Alternative Grand Final Venues

Crawb

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Before I get shot down, the MCG is without a doubt the best venue in Australia. And it should generally host the Grand Final almost always. I'm certainly not advocating an NFL style rotation. And I know that nothing can change with the agreement between the AFL & MCG until 2037.

But..... say Fremantle and West Coast make the Grand Final, or Adelaide and Port Adelaide, or Western Sydney and Sydney or Brisbane and the Gold Coast make the Grand Final (Okay these are very unlikely considering there has just been 1 Showdown finals match in the history of interstate cross town rivalries in the AFL). But it would seem almost wrong to make two teams and their fans travel from the same place halfway across the country, meaning a lot of native fans would miss out (there are only so many flights/coaches). It just seems wrong to play any cross town rivals thousands of kilometres on the other side of the country for any match. Wouldn't it make sense to play a GF between Port Adelaide V Adelaide at the Adelaide Oval, or between Sydney and Western Sydney at ANZ Stadium. Okay the capacity at and facilities at the Gabba and Patersons Stadium might be an issue (however the new Perth Stadium in 2018 will fix that problem for WA). But the AFL doesn't need to prove it can get 100,000 to a game of football, the league has done that at countless Grand Finals especially in recent years. Surely these sorts of games would have more meaning being played at the home of football in each state rather than at the MCG. I know this is a once in 50 year thing that will happen. But I guarantee once it actually happens and both teams are forced to play at the MCG, there will be a massive uproar.

Curious to hear other people's opinions on the matter and find out whether I have a whacky and crazy unpopular opinion.
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Also should the MCG become suddenly unavailable for the Grand Final for whatever reason. Is there a particular plan in place without Waverley Park these days? I assume the AFL wouldn't exactly be keen for a Grand Final at Etihad...
 

fabulousphil

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IMO, the GF should be at the home of the highest finishing team that manages to make it to the GF.

Should that team happen to be Collingwood, Sydney or GC then the MCG, SCG ( ANZ ?) or Metricon Stadium should host the game, ...yes !! people are falling around laughing , Metricon they say :D, but IMO for their efforts over the H&A, they should get an advantage.

Like you, i dont believe that the game has to have a 100,000 + crowd to be a success.
 
Apr 27, 2008
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Easy.

Vic teams get the MCG.

WA teams will get the new Stadium.

East Coast teams will use ANZ. Close enough right?

SA will use Adelaide Oval, or maybe even the 10 hour trip to Melbourne. Remembering Adelaide have 50,000 members and Port 40,000, and a lot of them more than willing to travel to Melbourne to games.
 
I like the OP idea. Will rarely get used. There's 153 possible GF matchups so there's a 2.6% chance it'll happen.

What I like though, is awarding the GF to the previous years premiers.
2001 - Played at MCG
2002 - Played at GABBA
2003 - Played at GABBA
2004 - Played at GABBA
2005 - Playedf at AAMI Stadium
2006 - Played at ANZ Stadium
2007 - Played at Subiaco
2008 - Played at MCG
2009 - Played at MCG
2010 - Played at MCG
2011 - Played at MCG
2012 - Played at MCG
2013 - Played at ANZ Stadium
 

Rusty Brookes

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Like you, i dont believe that the game has to have a 100,000 + crowd to be a success.

Sorry but I've got to disagree on two fronts:

One - the biggest game of the year should be a showcase and part of that is playing in front of a huge crowd

Two - playing the game at a smaller stadium will ensure even less rank and file supporters will get to attend. It's bad enough as it is in a 100,000 capacity stadium. Imagine a Grand Final with only corporates in the crowd.

If there were other 100,000 + stadiums in Australia, I'd be quite happy for the game to be played at another ground.

It's a moot point anyway - isn't there a contract for the game to be played at the MCG for the next year 30 years?
 
Sep 22, 2011
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I'm all for making it much easier and cheaper for interstate fans to get there - surely, definitely there are ways for the AFL to subsidise, and use their contacts in the corporate world.

But it should never be anywhere other than the G. It's the biggest stadium, the best stadium, and the home of football. Moving it elsewhere would be madness.
 
Nov 8, 2000
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Sorry but I've got to disagree on two fronts:

One - the biggest game of the year should be a showcase and part of that is playing in front of a huge crowd

Two - playing the game at a smaller stadium will ensure even less rank and file supporters will get to attend. It's bad enough as it is in a 100,000 capacity stadium. Imagine a Grand Final with only corporates in the crowd.

Rubbish. Half the MCG is taken by by AFL and MCC members. They have no such rights at any other ground.

If the grand final was staged at ANZ (for instance), there would be tens of thousands more tickets available for 'rank and file supporters'.

If there were other 100,000 + stadiums in Australia, I'd be quite happy for the game to be played at another ground.

It's a moot point anyway - isn't there a contract for the game to be played at the MCG for the next year 30 years?

Alas, yes. Who knows, we might be getting an 80,000 seat stadium in Perth if the AFL was capable of offering a grand final once every 5 years.
 
In the long term I wouldn't mind a rule where any stadium that's the biggest in the state and has a capacity of 55k + (not including Stadium Members) can host a Grand Final.

Yes, I know under my proposal the 'Gabba would still miss out.
 

brisbane13

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Before I get shot down, the MCG is without a doubt the best venue in Australia. And it should generally host the Grand Final almost always. I'm certainly not advocating an NFL style rotation. And I know that nothing can change with the agreement between the AFL & MCG until 2037.

