It’s AFL Grand Final Day – not that you’d know from the treatment we received at Ainslie Football Schnitzel Club. The big screen, in thesmall area just apart from the pokies, was crowded when we arrived 20 minutes before ball-up, so we found a seat in the decidedly uncrowded bistro area, near a TV without the sound on. Fine, we thought, until all of the screens in the bistro were switched off a minute before ball-up. Luckily, they returned three minutes after ball-up, still sans sound, which wasn’t switched on until about 5 minutes in.
A hard-fought game ensued, punctuated by raffle announcements, until the Hawks finally put it to bed. Unfortunately, post-game commentary went unheard, as the screens & sound were exinguished immediately after the final siren, ten minutes after the bistro’s bar closed.
When we inquired of Adrian, the duty manager, as to why paid members were receiving this treatment on grand final day at ostensibly the most relevant venue in the inner north, if not the Territory, we were brushed off with a terse “we need to reset the bistro for dinner”, before Adrian went about whatever business was more important than calming jilted members.
Why, of all places, are Ainslie Football Club so disinterested in Aussie Rules’ biggest day?