GOLD Coast have launched a bold bid to own Good Friday football with a proposal to play an annual grudge match against the GWS Giants.

Their plan, which has the support of the Giants, is aimed at reclaiming ground lost to their major rival in the northern markets where the NRL has clean air each Good Friday.

But it has the potential to undermine the Brisbane Lions, who are struggling to maintain their grip on the Easter Thursday fixture.

The annual campaign for Good Friday fixtures appears to have been won, with AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou, the most vocal opponent of the move, now conceding it is “inevitable”.

His comments have sparked a scramble, with North Melbourne, the Bulldogs and Carlton all pushing to own the fixture while Collingwood president Eddie McGuire has weighed into the debate, declaring the game needs to feature at least one big Melbourne club to make it a success.

McGuire says richer clubs would adopt equalisation measures on the premise that the game’s revenue would grow and Good Friday should be a blockbuster between two bigger clubs, with the income distributed across the competition rather than be handed to two low-drawing teams.

But the Suns believe a key factor behind Good Friday games is to compete with the NRL.

The proposal has the tick of approval from football’s highest-profile Christian, Suns skipper Gary Ablett, who has declared his willingness to play on Good Friday.

Gold Coast CEO Travis Auld said he had made the AFL aware of the Suns’ wish to have a regular Good Friday fixture.

“I have been pushing this for a while,’’ he said.

“Generally there has been an NRL match here in Queensland on Good Friday.

“We see an opportunity to play here at Metricon Stadium, which places us against the NRL but also gives us ­access to a new audience.

“There is probably an oppor­tunity to explore it with us against the Giants, given we could have a great rivalry for years to come.

“We are becoming of nat­ional interest, it would be a game each year football fans would tune into.’’

The Giants lose access to their ground over Easter because of Sydney’s Royal Show and have floated an annual fixture with the Swans at the SCG to reduce the travel load in April.

However, CEO Dave Matthews said his organisation would also support any push to create an annual blockbuster with the Suns.

“As one of the two new AFL clubs, we want to build a big rivalry with the Suns. and we will consider any proposals to fixture these games accordingly, including over Easter,’’ he said.