As a proud West Australian, Gather Round should stay in SA
Erin Harwood
There’s a part of me that would love nothing more than to see Gather Round brought West.
A proud Western Australian, the idea of Optus Stadium full to the brim across a full weekend of footy, and the city buzz that comes with it, is undeniably appealing.
But on my flight home from a weekend in Adelaide for Gather Round, I couldn’t help but feel there’s no way our state – or any other for that matter – could come close to replicating what I’d just experienced.
What South Australia has built over the past four years feels less like a round of AFL and more like a moving carnival.
It starts the moment you land. Cardboard cutouts of players line the airport walkways. At baggage claim, a DJ plays as people dressed in disco ball costumes welcome fans spilling off flights.
Before leaving the terminal, you’re in it.
That’s just the start.
Live sites hum from morning to night. Pubs are wall-to-wall, all televisions set to the footy, tables shared by a blend of rival supporters.
Then there’s the walk that quite literally took my breath away. The steady stream of fans crossing the pedestrian bridge over the River Torrens, a sea of colours converging on the same destination. It’s what I imagine would be the closest possible imitation of AFL Grand Final Day.
At the heart of it is geography. Adelaide’s centrality is a quiet advantage that becomes glaringly obvious when you’re there. Fans from Victoria can pile into cars and make the trip. Visitors from other states face relatively short, affordable flights.
Gather Round works because it is accessible, which feeds directly into something harder to quantify, but impossible to ignore once you experience it – atmosphere.
And the numbers back it up.
A record 270,018 fans attended games over the weekend, despite torrential rain, cold conditions, a cost-of-living crunch and skyrocketing fuel prices. In an environment where every dollar is being stretched, people still showed up in force.
That says everything.
For four days, Adelaide feels like it belongs entirely to football. Every pub, every street corner, every conversation is tied to the AFL. Fans from all clubs mix in a way that rarely happens across a normal home-and-away round. You’re not just attending a game, you’re part of a rolling festival that follows you from venue to venue.
Crucially, it all revolves around a city built for it.
Adelaide Oval is a five-minute walk across the footbridge into the heart of the CBD. It’s seamless. You leave the ground and shortly after you’re among bars, restaurants and packed laneways, still surrounded by fans dissecting what they’ve just watched.
That flow is everything.
Perth, for all its strengths, doesn’t replicate it in the same way. Optus Stadium is a world-class venue, but its separation from the city in East Perth – removed from the main entertainment strip – changes the rhythm of an event like Gather Round. It becomes more segmented, less organic.
And then there’s the infrastructure beyond the marquee footy ground.
South Australia hasn’t just relied on Adelaide Oval. The State Government has invested heavily in turning Gather Round into a multi-venue event – including out in the Barossa Valley and previously, in the hills.
Western Australia, right now, isn’t at that level.
Leederville Oval, for example, simply isn’t up to the standard required to host AFL fixtures in a showcase round like this. To even enter the conversation, WA would need to commit significant funding into upgrading community football facilities and building a network of venues capable of sharing the load.
That’s not a criticism, it’s just the reality of where things sit.
Because Gather Round isn’t just about hosting games. It’s about creating a nationwide experience, and that’s where South Australia has set the benchmark.
None of this is to say Roger Cook and the WA Government shouldn’t be ambitious. In fact, it should be the opposite.
We absolutely should be looking at ways to create our own version of a footy festival.
Something that plays to our state’s strengths and unique identity.
The successes of State of Origin in WA – as well as last year’s Indigenous All Stars show there’s no shortage of appetite.
But that doesn’t mean taking something that is already working somewhere else.
South Australia has invested in this. It has built the infrastructure, committed the funding, and created an atmosphere that feels authentic, rather than forced or manufactured.
After experiencing it firsthand, that’s the part that sticks.
You can replicate fixtures. You can upgrade venues. You can even throw money at events.
But atmosphere – real, organic, city-wide atmosphere is much harder to manufacture.
And right now, Gather Round has found its home.