Footy blockbuster a winner

The round 14 clash was the third-highest rating AFL match in Melbourne this year. It also attracted almost double last year's 311,000 average audience for Sunday football in Melbourne.

The match had an average national audience of 964,000, with the peak audience across Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth at 1,433,000. But AFL fans in Sydney and Brisbane missed out on watching the match live on the Seven Network, with the Swans-North Melbourne match shown instead.

A reader posted a comment on the Big Footy forum to express his frustration at the decision: "Hearing that it was an epic game and lived up to expectations makes me that much angrier at Seven. I might seriously have to consider Fox if I'm going to continue to be an AFL fan in Brisbane."

But Channel Seven Melbourne general manager Lewis Martin said the match was shown live on Fox Sports in Queensland and NSW "just as is done for Friday night football every week".

"On Seven, Sydney viewers saw the Sydney v North Melbourne match live, and in Brisbane we decided to keep faithful to the loyal audience of the longest-running local lifestyle program Great South East," he said.