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The AFL tries to steal the spotlight from the Socceroos with the BIZARRE decision to launch their first round draw for 2023 during the do-or-die clash with Argentina, and the fans aren’t happy.
- The AFL launched its first round draw during the Socceroos and Argentina madness
- Fans criticized management for trying to bring Australia’s success in Qatar to light
- The MCG is set to host four mega-events expecting close to 150,000 fans.
The AFL tried to steal the limelight from the Socceroos by publishing its 2023 first round draw during the Australians’ round of 16 clash against Argentina, with fans criticizing the governing body for acting like ‘flogs’.
The 202 season will kick off on Thursday, March 16 with Carlton and Richmond set to square off in the latest installment of their long-running rivalry.
Fans were quick to lash out at the AFL’s bad timing when news broke during the must-play clash in Qatar, with league chief executive Gillon McLachlan facing flurries of abuse.
‘Gil and his cronies are being absolute jerks this morning. Show some respect, will you? He lives by the values you try to shove down our throats for at least a day, spanks’, a fan tweeted.
AFL CEO Gil McLachlan (pictured speaking to the media ahead of the AFL Grand Final) will not be happy with the reaction to the launch of the 2023 first round draw.
Fans criticized the sport’s governing body for publishing the schedule as all of Australia was glued to Craig Goodwin (pictured) and his Socceroos teammates facing Argentina in a do-or-die World Cup clash.
‘AFL drops their round 1 matches right at the start of the Socceroos game. Deliberate of course. Trying to take his eyes off the sokkah’s dunk. They would be hating all the attention on football right now and packed Fed Square and AAMI Park and venues all over Oz. Full protection mode,” another disgruntled viewer wrote.
Veteran sportswriter Stephen Quartermain tweeted: ‘Love the @AFL. Drop the 2023 Round 1 match as @Socceroos take on Argentina in the World Cup.
‘As a fan of both sports. This petty behavior only makes the AFL look childish and unprofessional. Then again, it’s the AFL…” one fan responded to Quartermain’s post.
“Big AFL fan and if there’s one thing I couldn’t care less about this morning…it’s the AFL meet,” Steven Bevan tweeted.
Some users took the news as a double injection of sports pain to start the day.
‘Socceroos lose and AFL announce North will not play in Port round 1? Morning full of disappointment,” commented one fan.
McLachlan (left) and Robbie Williams (right) anticipate the spectacle of last year’s grand finale. Fans were stunned as the league failed to read the room with the timing of its Round 1 announcement.
If the AFL thought it could steal the show from the Socceroos, they were wrong, as Aussies everywhere were glued to the action (pictured, Argentinian goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez saves Aussie youngster Garang Kuol’s shot in the dying minutes of the game)
The AFL will publish the schedule for the next 14 rounds of 2023 later in the week.
Perth were ruled out of hosting any of the first round matches due to an Ed Sheeran concert due days before the start of the season.
Venues must have a minimum of eight days to replace the turf to ensure the pitch meets AFL standards.
New St Kilda manager Ross Lyon (pictured) will face Fremantle in Round 1 after he was sacked by the Western Australian club three years ago.
Ross Lyon will return as manager at Marvel Stadium, with the Saints set to take on his former club Fremantle.
Alastair Clarkson and the Kangaroos await on the West Coast at the same Marvel location, which will host the anticipation of two returning coaches.
The runners-up from the 2022 competition at the Swans take on the Gold Coast rather than get a chance to make up for their flogging grand finish in a rematch with Geelong.