THE AFL has quickly rejected a proposal from North Melbourne that home teams no longer play the opposition theme song before or after games to create a more “hostile environment” and maximise home-ground advantage.

Under the proposal, the away team would be simply introduced by a ground announcer before the home team entered the stadium as the club song was played.

The Roos told the AFL it was now difficult for many clubs to create a true home-ground advantage — particularly at Etihad Stadium — because of stadium sharing and commercial guidelines.

The club said the proposal — authored by North general manager of media and communications Heath O’Loughlin — would bring the AFL in line with international sports and other national codes.

The AFL looked at the idea at Monday’s executive meeting and decided to stick with the decades-old tradition of playing both clubs’ songs.

The North Melbourne proposal reads: “Home ground advantage should be just that; an advantage.

“Our game is unique in many ways, but it is somewhat perplexing that we must celebrate our opposition by introducing them onto the ground with fanfare.

“NMFC wants the ability to create a more hostile environment, like what is experienced when playing interstate and in Geelong, by not playing our opposition’s theme song at the start of matches.

“NMFC proposes a simpler introduction, by way of the ground announcer welcoming the opposition onto the field.

“The theme song should be reserved for the home team only — as is the case internationally and with most other codes.”

The Roos said they acknowledged it was a sensitive issue and suggested it be put to fans in a poll.

The club “strongly believes” the change would encourage more fans of away clubs to attend matches, to “even up the disparity” and clubs would be more likely to make a call to arms for the same reason.

“There will be more reliance on supporters than ever before.”

An AFL spokesman said: “One of the great strengths of our game is that we get fans from both clubs in numbers at matches and we want to represent both teams’ arrival on the ground — and obviously the winning team by tradition gets their song played again after the game”.