Speaking on The Sounding Board podcast Damian Barrett has thrown up a leftfield option for the Showdown, suggesting to play one of the games in Melbourne.
The AFL has scheduled both Showdowns for Saturday slots on Fox Footy, not Channel Seven.
“I think the AFL has missed a major opportunity here to take the Showdown into the Friday night slot,” Barrett told the Sounding Board podcast.
“I don’t buy that there’s no national interest.
“I’d have more interest in that game than most games.
“You know what they should do, and there’d be issues with Adelaide Oval, there’d be issues with the two clubs obviously, but play it in Melbourne.
“Just try something different. Play it in Melbourne, build it up.
“Is it that silly? I reckon they’d get 65,000 to 75,000.
“I’m not saying do it next year, but work towards it. I think there’d be major interest in it.”
Both Showdowns last year went down to the wire in thrilling contests, but both were stuck in the Saturday twilight slot.
Listen to the full discussion on The Sounding Board: