For the first time in nearly 20 years, the premiership decider will not feature a Victorian club – meaning an age-old debate over the MCG’s vice-like grip on the grand final has resurfaced. The old stadium will once again host this year’s game, meaning most Sydney and Brisbane fans will have to travel interstate to attend. Is it time to break with tradition and take the grand final to the rest of the country?
Stay put and keep with tradition
Yes, the start time may keep shifting, the spectre of a night grand final is far from vanquished and the “last Saturday in September” can actually be the second-last (or sometimes in October), but there’s one thing the AFL can’t change: the venue.
It’s not just that it’s in Melbourne. It’s not just where the first known organised game was played. It’s not just that it’s always been there (Covid doesn’t count). It’s simply the best stadium in the country. Nothing else comes close.
I do tend towards tradition in sport and have written about how strange it was when the grand final was held somewhere else. That said, I also don’t think the ‘G is a perfect grand final venue: a better solution would be a Wembley-like stadium, rolled out just for finals and not any club’s home ground.
I’m also an enormous fan of footy played at the SCG (it’s tighter, with goals more easily kicked from the centre) and the Gabba (the humidity does weird things, they play Country Roads).
I’m also not averse to a new big game being played at the home ground of the club who earns it. The AFL should make every team play each other once when Tasmania comes into the league (alternating home grounds every year). To make up for the reduction in games, the league could start a knockout cup competition. The team who racks up the highest percentage in the preliminary rounds gets to host the final – no more Melbourne Cricket Ground monopoly.
You can’t change the grand final venue, though. Because there’s nowhere grander than the MCG. Nino Bucci
Take the game around the country
As someone who grew up a short walk from the MCG, I know the power the stadium holds. There’s nothing quite like hearing the roar of 100,000 people at first bounce, mid-strength beer in hand, scarf protecting you from that unique Victorian chill.
But three years into being a Sydneysider, I am putting my foot down. I’m calling the AFL out for what it is perpetrating by continuing to hold the grand final at its most favoured ground: Victorian privilege.
Yes, its capacity is 40,000 more seats than Optus Stadium and more than double the Gabba and the SCG. Yes, 10 of the AFL’s 18 teams are Victorian. But eight aren’t. Do you know what the “A” in “AFL” stands for? And if the AFL is serious about moving on from its VFL days, something has to change.
At time of writing, the cheapest return flights from Sydney to Melbourne – leaving Friday and returning Sunday – are about $700, rising to up to $2,000. Those travelling from Brisbane for the granny face prices from $1,200 up to $5,000 – if you’re happy to take a stopover in Fiji.
It’s a bit of a novelty for two non-Victorian teams to be playing the grand final, but it’s not unprecedented. The last time was 2006, when West Coast played Sydney at the MCG. It also happened in 2004 and 2005. Non-Victorian teams have played in eight of the past 10 grand finals.
These teams have had to overcome home advantage and the travel and foregone the joy of celebrating the flag on your own turf. The AFL would make less money packing 48,000 into the SCG, but it could open up a live site at Moore Park. The city would come alive.
Decide the grand final venue based on who tops the ladder. You might even convert a few NRL fans. Caitlin Cassidy
