Fremantle chief executive Simon Garlick says he’s not a fan of Opening Round as the AFL continues to be under pressure to scrap the concept after only two seasons.
Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred threw the start to the season into disarray, forcing both Queensland games — Brisbane against Geelong and Gold Coast verses Essendon — to be abandoned and rescheduled for later this year.
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It left only two games this weekend, with Hawthorn defeating Sydney at the SCG on Friday night while Greater Western Sydney will host Collingwood on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the rest of the AFL awaits restlessly for round one with no football outside of New South Wales this weekend.
Garlick joined the likes of former Collingwood and West Coast coach Mick Malthouse in admitting they didn’t like the Queensland and New South Wales focused concept.
“I wouldn’t say I’m an advocate, I understand it. And I get the continued push and enthusiasm to grow the code in those growth markets, those virgin AFL territories of New South Wales and Queensland,” Garlick told ABC Radio.
“We’ve got to be really careful and ensure we continue to find the balance and not do it at the expense of some of our heartland markets that are so important.
“The AFL doesn’t take them for granted but when you put so much effort into the new territories it can’t help but have an impact. Being a team that is sort of off Broadway while others are playing, I just don’t feel comfortable with it.
“I am always an advocate for codes trying things and looking at continuing to get better but this isn’t one that I think is ideal for the overarching code.”
In his exclusive column for The West Australian, Malthouse called for Opening Round “nonsense” and that it should be scrapped.
“I might not be right here, but I believe that Opening Round was designed to fill the gap left in Queensland and New South Wales by the NRL playing it’s first round in Las Vegas,” Malthouse wrote.
“The naivety of this is that it could attract NRL supporters to the AFL. But all it really does is exclude and dessert Aussie Rules supporters from the heartland of football.
“I feel it would be far more meaningful to play nine high-quality games of AFL in each state for round one, later than March 6, so that we don’t put pressure on players to be ready to play footy without miles in their legs.”
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