Daniel Talia of the Crows clashes with John Butcher of Port during the AFL Round 15 match between Port Adelaide Power and the Adelaide Crows at AAMI Stadium, Adelaide. (Photo: AFL Media)
SHOWDOWN XXXIV should have been played at a time that reflects its status as South Australia's showcase game, Adelaide coach Brenton Sanderson says.
The game's first bounce will be at 4.10pm on Sunday, meaning it will play second-fiddle to the 3.20pm match being played at the MCG between Collingwood and Hawthorn.
Sanderson said it didn't matter when the game was scheduled from a playing and coaching perspective but in terms of exposure, a slot would have been preferred that reflected its meaning to South Australians.
"We'll certainly play it whenever the AFL fixtures it, but it'd be nice to get a little bit more exposure on the eastern seaboard," Sanderson said.
"I know with the 10 teams in Melbourne, that's obviously where the saturation point is and there's a lot of news and a lot of stories coming out of Melbourne which is fine, but this is a big weekend for South Australian football.
"This game means everything to our fans and our players obviously as well.
"It doesn't bother us as coaches, maybe [it bothers] the commercial side of the footy club."
Power coach Ken Hinkley agreed with Sanderson, but said the twilight Sunday afternoon timeslot shouldn't detract people from attending the game. It is Port's home game and fewer than 3000 general admission tickets remain.
Monday is the start of school holidays in South Australia and Hinkley said that meant Port Adelaide families that might have otherwise faced an early start had no defence for failing to turn up on Sunday.
"There is no excuses for the kids and everyone else in the families, there's no school on Monday, hopefully some of the parents have got some time off too," he said.
"Sunday afternoon in Adelaide it'll be a great opportunity for them to come along and watch two sides go at it."
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