Big clubs will make Good Friday a big occasion: McGuire
Eddie McGuire warns AFL against using 'smaller' clubs for blockbuster
COLLINGWOOD president Eddie McGuire has urged the AFL to use two big clubs in any Good Friday fixture, warning that two smaller clubs might not have the desired outcome.
Many believe 2014 is the last time the AFL will not have a game scheduled for Good Friday, with outgoing AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou conceding it was "inevitable".
"Whether the AFL decides a smaller team, to use the vernacular of the day, and a bigger team plays, that might be one way," McGuire said.
"But I don't think putting two smaller teams together is going to get the job done."
McGuire said he wanted make sure the AFL gets the occasion right, taking into account reservations of past League regimes, as well as complementing the Good Friday Appeal.
"It has to fit into the feel of the day, otherwise the negativity that will be rebound back on football will be profound," McGuire said.
"It's a big go, this is not just a fixturing decision. This is a seismic shift in the whole lay of the AFL and where it sits in the community.
"So we need to get it right and if we're going to do it at all, we need to make sure it works for everybody involved."
McGuire revealed the Royal Children's Hospital approached the Magpies a few years ago to pitch a city v country fixture, which would involve a Collingwood-Geelong match-up.
While acknowledging that idea had merit, McGuire said his club was not openly lobbying to be one of the teams involved in playing on the religious holiday.
McGuire implored the AFL Commission to stick by the existing equalisation agreement, in regard to the fixturing of games.
"The deal was that the fixture would be used to bring more money into the game," McGuire said.
"When the new CEO of the AFL is announced, and the new-look AFL Commission get together, it's imperative that we build more 'blockbusters' – to use the term – that generate more cash flow into the competition."
McGuire added: "If you're going to have a blockbuster you better get somebody to turn up and watch it. So we need it to be a big game."