Is it time the AFL begins to trust the Showdown more in attracting national interest?

While it’s perhaps the biggest rivalry in footy, the Showdown again hasn’t received a standalone slot on the fixture, sharing Friday night in Round 8 alongside the Bulldogs and Fremantle at Marvel Stadium.

Even if numbers may suggest Showdowns don’t rate particularly well outside of South Australia, it’s never really been given the chance to grow in a prime-time fixture with clear air, year after year.

Former Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley, who coached 25 Showdowns, thinks fans around the country would be immediately hooked forever if the game lived up to the hype on a big standalone stage.

“I'm passionate, but I've lived and breathed it every day. I don't know what Victorians or Queenslanders or Western Australians think,” Hinkley said on SEN Whateley.

“I look forward to the big games like King’s Birthday and Anzac Day in Melbourne. I love them as a football person. I couldn't imagine people not loving the Showdown, particularly if they landed on a 103 to 107 result with an Angus Monfries bounce. You'd be hooked forever.

“But I just don’t know the answer to is there enough Victorian eyes on it? But if you don’t trust it, you don’t know.”

While people in footy’s biggest state of Victoria often think of Collingwood v Carlton or Collingwood v Essendon and other matches between Melbourne’s biggest clubs as huge rivalries, Hinkley feels they pale in comparison to the Showdown.

The former Power coach went as far as to say it’s Australian sport’s second biggest rivalry behind the Ashes.

“The Victorian people who are out there listening to me bang on a little bit. I'm telling you, you don't know the buildup. You need to feel the buildup,” Hinkley told SEN Sportsday.

“We use words like ‘hate’ in a footy speak… but this is a pure sporting rivalry.

“In Australian sport, this is the greatest rivalry outside of when Australia plays England in the Ashes.

“This is how big this is, I'm telling you, you’ve got to get on with me… this is the Showdown.”

The Showdown is set for 7:40pm local time and 8:10pm AEST on Friday at the Adelaide Oval.