GSFL OPINION: Time to test the water with a Saturday grand final and follow the trend of the regular season

As this year’s grand final fast approaches, it feels like the perfect time to raise the age-old debate about whether the Great Southern Football League’s biggest fixture should be played on Saturday or Sunday. The grand final here has always been held on a Sunday, even before the GSFL forming in 1991. However the traditional “Sunday league” motto of the GSFL has fast started to trend the other way, where in fact more games during a season are played on Saturdays. In nearly every round over the last couple of years, there has been two Saturday games and a sole Sunday fixture — and on the odd occasion all three have been played on Saturday. So that fact adds fuel to the fire about the grand final being shifted away from the traditional Sunday timeslot and finding a new home on a Saturday. There are pros and cons with both sides of the argument and ultimately this needs to be a collective decision made with input from all six clubs and the GSFL executive. Sunday is traditional and what people have come to expect. The other positive with Sunday is there is no clash with other winter sports that are happening and in a sense you have your own day in the spotlight, where people from around the region came come together to watch the grand final teams fight it out. As the saying goes, why change something that isn’t broken? Saturday is new and different and probably the more modern way to play country footy. Players enjoy the social aspects of Saturday footy, an extra day to recover before their working week and it is what they are becoming accustomed to with the majority of regular season games being played on Saturday. Clubs would no doubt benefit from a Saturday grand final in the aftermath, more supporters heading back to their home venues while the bar revenue on a Saturday at the grand final venue itself would likely be higher than the following day. Now some of these things are difficult to predict, just what size crowd would attend a Saturday if there were netball, hockey and soccer finals on for example? But you might never know unless you test the water. Clubs in the GSFL seem eager to push for a switch to a Saturday grand final and they have voted with their feet given such a big chunk of the regular season is played in that timeslot. I’m not suggesting any change to this year’s finals, as we are just a couple of weeks out, but perhaps now is as good a time as ever to have a real discussion around it. Next year might be a good chance to trial a Saturday grand final, in all four grades, and see what kind of support you get, how big the crowd is and how the participating clubs found it. If it doesn’t work then you can roll straight back to a Sunday the following year. It’s certainly food for thought and I have no doubt the six GSFL clubs have it high on their agenda, to discuss at the appropriate level. While we are speaking of grand finals, there are two other things that come to mind. Premiership flags and premiership cups. Maybe I’m overthinking it and getting too caught up in watching grand finals at a higher level. But I would love to see clubs receive their premiership flag, in their own colours, at the after-match presentations. It would require some extra work and additional costs, to have two flags ready to go in each grade, but it’s a nice touch that a lot of other country leagues around the country do. As it stands the clubs receive their premiership flag at the season launch of the following year, far too long to wait in my opinion. Premiership cups are traditional and I’m not suggesting anything drastic here but a replica cup, small or large it doesn’t matter, to hand over to the winning teams on grand final day would also be a positive step. They can keep the perpetual cup or shield but to have a replica engraved with the year they won it and displayed proudly in their club for the rest of time speaks sense. Finally I commend the GSFL on their decision to move the elimination final, in light of the looming clash with school country week. Bringing the elimination final forward to Saturday, the same day the qualifying final will be held, is not ideal but it’s a decision that just had to be done. The finals in multiple grades would have been compromised and their quick thinking has avoided a real disaster as kids depart for Perth on that Sunday. The show must go on but we need every team having access to their best possible talent.