Former All-Australian midfielder Kane Cornes believes clubs should be given the chance to control the in-stadium sound effects for home games, in order to receive some kind of home ground advantage.
Under his idea, home teams would be able to play music of their own choice, play crowd sound effects like cheering or calls for free kicks and create some semblance of an atmosphere inside the empty stadium.
This would be particularly helpful for the South and Western Australian teams, who will all play at least one home game in Queensland in the opening block of the season.
“Gillon McLachlan said he liked the sound effects so you would think the AFL might do something, just indulge me for a second here,” Cornes told SEN SA Breakfast.
“We know there’s going to be no home ground advantage, apart from playing on your home deck and being familiar with your surroundings, the crowd is certainly not going to be in there.
“Could we have a point where you’re getting a person, almost like a DJ, where it is like a home ground.
“So in the stadium you’ve got your own little DJ – let’s use Adelaide for example.
“If they’re playing a home game at Metricon Stadium, you get Adelaide’s DJ controlling the noise across the stadium so if Adelaide kicks a goal, it is on, there’s roaring, there’s cheering, if there’s a contentious free kick you get the ‘baaaallll’ and things like that.
“This is the DJ controlling the sound. When the opposition kicks a goal, dead silence, nothing.
“When Adelaide kicks a goal there might be some music playing, get the players up and about, could we do something like that to try and give the players a boost?”
Channel 7 has confirmed they will be using artificial crowd noise to create a better viewing experience for fans watching from home.
Of course, players inside the stadium won’t be able to hear that, which opens the door for Cornes’ home-team DJ to provide some atmosphere for the players.