Been thinking about a night Grand Final and what it means to different people. My first clear football memory was the 1996 Grand Final. If that was at night, there was zero percent chance of six-year-old me being allowed to stay up for it all. Zero.

If I didn’t watch it live, instead relying on the VCR on Sunday morning, does it still have the same magic to me? Is the ‘Rock was there, Blakey was there, Freeborn is there!!’ call embedded in my brain for the rest of time? Do I become as much of a North fan as I end up?

Not that I have kids, but I’d imagine the majority of those under 10 last night either didn’t stay up, couldn’t stay up, or tried to stay up but couldn’t make it to the end, missing out on the jubilation when you feel like you’ve ridden the bumps with everyone.

We’re at our most impressionable at that young age, and we’re throwing away the ability to create a lasting memory that pays off in years and generations to come – to achieve what? Some extra $$ and the chance to be a poor man’s Superbowl?

Assume the eventual goal is a twilight GF and this was the first step in a disrupt-then-reframe tactic. Feel like most people would accept that, but hope when the decision is made there’s a consideration to the different opinions between those with a platform and those who don’t.