Vic: State premiers squabble where AFL premiers should play

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Vic: State premiers squabble where AFL premiers should play

By Mike Hedge, Senior Correspondent

MELBOURNE, Aug 27 AAP - If Manchester United was to play Manchester City in the FACup Final, the match - arguably the biggest annual football game in the world - wouldbe at Wembley in London.

American football's biggest match of the year, the Superbowl, is played at a venueselected before the season starts.

As a result, it is invariably in a neutral city.

It is tradition.

In Australia, though, a couple of state premiers are claiming to be up in arms becausethe traditional home of Australian Football insists on sticking to a deal struck a decadeago allowing the MCG to host certain games during the AFL finals series.

The problem arose because Brisbane and Port Adelaide are set to finish first and secondon the AFL ladder.

But under the long-standing contract between the AFL and the Melbourne Cricket Club,only one of the cities can host a preliminary final.

If Brisbane wins that right by taking the top spot, the likelihood is that Port Adelaideand the Adelaide Crows could meet in the other preliminary final, which would have tobe played in Melbourne.

In a piece of admirable grandstanding, South Australian Premier Mike Rann has beenwhining about his state's two teams having to play their final away from home.

This week, Queensland leader Peter Beattie jumped on the bandwagon, accusing Melbourneof behaving as though it was the "centre of the universe".

Mr Rann has even gone to the extent of attempting to distract the Australian Competitionand Consumer Commission (ACCC) from its real work by writing to its chairman asking himto intervene.

He wants ACCC chief Allan Fels to question if the contract between the MCC and theAFL breaches the Trade Practices Act.

Mr Rann previously wrote to the MCG custodian, the Melbourne Cricket Club, asking itto "do the right thing" and allow the highest-placed sides to host the two preliminaryfinals in their own cities.

"We've decided to up the ante on this and we're not prepared to allow the Victoriansto walk all over us," Mr Rann said.

"We believe they need to explain to Professor Allan Fels how what they're doing isn'tin breach of the rules about competition."

Mr Beattie said the Melbourne arrangement was wrong.

"Melbourne is not the centre of the universe - this is Victoria thinking it's the centreof the universe," Mr Beattie told reporters.

Mr Beattie resorted to spurious analogies to emphasise his point, saying that whilehe understood Melbourne was home to Aussie Rules it does not mean it should host mostof the AFL finals.

"Queensland was the birthplace of the Labor Party - how would (Federal Opposition leader)Simon Crean feel if I said the leader of Labor has to come from Queensland?" he said.

Victorian Premier Steve Bracks, meanwhile, thumbed his nose at any notion of Laborsolidarity on the issue.

Mr Bracks declared Mr Rann's approach to the ACCC a "knee-jerk reaction".

He even suggested that the interstate teams would benefit from playing at the MCG.

Apart from that, they should be happy to come to Melbourne because it was right andfitting to do so.

"Melbourne is the home of the AFL, it is the centre of football," Mr Bracks said.

"Why shouldn't the finals be played on the premium ground in the country which hasthe biggest capacity?"

Sydney is notably silent on the matter. Losers.

AAP mh/jlw/jmd/de y

KEYWORD: AFL PREMIERS