The AFL's determination to snooker the A League's plans for a possible Melbourne grand final has gifted the FFA and the A-League an opportunity.

The FFA should move the grand final to a mid-week event and reframe its showpiece.

The prospect of Melbourne Victory being a homeless host on grand final day due to both the MCG and Docklands being booked for AFL matches has become a distinct possibility.

The notion that Victory as host would have to play its grand final interstate is a humiliation no football fan should accept.

If that were to eventuate, FFA should call the AFL's bluff - a week-night grand final would be a sensation.

Don't believe me?

Look how rugby league has turned it's State Of Origin series into the hottest ticket in town. Origin occurs in the middle of the week in the dead of winter and is the most highly anticipated date on the sports calendar.

The A-League grand final is currently lost at the back end of a lazy May Sunday which is awash with AFL, NRL and Super Rugby fixtures. Football's decider is swamped by the commercial muscle and media reach of its competitors.

Beyond its passionate and committed base the A-League's big day out is drowned by these distractions.

The grand final should be an opportunity to showcase the best of what the game has to offer. At the moment its in danger of becoming a boutique product for a rusted on clientele.

And football deserves better than that.

A Wednesday night decider in front of a packed house at Docklands (if Victory were to host) would give the game clear air and top billing.

The game can become appointment viewing for sports fans and not just a remote control whistle stop on a crowded TV itinerary.

Just as importantly the A League and football can put their stamp on their own night of nights.

Football still at the whim of its rivals

Despite its reach and the levels of participation, football is still at the whim of its rivals when it comes to controlling its destiny.

Make no mistake, the determination of the AFL to snooker the A-League on its grand final day by booking out the Melbourne venues was predatory fixturing as part of an ongoing battle of the codes.

The sight of Western Bulldogs president Peter Gordon stating his determination that the Dogs play their May 17th game against Fremantle at Docklands and nowhere else confirms it.

Gordon and the Dogs are sure to lose money that day. The Dogs have been advocating for an alternative venue for low drawing games that they end up paying to play in. Yet on this occasion, they're digging their paws in.

Why?

Because the battle for heart and minds in the AFL's traditional heartland in Melbourne's west and northern suburbs is at fever pitch. The AFL's junior pathway program "Auskick" has seen participation numbers plateau and in some areas drop alarmingly.

Football is rising fast out west and Peter Gordon and those at AFL headquarters know it.

And they're not about to give the A-League a free kick. Or at least they thought.

This is a huge opportunity for FFA and it needs to be bold.

Ten years in, the A League has proven it belongs on the Australian sporting landscape but it has yet to establish an event that defines it.

This is its chance.

There will be push back from broadcasters, commercial partners, traditionalists and curmudgeons.

There will be those who will say football is in retreat if it abandons its weekend grand final. That its been bullied off the park, taken its ball and gone home.

They are wrong.

This is not just about the big game. It's about the long game.

And a week-night grand final may just prove to be the winner.