Gather Round in Canberra might not be such a crazy idea according to GWS Giants coach Adam Kingsley, even if the capital would have to wait a few years to snag the lucrative AFL spectacular.
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When asked in a press conference whether he'd support more games being played in Canberra, Kingsley didn't flinch, and proposed an intriguing argument for the city to snag Gather Round from its current host Adelaide.
"Yeh [we'd like another game or two here], at the expense of some of our away games it'd be better than leaving an empty stadium," Kingsley said after his side's one-point 11.14 (80) to 12.7 (79) victory over St Kilda on Saturday.
"Gather Round at Manuka? That'd be really good. I think you guys would do it really well."
ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr was spotted at the near-sell-out game at Manuka Oval on the weekend.
In late 2022 he renewed a deal worth $28.5 million to keep GWS playing games in Canberra until the end of the 2032 season.
The deal was a $5.5 million increase on the previous 10-year deal, with the one pre-season and three regular season Giants AFL games including an opportunity to buy a fourth. That's in addition to up to two Giants AFLW games, pending the second doesn't clash with cricket matches scheduled.
If Canberra wanted to land Gather Round when South Australia's deal with the AFL expires after the 2026 season, more spending from the ACT government would be needed, however the economic gain for the region would be immense.
The league has not ruled out moving it out of Adelaide when their current agreement is up, with Western Australia the early favourite to win the next hosting rights.
The AFL's feature round sees all 18 clubs descend on one city and its surrounds for nine games across four days. Last year Gather Round pumped $85 million into South Australia's economy and supported nearly 700 jobs as 135,586 people attended at least one game over the entire weekend's action.
The 2024 economic figures from the Gather Round last week are yet to be revealed, but are expected to significantly surpass last season's mark when South Australia reportedly paid approximately $15 million to host the inaugural event.
Giants small forward Toby Bedford supported the idea of playing more games in the capital - whether as part of Gather Round or expanding the ACT government deal - as they claimed the club's first back-to-back win in Canberra since 2018.
"Adelaide is lucky right now and they're doing it well, but yeah, for sure [Gather Round would be good in Canberra]," he said.
"We love playing here. We have about three or four home games here a year and we've spoken about it before, we want to make this place a fortress for us.
"Every time we come down here teams should fear playing us. We want to play our best football and put on a show for the home fans."
The top-of-the-ladder, undefeated Giants copped some nasty injuries in the narrow win over St Kilda on the weekend, but GWS remained confident it wouldn't slow down their record-setting start to the season - the first time it had won its first five games.
"It was unfortunate to see the boys go down and a few injuries but they've been cleared of all major concerns. So, we're staying positive," Bedford said.
Key defender Sam Taylor was taken to Canberra Hospital following a head injury, and veteran Stephen Coniglio exited with a knee issue which was later cleared as "not serious".
"Sam will obviously miss [time] so we'll work through the VFL team and how they performed," Kingsley said.
"We feel like we have a lot of players in form. Callan Ward should be available so that'll be an extra piece. He got through the VFL and proved he could sustain some contact on that shoulder with no problems."
"If you're a flag favourite after round five, it doesn't mean a lot to be fair," Kingsley added.
"We've still got 19 games left before we earn the right to play finals. We couldn't have asked for a better start, but that's all it is - a start."
The Giants' next visit to Manuka Oval will be in two weeks for a historic ANZAC Day night-time clash against last season's grand finalists, the Brisbane Lions. GWS then host the Hawks in Canberra in round 21.