa to see and do things and think it makes for a better experience.

I also went to GWS vs Richmond.

The vibe inside Ministry of Beer pre-game was incredible. Supporters in all combinations of colours buying tasting paddles, supporting a small local business. Plus a musician playing footy friendly songs inside (Holy Grail etc).

We went a little too hard on the Imperial stouts and hazy IPA's, but it made the subsequent walk up the road to the ground and game itself far more enjoyable.

Amazing, country footy vibe. Loved every second of it.

 

[Cmarsh]

Even if the 4 Norwood/Barossa games got 10k each (also capped by capacity too) his point still stands that those similar games played around Sydney would struggle to get much of a crowd at all.

Ok. If gather round is held in Sydney they can use the Adelaide approach and use smaller grounds to make the crowds look better.

 

[Dory_77]

I also went to GWS vs Richmond.

The vibe inside Ministry of Beer pre-game was incredible. Supporters in all combinations of colours buying tasting paddles, supporting a small local business. Plus a musician playing footy friendly songs inside (Holy Grail etc).

We went a little too hard on the Imperial stouts and hazy IPA's, but it made the subsequent walk up the road to the ground and game itself far more enjoyable.

Amazing, country footy vibe. Loved every second of it.

Yeah I loved that it was local restaurants/businesses doing the food, or the local sport clubs with a BBQ. Really nice atmosphere and probably the nicest weather of the three games I went to.

 

[Interstater]

One thing I've learnt from living in Victoria for the last 18 months is that people really are not that different wherever you go.
It's just the bs we are fed that can make you feel otherwise.

Sure they say mall in a weird way over here but I'm dealing with that.

Say football.
Say footmall.
Say mall.

To be fair, I prefer Vic water now

 

[Cyclops]

One thing I've learnt from living in Victoria for the last 18 months is that people really are not that different wherever you go.
It's just the bs we are fed that can make you feel otherwise.

Sure they say mall in a weird way over here but I'm dealing with that.

Say football.
Say footmall.
Say mall.

To be fair, I prefer Vic water now

Nah we are all campaigners lulling you into a false sense of security . The Melbourne water is full of delicious chlorine, used to be nearly as good as Tassie water.

I know a few SA and WA people, and theyre beaut. Youre right people everywhere have their good and bad.

I really get along with QLD people, my dad was from there (Ingham) and they are very familiar.

Vics do have a common fault, a lot of us are sooky that Sydney is bigger. Goes back to 1890s we were the biggest and richest but the 1890s British Empire depression smashed us harder than the rest of Aus. They went past us, its not fair wah wah. Melbourne shoulda woulda coulda been the capital!

We dont hate SA or WA but if you think we do we'll play up to it for a laugh.

We do treat Tasmania badly, and when the Devils come in it'll get worse.

 

[BulldogMuscle]

Been every year, drive over is easy enough. The price gouging on accommodation is a bit crap but comes with the territory.

We really enjoy it, SA has some great, great food and restaurants, AO is a really really good venue (better food options than Marvel / MCG) - The fixture does need a shake up, but short of that nothing else I can add.

 

[57 Milner]

Ok. If gather round is held in Sydney they can use the Adelaide approach and use smaller grounds to make the crowds look better.

They would need to use smaller grounds for most games in Sydney because very few of the locals would care enough to show up.
Norwood oval wasn't chosen for it's crowd capacity. You could fit more spectators in most other SANFL ovals.
For example Prospect, Glenelg and and Elizabeth.

 

[BigFrizz36]

Nah we are all campaigners lulling you into a false sense of security . The Melbourne water is full of delicious chlorine, used to be nearly as good as Tassie water.

I know a few SA and WA people, and theyre beaut. Youre right people everywhere have their good and bad.

I really get along with QLD people, my dad was from there (Ingham) and they are very familiar.

Vics do have a common fault, a lot of us are sooky that Sydney is bigger. Goes back to 1890s we were the biggest and richest but the 1890s British Empire depression smashed us harder than the rest of Aus. They went past us, its not fair wah wah. Melbourne shoulda woulda coulda been the capital!

We dont hate SA or WA but if you think we do we'll play up to it for a laugh.

We do treat Tasmania badly, and when the Devils come in it'll get worse.

You do know that Melbourne now has a higher population than Sydney?

 

[Cyclops]

You do know that Melbourne now has a higher population than Sydney?

 

[rapidfire7]

I don't like it for many reasons.

One being that it's hard for many regular/average football supporters to be a part of due to the exorbitant hotel and flight costs, etc. Quite scandalous how much they put up the prices really.

I see the whole thing as a bit of an unnecessary junket (which no one asked for), and which is only going to become more and more for the upper class over time.

