+1 for me. i'd make it a point of flying in from perth, and probably paying ridiculously inflated airfares to show my support for the game.

People arguing about players who may be offended by having to play on Good Friday need to consider that Jewish people "don't roll on Shabbos" (Saturday)....do we stop playing games on Saturday's as well ? where does it end ?

What if Essendon* made the Grand Final and it was one of those years where the Grand Final was actually played in October. Ramadan starts in October usually - do we cancel the Grand Final in respect of Bachar Houli's beliefs ?

It all starts to get a little stupid doesn't it ?

By paying homage to a Christian holy day and ignoring other faiths we are effectively saying that Christianity is somehow deserving of superior treatment.

The idea of not playing on Saturday to respect the Jewish faith or cancelling the GF to respect the Islamic faith is no more ridiculous then not playing on Good Friday to respect the Christian faith.

The only fair approach is for the AFL to act dispassionately toward all religions and let people decide for themselves if they will go to the game.

90% support for this idea.

The people have spoken.

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Spot on - true separation of church and state (and sport!) is essential in a modern democracy (take note George W. Bush), and Demetriou and his cronies need to understand that it is not their mandate to rule on such matters.

Top post Blueroyal. If you are going to align yourself with one belief you do so to the detriment of others, including those who hold no belief. Send the pope a ticket and give him a fish pie at half time.

I know that there is one muslim, but how many AFL players are Jewish?

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“It is a state of mind, a system of belief, a way of seeing the world, a deep faith that, because you are Carlton, you belong to something great.” - Mike Fitzpatrick articulating what Out of the Blue means.

Snap Ruckus!

It's irrelevant.

The problem some of us have is that many christians in this country continue to believe that their beliefs should in some way be given greater respect than other belief systems.

If not they'd be fighting to ban football during September.

But they don't.

For many of us who aren't religious all we're asking for is a level playing field where a sporting calendar is not subject to constraints placed upon it by ANY religion. If people want to believe and follow particular practices they're more than welcome to it but the current respect afforded christianity in our sporting calendar is discriminatory; one religion is placed above others.

The only feasible option is to remove such constraints completely. Players who do not wish to play football on holy days of any sort will have to make that decision themselves. It's then a personal decision rather than an organisational or societal one.

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“When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn't become a king. The palace turns into a circus.”
Turkish Proverb

I was actually curious about the Jewish players, not to argue my case.

I am all for abolishing Good Friday as a holiday seeing as there are so many other faiths out there and not all religions get a public holiday for their beliefs BUT then don't be surprised if interest in playing on this day, which is no longer a public holiday and therefore just another Friday falls by the way side.

You can't have it both ways.

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“It is a state of mind, a system of belief, a way of seeing the world, a deep faith that, because you are Carlton, you belong to something great.” - Mike Fitzpatrick articulating what Out of the Blue means.

No public holiday!!!

That'll change a few opinions

I'll happily sacrifice all religious public holidays in exchange for annual leave days to be taken at my convenience.

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Richard Pratt - A Carlton legend.

What about the Queen's Birthday?

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“It is a state of mind, a system of belief, a way of seeing the world, a deep faith that, because you are Carlton, you belong to something great.” - Mike Fitzpatrick articulating what Out of the Blue means.

But if it is no longer a public holiday then the argument for/against the game is irrelevant.

It will just become a regular Friday night game won't it?

Bingo!

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“It is a state of mind, a system of belief, a way of seeing the world, a deep faith that, because you are Carlton, you belong to something great.” - Mike Fitzpatrick articulating what Out of the Blue means.

Ditto.

Anzac day is the only public holiday of any significance to me.

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Richard Pratt - A Carlton legend.

What about Labour Day?

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“It is a state of mind, a system of belief, a way of seeing the world, a deep faith that, because you are Carlton, you belong to something great.” - Mike Fitzpatrick articulating what Out of the Blue means.

It's just a day off. I'd prefer to take it at my convenience.

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Richard Pratt - A Carlton legend.

Not sure how many Jewish footballers there are in the AFL - not many at a guess. The last (and possibly only) one I remember was Ezra Poyas.

I'm not really fussed about the Good Friday aspect in particular DUC. The public holiday ain't going anywhere so we might as well use it for football.

If the holiday was to be removed then I'd hope the AFL would find a way of sharing the public holidays that do remain (such as ANZAC Day) amongst all of the teams.

Better still, if you remove Good Friday as a public holiday then it'd need to be replaced by a public holiday for another reason. Play footy then instead.

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“When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn't become a king. The palace turns into a circus.”
Turkish Proverb

Deano are you saying you want the likes of Good Friday and Queen's Birthday to be given to you as 2 additional annual leave days?

Where you work, can you not take time off, when you want to?

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“It is a state of mind, a system of belief, a way of seeing the world, a deep faith that, because you are Carlton, you belong to something great.” - Mike Fitzpatrick articulating what Out of the Blue means.

Of course I can.

But public holidays that mean nothing to me (Good Friday, Queens Birthday, Christmas) I'd rather work through and have as extra annual leave days.

I don't get what's so hard to understand?

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Richard Pratt - A Carlton legend.

I'm just waiting for the comment of 'if you don't believe in Easter you shouldn't get the day off'

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