I would be surprised if more than about 50% of our fanbase knows the GF has been moved to Sydney, or if they did they have forgotten about it. This is the sort of thing the hardcore fans get angry about but the majority either don’t mind it or support it. If we happen to play Wests in the finals it will be a packed house, I can’t see any other outcome, and neither can I blame the majority of fans of both teams for wanting to show support to their team.
I think what the active groups need to pray for is a non-NSW GF which will probably be played in a half empty stadium at best - that will be the worst look for the APL.
But I understand the rationale has been ‘it was never about moving the GF to Sydney, it was that the fans weren’t consulted’ - which I understand.The funny thing is if the fans were consulted and opposed it, I get the feeling the APL would have just done it anyway which is possibly even worse.
I’m not sure I agree with boycotting the entire finals series. If we finish 5th or 6th we’ll be playing away, just like we always would have. Boycotting the GF I’m 100% on board with.
Without leadership though the active area may be full but it’s likely to be silent apart from at key moments in the game. No banners, no flags, little singing.
Have you ever heard of a picket line? Never cross one. I don’t know if the leadership plans to turn up and actively discourage members from sitting in the bay or not, but if someone has asked you not to fill their shoes out of respect for a boycott, it’s good form to do so. Sing as loud as you like from the side lines or Cove Heights.
If they want to do that, it’s up to them, but I think that would be pretty disgusting. No-one owns The Cove, no-one has the right to gatekeep active support because of what ‘the leaders’ of The Cove believe is right.
The Cove leadership have spoken - what if a lot of people disagree?
That would actually be worse imo than what the APL has done. Active support is about inclusivity, not gatekeeping. If 1,000 people turn up and want to sing in Bay 23, then so be it. Absolutely no-one should be stopping someone from actively supporting the team in the way that they want (within reason obviously).
Anyway don’t want to start an argument about something that hasn’t happened, nothing in the announcement suggests some people from The Cove will be acting as security, they have respectfully asked people not to stand there which I personally disagree with but I understand the position.
The people in the cove have given and given and given for coming up on two decades, is it so hard to avoid undermining a boycott, something the cove does not do lighty (2 priors in 18 years). If you want to go to the game, cool, nobody’s trying to stop you, but is it such a hard ask to treat others choices with the same level of respect and not directly undermine their efforts by staying out of the active bays?
I think it’s a simple, undemanding request, and one that reasonable people will see the purpose and point of.
As a season ticket holder who is currently holidaying in Europe, I can confirm that I will be boycotting the Finals series. But seriously, I do fully support the boycott and hope that if others do not boycott the game(s) then they at least do not sit in the Active area.
There are a few further points that I would like to make.
The APL is not going to overturn the Finals decision. Contracts have been signed, grounds have been booked and whatever slim negotiating position supporter groups may have had at the time the decision was announced evaporated the moment someone threw a bucket at Glover.
Although poorly communicated and implemented, the APL decision to move the Finals to one location is not without merit. It solves an economic problem for the ALM and ALW which is this; if the highest ranking team in the Final has hosting rights then, at the start of each season, the APL has to reserve a ground for the Grand Final in Brisbane, Sydney (at least two grounds), Melbourne (at least two grounds), Adelaide, Perth, Newcastle, Gosford and Wellington. That costs money. Having it in one city, even with subsidises for travelling fans, would be significantly cheaper. I prefer the traditional approach but the economics of this may be unsustainable given losses during Covid.
The supporter groups should be focussed on formalising a decision making process with the APL that includes input from supporter groups.
