Jonathon Horn Chats NFL in Aus and AFL Finals! (08.09.2026)

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Jonathon Horn (0:14)

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Mark Duffield (0:56)

Here he is again, the Horty One. Yes, Guardian Sports columnist Jonathon Horn joins us now on the show. Jonathon, welcome. Jonathon, are you there?

Jonathon Horn (1:07)

I sure am. How are you, Duff?

Mark Duffield (1:08)

I don't know what happened. It always makes me very nervous when I introduce someone, and then there's just deathly silence coming up next. Hey.

Jonathon Horn (1:16)

I'm here, mate.

Mark Duffield (1:17)

That's good.

And so, the NFL, they're over there where you are. Tell us what it's like to be in Melbourne in September in the middle of AFL finals, and the town is being taken over by Gridiron.

Jonathon Horn (1:30)

It sure has, Duff. Every time I sort of walk out, I'm in the CBD as we speak, and every time I walk outside, there's just odds of 49ers fans. I don't see anyone from the other team here, but they're everywhere, Duff, and they're all about, they all look like they could bench press my car, to be honest, these people walk in the streets of Melbourne. The MCJ itself has been completely upended. It's unrecognizable at the moment, the turf, even the media center, even the car park underneath has sort of been turned into like a press center. So yeah, honestly, and because there's no game of footy this weekend, it's obviously drawing all the attention, not just from overseas press, but from the press here. So look, I heard someone say today that it's got the potential to be the biggest sporting event in Melbourne since the Olympics.

It's got that feel to it this week. It's kind of snuck up on me, I've got to say, but yeah, this is a big deal, Duff.

Mark Duffield (2:39)

It's a big deal, but the biggest sporting event in Melbourne since the Olympics, sorry, but no. I don't think hype makes big events, but tell us, so you've obviously seen these changes to the ground. Tell us about what's different about the media centre. I mean, I know the media centre at the MCG. So what's different? What's been done to that?

Jonathon Horn (3:01)

Well, they've sort of brought in all their own couches and things. So they've built these, they've sort of branded NFL couches and there's just, it's more, I guess, what's happened underneath the ground. I think both teams now have the two change rooms each on either side of the ground. So it's kind of back to that old school MCG, where one team is going to come from the other side of the ground. So they've upended the lockers as well for whatever reason. Apparently, the lockers that AFL players use aren't big enough for Green Island players. So that's all they changed. So it's all very different, Duff. It really brings in the sharp focus that we're lucky there's not a footy game on this weekend, because it would have been...

I'm not sure how they would have been able to do it. There's real doubts on what this ground's got to look like even in time for Hawthorne's preliminary final, which is going to be next Saturday.

So God knows what they would have done if there had been a game the next day, because there's going to be people working around the clock to get the turf, looking vaguely fit for an AFL preliminary final or grand final. And I'm just not sure they would have been able to do any of that for a semi-final. So as always, the AFL have kind of lucked out in a way. They've sort of got away with one here, I think.

Mark Duffield (4:27)

Is this game going to happen over multiple years? Because if it does, I mean, the notion that we're going to dodge this clash in future is not particularly likely. So what happens if we get to a game that has to be played in Melbourne in future?