ON GRAND Final day this year, when a room full of influential club and AFL leaders were attempting to watch Geelong's clash with Sydney, South Australian premier Peter Malinauskas was being "a pest".
The ambitious state leader had effectively set up a stall in the MCG's Olympic Room, according to AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan, and was telling anyone who would listen why South Australia should win the right to host its own round in 2023.
His antics spread to an AFL presidents' meeting at Melbourne's Crown Metropol, where he set up out the front to stop club leaders on their way out, and AFL media events during Grand Final week as a battle with New South Wales for the special round heated up.
On Friday morning, Mr Malinauskas was vindicated, using an undisclosed amount from a $40m special events fund to secure what promises to be a massive event for his state and a financial windfall for the game.
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"The premier was just single-minded and determined, and that approach took a lot of forms," McLachlan told AFL.com.au on Friday.
"He rang every day, including weekends, for many days to the point where I frankly said, 'Premier, I'm going to screen you until I've got something more to say'. He said, 'I'm a pest and I know that'.
"He camped outside the presidents' meetings uninvited. He wasn't exactly lying out on the floor like a guy who had missed a connecting flight, but it was close.
"He had Powerpoint slides, a vision, and he had mojo … he wasn't going to miss his opportunity."
Mr Malinauskas also turned up to a full schedule of AFL events in Grand Final week, including the MCG's Olympic Room on September 24, where he was again well prepared.
"People were there to watch the game and he set up a stall in the corner of the room with flyers," McLachlan said.
"He worked over every single person in the Olympic Room that he thought may have had some influence in this life or the next … it was like a full court press.
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"I didn't know the premier very well coming into this, but I know him well now and he's got an impressive energy and commitment to getting stuff done for the state."
Mr Malinauskas was on Friday keen to underline his state's preference to be an annual bidder for the League's newest feature round, which is yet to be given an official name.
There is a clear appetite from the AFL, however, to rotate the hosting rights after bids from Western Australia and New South Wales, who each appear poised to get their chance.
Still, Mr Malinauskas couldn't resist a dig at NSW after earning the 2023 rights.
"The objective was to get it first. We wanted to be first. I didn't want anyone else's sloppy seconds, particularly Sydney's," the premier said.
"Now that we've got the event, we put on the best show we can and then that sets us up for the future.
"We get more people to the cricket here for a Test match at Adelaide Oval with our population in comparison to Sydney with their hordes, and footy is no different.
"Turn on the NRL most weekends and it looks like a SANFL game, so we are going to get far bigger crowds here and that is something we're proud of.
"We welcome the competition, but obviously the best team won."
On the potential benefit for South Australia, Mr Malinauskas said his government was "making an investment that is going to more than deliver to the taxpayers of South Australia".
It's for that reason he had called McLachlan immediately after reading a South Australian Tourism Council summary of the AFL's proposal, setting his state's bid in motion.
"I know I've been a pest ever since, but I'm glad it's paid off," he said.
