![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/poster-fallback.png\"\/)
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FRESH GATHER ROUND DEAL UNVEILED<\/p>\n
A new three-year Gather Round deal between the AFL and South Australian government has finally been struck.<\/p>\n
The AFL on Thursday morning confirmed a contract extension had been agreed to, which will see the popular round remain in SA until at least 2029.<\/p>\n
The 2027 Gather Round will see the introduction of a \u2018player parade\u2019, with players from each club to participate in a new free-of-charge fan event.<\/p>\n
\u201cGather Round has become one of the biggest and best events in the country and we are thrilled to once again partner with South Australia,\u201d AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon said.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom packed and sold-out stadiums, the Macca\u2019s Footy Festival, the Parade at Norwood, Bounce around the Barossa and everything in between, Gather Round has captured the imagination of footy fans and delivered an event like nothing else in Australian sport.<\/p>\n
Fremantle celebrate a goal during the AFL Gather Round match. Picture: Phil HillyardSource: News Corp Australia<\/p>\n
\u201cWe thank Premier Malinauskas, the South Australia Government and the SA community for embracing Gather Round, we\u2019ve built something truly special that continues to grow each year, and it has become an unmissable few days during the footy season.\u201d<\/p>\n
Premier Peter Malinauskas said SA had \u201cshown that we are the best state to deliver a successful Festival of Footy like no other\u201d, declaring: \u201cGather Round belongs in South Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dates and venues for the 2027 Gather Round will be confirmed in the coming months. A new boutique venue is set to be built in the McLaren Vale wine region to support Gather Round, similar to the one in Lyndoch in the Barossa Valley.<\/p>\n
However, the AFL didn\u2019t release any details around future Origin plans.<\/p>\n
It was reported last month that SA\u2019s return to Origin footy would be part of the new Gather Round deal<\/a>. According to the report, SA would play \u201cinterstate\u201d next year \u2014 most likely against Western Australia \u2014 before hosting an Origin match at Adelaide Oval likely in 2028.<\/p>\n PICS OF TIMELY \u2018OLD ESSENDON\u2019 MEETING EMERGE<\/p>\n Intriguing photos of a timely \u201cold Essendon\u201d catch-up emerged on Wednesday night as the Bombers continue work on a criteria for their new coach search.<\/p>\n Former Bombers coach James Hird and ex-club president Paul Little arrived at the MCG for Neale Daniher\u2019s state funeral service together on Wednesday.<\/p>\n But Channel 7 reporter Mitch Cleary revealed later that the duo had met with club icon Kevin Sheedy earlier in the day.<\/p>\n It comes weeks after Hird, who coached the club between 2011 and 2015, declared his interest to participate in Essendon\u2019s process to find its next senior coach following Brad Scott\u2019s sacking.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we can tell you tonight is the vision at the MCG came after a catch-up between Hird, Little and Kevin Sheedy for an hour, I believe, in Paul Little\u2019s South Yarra office just off Toorak Road,\u201d Cleary said on <\/a>The Agenda Setters<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s a former president of the club, Caroline Wilson has spoken about the work Paul Little\u2019s doing behind the scenes to try and get James Hird back to the club. And you\u2019ve got Kevin Sheedy \u2013 a director more recently than Paul Little at the footy club \u2013 who came out quite vocally and quite strongly in the pursuit of James Hird to coach the Essendon footy club the last time (in 2022).<\/p>\n \u201cI reckon they\u2019re scheming. I reckon there\u2019s a bit of plotting going on in the offices of South Yarra today.\u201d<\/p>\n Cleary later suggested \u201cscheming\u201d was a touch strong, but suggested \u201cthere\u2019s got to be a little bit more to it\u201d than three friends catching up.<\/p>\n \u201cJames Hird\u2019s a busy man, he spent an hour outside of the funeral to catch up with Sheedy and Little. I think there\u2019s a bit going on,\u201d Cleary said.<\/p>\n It comes as Herald Sun<\/a> chief football writer Jay Clark reported<\/a> Essendon\u2019s new-look football department could include Craig Vozzo \u2013 the man who stepped down as club chief executive only six months ago to relocate back to South Australia to prioritise family and personal commitments.<\/p>\n While Vozzo has continued to work for the Bombers as a consultant from Adelaide, Clark reported the ex-CEO\u2019s role \u201ccould be upgraded into something more permanent for next season\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The AFL is set to unveil a new Gather Round deal on Thursday morning. Plus pictures of an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":728532,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,12259,69039,64,63,689,55,639,352809,696,12928,11387,40739,298636,174856,3499,667,2105,352811,48340,19125,681,352810,86147,292251,289435,647,12937,352808,677,345044,24805,1124,340719,85,22177,352134,660,288547],"class_list":["post-728531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-andrew-dillon","tag-archie-roberts","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-boutique-venue","tag-brad-scott","tag-caroline-wilson","tag-chief-executive","tag-chief-football-writer","tag-club-icon","tag-coach-search","tag-daniel-pockett","tag-footy-club","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-intriguing-meeting","tag-james-hird","tag-jay-clark","tag-jon-ralph","tag-josh-money","tag-kevin-sheedy","tag-lyndoch","tag-mclaren-vale","tag-melbourne","tag-mitch-cleary","tag-new-look-football-department","tag-oceania","tag-paul-little","tag-peter-malinauskas","tag-south-australia","tag-south-yarra","tag-sports","tag-state-funeral","tag-state-funeral-service","tag-victoria","tag-yarra"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/728531","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=728531"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/728531\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/728532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=728531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=728531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=728531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}