Hawthorn President Jeff Kennett has explained why the Thursday night timeslot for the Qualifying Final between the Hawks and Richmond doesn’t help either club’s membership.
Fans are outraged at the decision to schedule the two big Victorian teams on a weeknight, and Kennett says it will make it difficult for people planning to travel to the game.
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“The AFL are in control of this, we have no say in real terms as you appreciate,” Kennett told SEN Breakfast.
“We not going to satisfy our members, Richmond and Hawthorn, we are not going to satisfy our membership requirements.
“I am cognisant of our membership. It’s going to be very hard for a lot of families, younger people to attend the ground because of the hour and the fact of Thursday night.
“It’s almost impossible for any of our 10,000 members from Tasmania to come across, let alone our other 10-15,000 around the country.
“Putting it at night and particularly on a Thursday night is very very hard for a lot of those who might wish to be there.
“That’s a different issue from the competition itself.
“Putting the interests of our shareholders, our stakeholders, our members first, it does make it tough. We have no say in that.
“There is no point me complaining, I’m just stating the reality that it does eliminate, not just ours, but a lot of Richmond supporters from even contemplating being there.”
The Hawthorn versus Richmond clash will be the AFL’s third Thursday night final over the past three years, after West Coast played the Western Bulldogs in Perth in 2016, while Adelaide hosted GWS last year.
Listen to Jeff Kennett’s chat with Garry Lyon and Tim Watson on SEN Breakfast in the player below