Perth’s Optus Stadium hosted the 2021 AFL Grand Final. All images courtesy of VenuesLive.
A Grand Final for the ages Claire Krol explains how Perth’s Optus Stadium delivered the 2021 AFL Grand Final … in just 25 days
W
hen AFL Chief Executive Gil McLachlan announced Optus Stadium would host the 2021 Toyota AFL Grand Final, the VenuesLive team in Perth reacted with a sense of excitement … and more than a hint of foreboding. It was 31st August, and the Grand Final was scheduled in only 25 days’ time. The permanent staff of less than 100 didn’t know it then, but in the next 25 days they would also deliver an AFL Semi-Final, an AFL Preliminary Final, a Bledisloe Cup rugby Test, an Open Training session for 10,000 fans and the Brownlow Medal event, followed a week later by the WA Football Finals. In all, 256,000 fans would pass through the gates of Optus Stadium in a month, while the VenuesLive team also delivered a busy Meetings and Special Events (MASE) program off the
pitch, highlighted by the lavish Brownlow Medal Dinner. To understand the magnitude of this feat requires some perspective … in 2020 Brisbane had 55 days to prepare to host the Grand Final only. There was also the added complexity of delivering a series of events in the age of COVID, when nothing is straight forward. For Optus Stadium and VenuesLive WA Chief Executive Mike McKenna (pictured right) and his team, being custodian of the AFL Grand Final carried significant responsibility. McKenna explains “the AFL Grand Final is the highlight of the season and the pinnacle of a player’s career - we wanted to deliver an outstanding event, not just for those watching at the Stadium and from home, but for the players, the clubs, the AFL … everyone who had worked so hard to ensure the 2021 season could even be completed. “As someone who had lived for several years in Victoria and worked for the Essendon Football Club, I knew only too well where this event was placed in the hearts and minds of Victorians. We wanted to put on a show that paid homage to the Grand Final legacy, with a uniquely Western Australian flavour.” Behind The Scenes Once the announcement had been made, the VenuesLive team quickly swung into action, pulling together a Steering
18 Australasian Leisure Management Issue 147
