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Sport
Roger Vaughan and Steve Larkin

Local venues to lobby after Gather Round success

AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan at Norwood Oval which drew capacity crowds for Gather Round. (Michael Errey/AAP PHOTOS) (AAP)

Confirmation that the AFL Gather Round stays in South Australia for the next three years is sparking fierce lobbying among local venues to share in the funding windfall.

The inaugural round, borrowing from the NRL's Magic Round concept, had all 18 teams playing in Adelaide and the Adelaide Hills over four days.

It succeeded beyond all expectations, prompting the AFL to strike the three-year deal with SA.

"The phone's lit up like a Christmas Tree overnight from local mayors, local chambers of commerce, local MPS - all advocating for a game in their patch," SA Premier Peter Malinauskas said on Monday.

"That's a good thing - a bit of healthy competition never hurt anybody.

"Naturally they deserve to be considered for next year."

The Premier said the state government is determined to showcase the Barossa and McLaren Vale winery regions by hosting matches, but also stressed local authorities will need to contribute.

While he continues to refuse to go into specifics, the Premier added the monetary benefit had been worth what they paid to host Gather Round.

The popular unconfirmed speculation is that SA paid about $15 million for Gather Round and has reaped $85 million in hospitality and other economic benefits.

"I haven't had anyone not say that this hasn't shot the lights out of anything we've done before," he said.

One obvious problem was ticketing - despite all games selling out, there were empty seats at the two Adelaide Oval double-header fixtures.

"The double-header concept can work, but it needs work to make it happen," the Premier said.

Two of the keys to the round's success were inner-suburban Norwood Oval and Mt Barker, in the Adelaide Hills, which were used alongside Adelaide Oval.

Norwood and Mt Barker received significant upgrades to bring them up to AFL standard.

The Mt Barker oval was a paddock only a couple of years ago and the local council built the venue as part of a new sports park.

The council then out-bid the Barossa Valley to be the Gather Round venue outside Adelaide.

Grandstands and other temporary infrastructure were trucked in from the Adelaide V8 Supercars race, but the ground also had permanent improvements as part of hosting the Brisbane-North Melbourne game.

A big win for Norwood and Mt Barker was that their playing surfaces had major work over the last few months.

There were rave reviews for the two venues, with Mt Barker making the most of its country footy feel.

Norwood was a throwback to the AFL's inner-suburban roots, with the fans feeling closer to the action.

Mt Barker and Norwood had capacity crowds, while Norwood also lucked in with the two best games of the round.

Speaking at Sunday's announcement of the three-year deal, AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan said there had been preliminary talks about how Norwood Parade can be utilised more should the Norwood venue be used again.

"I was talking to the Mayor of Norwood ... and what we can do with Norwood Parade. We've been talking to the premier with what we can do there," McLachlan said.

"(We) now have time to have those discussions. The government will have their views about where it should be."

McLachlan also said the round would be taken outside of SA "at some point".

SA won Gather Round initially ahead of NSW.

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