Tourism SA squeeze every drop they possibly can out of this to promote their state in general, when I am of the strong belief that the round should be primarily about promoting/celebrating the game of Australian Rules Football!
Not constantly telling us about all the wonderful wineries, beaches & hidden delights of SA, etc.

I have many other issues with it too, but if we must have a Gather Round. I believe the northern states is where it should be held. That's where the game needs some very serious promotion.

 

[The Tilt]

So moving to a 24 round fixture?

Yes. They'll need to move to a 24-game per club fixture (or go back to 22) when Tasmania enters. An odd number of clubs mathematically requires an even number of games.

 

[Interstater]

I don't like it for many reasons.

One being that it's hard for many regular/average football supporters to be a part of due to the exorbitant hotel and flight costs, etc. Quite scandalous how much they put up the prices really.

I see the whole thing as a bit of an unnecessary junket (which no one asked for), and which is only going to become more and more for the upper class over time.

Tourism SA squeeze every drop they possibly can out of this to promote their state in general, when I am of the strong belief that the round should be primarily about promoting/celebrating the game of Australian Rules Football!
Not constantly telling us about all the wonderful wineries, beaches & hidden delights of SA, etc.

I have many other issues with it too, but if we must have a Gather Round. I believe the northern states is where it should be held. That's where the game needs some very serious promotion.

Curiosity has got the better of me.
Are you saying this while living in the UK, and have you been to one?

I'm not trying to discredit your opinion, but yeh I'm curious if you've formed that perception from over there.

 

[PrancingPony]

I know a couple of people that went and they said they had the absolute best time, the whole city got behind it and you couldn't go anywhere without footy related stuff. The people calling it football's version of Coachella might be onto something, just sounds like a love letter to the sport.

I might try and go in the next year or two.

 

[The Terrible Thinker]

celebrating the game of Australian Rules Football!

Any one that attends this festival will advocate that this hits the mark, spot on! How many places or games can you go to that features people walking around town in so many different club apparels in a friendly environment.

However I do agree that more should be done for the average punter to get over here and stay. I believe the SA government put vouchers out to subsidise fuel for people road tripping over to counter the current high fuel costs.

I think they should also subsidise bus coaches and The Overland train to get more people here on mass.

Accomodation wise, you probably need to be a bit more clever in finding the best deals. Forget the CBD but look out in the regions that near public transport.

Down where I live near Port Adelaide, there are several hotels around that cater for contractors working at our defence industries which isn't far from the major train line to the city. They are likely to be more reasonably priced.

 

[Gough]

I know a couple of people that went and they said they had the absolute best time, the whole city got behind it and you couldn't go anywhere without footy related stuff. The people calling it football's version of Coachella might be onto something, just sounds like a love letter to the sport.

I might try and go in the next year or two.

Adelaide hosts these sort of things brilliantly for the most part, smaller, niche events like this or Tour Down Under or the Fringe that might get a bit lost in a bigger city but can thrive here because of the smaller population.

 

[Bay53]

Any one that attends this festival will advocate that this hits the mark, spot on! How many places or games can you go to that features people walking around town in so many different club apparels in a friendly environment.

However I do agree that more should be done for the average punter to get over here and stay. I believe the SA government put vouchers out to subsidise fuel for people road tripping over to counter the current high fuel costs.

I think they should also subsidise bus coaches and The Overland train to get more people here on mass.

Accomodation wise, you probably need to be a bit more clever in finding the best deals. Forget the CBD but look out in the regions that near public transport.

Down where I live near Port Adelaide, there are several hotels around that cater for contractors working at our defence industries which isn't far from the major train line to the city. They are likely to be more reasonably priced.

I don't think the SA government subsidised fuel. The AFL did a deal with Shell to give a 10c per litre voucher to anyone with the AFL app, you didn't need to be driving to Gather Round to use it. The Federal Government also cut the fuel excise by 50% not long before the event - a decision that I am sure had nothing to do with Gather Round but did make it easier for those travelling.

The issue doesn't seem to be the cost of getting there by road, it is finding somewhere to stay. How you regulate private businesses, I am not sure - more demand increases the price.

Cost of the tickets to the games are not unreasonable and there are a lot of free footy activities going on. Even things at various pubs with different speakers weren't massively expensive.

So the costs for the football related activities are very cheap - finding a bed is harder.

 

[Mr_Bojangles]

Didn't go this year but the previous two years I went were fantastic, especially Norwood.

Definitely in the 'If you think it's awful you have never been' camp.

The AFL being the AFL though they will take a great thing and ruin it somehow.

 

[SC_Power]

The AFL being the AFL though they will take a great thing and ruin it somehow.

Exhibit A

The AFL.