But..... say Fremantle and West Coast make the Grand Final, or Adelaide and Port Adelaide, or Western Sydney and Sydney or Brisbane and the Gold Coast make the Grand Final (Okay these are very unlikely considering there has just been 1 Showdown finals match in the history of interstate cross town rivalries in the AFL). But it would seem almost wrong to make two teams and their fans travel from the same place halfway across the country, meaning a lot of native fans would miss out (there are only so many flights/coaches). It just seems wrong to play any cross town rivals thousands of kilometres on the other side of the country for any match. Wouldn't it make sense to play a GF between Port Adelaide V Adelaide at the Adelaide Oval, or between Sydney and Western Sydney at ANZ Stadium. Okay the capacity at and facilities at the Gabba and Patersons Stadium might be an issue (however the new Perth Stadium in 2018 will fix that problem for WA). But the AFL doesn't need to prove it can get 100,000 to a game of football, the league has done that at countless Grand Finals especially in recent years. Surely these sorts of games would have more meaning being played at the home of football in each state rather than at the MCG. I know this is a once in 50 year thing that will happen. But I guarantee once it actually happens and both teams are forced to play at the MCG, there will be a massive uproar.

Curious to hear other people's opinions on the matter and find out whether I have a whacky and crazy unpopular opinion.
------
Also should the MCG become suddenly unavailable for the Grand Final for whatever reason. Is there a particular plan in place without Waverley Park these days? I assume the AFL wouldn't exactly be keen for a Grand Final at Etihad...
it only works in the NFL due to most states in the USA only have 1 team & all have their own 70k plus stadium
most of the AFL teams are based in Melbourne, perhaps in the next 30 to 40 years, when hopefully there are more interstate teams & its a more popular in the NSW & QLD
 
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I like the OP idea. Will rarely get used. There's 153 possible GF matchups so there's a 2.6% chance it'll happen.

What I like though, is awarding the GF to the previous years premiers.
2001 - Played at MCG
2002 - Played at GABBA
2003 - Played at GABBA
2004 - Played at GABBA
2005 - Playedf at AAMI Stadium
2006 - Played at ANZ Stadium
2007 - Played at Subiaco
2008 - Played at MCG
2009 - Played at MCG
2010 - Played at MCG
2011 - Played at MCG
2012 - Played at MCG
2013 - Played at ANZ Stadium


I proposed this idea on BF in the past. It follows the America's Cup model.

It adds some dynamics to the GF for that year...

- If the reigning Premier returns to the GF, the challenger has to beat the best in their home state.
- The cross town rival of the reigning premier can take advantage of the situation and play the GF at home if they make it themselves, or even force a derby with the cross town rival if they return to the GF to defend their title and nullifying their advantage in the process.
- We could have a genuine neutral decider that can be played in any of the Big 5 cities, giving the host city that Super Bowl style spotlight for a week with two sets of fans arriving into town from everywhere.
- Determining the host city for next year is decided on the field, and if the GF sides are from different states, then it is dertermined on GF day and it becomes an added sweetener for the "winning" city on top of their local side getting up to win the flag... much different from a bidding process that is done years in advance like the Super Bowl. The host city gets a whole year to advertise/market/prepare for the GF.
- And for the traditionalists... with more than half the sides from Victoria, the GF would be at the MCG most of the time anyway.

Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth would need to have 80k stadiums for this to happen though.
 
May 8, 2013
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You people are crazy, if anything the GF should be played in a stadium that holds 200,000 not 50K.

Imagine the atmosphere as your teams captain walks out to 200,000 screaming fans.

SKYstadium.jpg
 
Nov 8, 2000
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You people are crazy, if anything the GF should be played in a stadium that holds 200,000 not 50K.

Imagine the atmosphere as your teams captain walks out to 200,000 screaming fans.

I think we'd just like a scenario where there are more than 30k screaming fans and less than 70k theatregoers.
 

HookeyRox

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I am completely happy with the AFL Grand Final being played at the MCG.

But for the sake of hypotheticals, perhaps a rotation of the game through each of the capital cities largest stadium.
E.g. 2014 MCG, 2015 Adelaide Oval, 2016 Gabba, 2017 ANZ Stadium, 2018 Perth Stadium, etc
 

Crawb

Norm Smith Medallist
SuperCoach Club Board Winner
Aug 11, 2012
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You people are crazy, if anything the GF should be played in a stadium that holds 200,000 not 50K.

Imagine the atmosphere as your teams captain walks out to 200,000 screaming fans.

SKYstadium.jpg
So you're funding the the upgrades to install an extra 100,000 seats and three tiers at the MCG then? I'd hate to see a North Melbourne game at the venue in the regular season :p ;) Empty seats everywhere haha, hell, it'd make most blockbuster games look poorly attended.
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The Nazi started building a 400,000 seater stadium, obviously never got to finish however. The only stadium that really compares is a 150,000 seater in North Korea today...
 
Apr 12, 2010
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I like the MCG for the grand final. I wish though, interstate teams got more games there then they do. The perfect footy venue
I agree.

Respect to the thread, but I'm kinda in the keep it at the MCG camp. Given that, I think every team should get a minimum of 3 games there each year.
 
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