Braden Quartermaine: Sydney Swans ducking for cover symptom of a wider problem in media coverage of the AFL

It is four decades since South Melbourne’s move to Sydney to give Aussie Rules a footprint in rugby league heartland. But a couple of recent scenes have come as a reminder that while the AFL might be a national competition, it still exists in a country split in two. Sydney and the AFL were left to bemoan the fact that just a single journalist showed up for coach John Longmire’s post-match press conference in round 17 after their impressive win over the Western Bulldogs. A photo of Vince Rugari, a sports reporter with The Sydney Morning Herald, surrounded by a sea of empty chairs ignited social media interest after the presser, broadcast around the country by Channel 7, became a one-on-one interview. Rugari tweeted he found it staggering to be in that situation as two teams battled for a finals spot in ostensibly the country’s biggest sporting league. Just months after the sugar hit of the incredible scenes sparked by Lance Franklin’s 1000th VFL/AFL goal, it was an embarrassing reality check for the sport at a time the State of Origin rugby league crescendo and the Wallabies v England rugby series were dominating coverage in the Sydney media. Yet less than a week after the AFL was left to lament that bad look at a marquee Friday night fixture, the same club was knocking back media requests. The Swans team that came to Perth for Saturday night’s big game against Fremantle included two West Australian products in champion veteran Franklin and rising star Chad Warner. Naturally, both were players of interest ahead of returning to play in front of family and friends in their home State. Interview requests for both players were submitted by multiple media outlets, including The West Australian, and all of them were knocked back. On Friday, the Swans flew out of a world where they struggle for attention and into one where they were the centre of it. Five cameras and half a dozen journos, a remarkable turnout in this age of slimmed-down newsrooms, rocked up to Perth Airport for their arrival. An all-in interview with forward Tom Papley went for 2min 20sec before the players jumped on a bus and went for a run at Optus Stadium. The media were locked out, though this decision was apparently out of the club’s hands. Some of the media might have been attracted to the airport by the possibility of getting some vision of Franklin arriving, or even trying to sneak a question in as he walked past, though the superstar had arrived on an earlier flight. Instead, we went through the same annual charade when the Swans lob in town. The WA media wants to speak to Franklin. The club says no and puts up a different player. So the media ask that poor player about Franklin. The AFL industry is known for the clichés, diversions and coach-speak that gets dished up. But Longmire took it to a comical level after the match on Saturday night, when the old “one game at a time” became one quarter at a time and even one meeting at a time. Asked about the Swans’ top-four chances with five rounds remaining in light of claiming their fourth top-four scalp (Geelong, Melbourne and Fremantle), Longmire wouldn’t answer and claimed “it’s just not relevant”. “We look at our meetings, our training sessions, our game quarter by quarter,” he said. “That’s what we do.” We know finishing in the top four demonstrably provides the best platform for a tilt at a premiership, which is the clubs’ chief reason for existing. Longmire’s record as a coach is beyond question. But as one of the faces of the Aussie Rules presence in the difficult but crucial NSW market, his inclination to shy away from giving Swans fans genuine emotion, insight or reaction after such a cracking win felt odd. And it is a decision to put that mask on. We know he’s not a robot and got a glimpse of something real with the vision of his unrestrained joy when embracing Warner, who starred with a career-high 35 touches, as he returned to the rooms. Longmire has the right to answer questions however he likes. But the media equally has the right to decide whether it’s worth showing up. Also interesting is that one of the reasons for the infamous one-journo press conference was that the AFL’s own website axed its Sydney-based reporter as part of COVID cost-cutting measures. The Swans are far from being on their own when it comes to limited media access, with most of the AFL clubs, including our own two in WA, no better. Ironically, the one year West Coast adopted a policy of more open access to players was in 2018 and they ended up winning the flag. This criticism of clubs is not meant to pretend media outlets themselves are perfect in the way they do their job. Of course, we are not. But at a time the AFL is increasingly looking to sports in the US to set the future direction of the competition and business, the league’s ongoing refusal to implement US-style media access policies seems a glaring oversight. What we are left with is the ‘us against the world’ bunker mentality footy clubs have long thrived on. And the media gets cast as the enemy.