Time to move the grand final away from the MCG

Well said, I agree totally and in any case there are no plans to construct any similar size stadium in Australia because the economic case does not stack up. ANZ Stadium is too small anyway with it's capacity being 18,000 less than the MCG. So there is nothing to worry about, it won't happen!

Some things should be sacrosanct. The MCG is the home of Australian Rules football and the stadium is steeped in history. Why do we always have to lose tradition? The Grand Final week in Melbourne is unique, just ask any interstate visitor who attends the GF and can't be replicated anywhere else. Winning a premiership at the MCG is the ultimate achievement at the spiritual home of football. Leave it alone for god's sake, you lose that at your peril

I love football but if they move the grand final away from the MCG, I might loose a lot of interest @ admiration for the Premiership team. Up there with stopping umpires bouncing the ball is how I feel about tradition. The GRAND FINAL at the MCG is the most neutral ground to decide who wins the Premiership Flag. Interstate sides are dominant against Victorian clubs on that great day. Tens of thousands of interstate supporters light it up is breathtaking. The G/F is the best test of history, nerves @ sometimes luck. We all know what a Grand Final looks like on film. The players know where they want to win the flag. Don't cheapen history as VFL, AFL feels the same way it's always felt around September. Just because we Victorians have always been nuts about FINALS time. Proud moments of West Coast great side, Adelaide back to back, Powerful Brisbane Lions, Swans thrillers, Port Adelaide finally in 2004. If they could have handled there nerves, rain @ wind the Fremantle Dockers would be the latest to win at the MCG. What a brutal test. Now as the AFL we go nuts together, even more amazing if your team is there @ on another level if you win on the MCG.

Jack that is not a true comparison Its not the club that has the biggest number of supporters, but the state. You may well argue that the Swans have the biggest following in the game but you cannot with a straight face suggest that NSW has more AFL supporters then Victoria.

Probably more todo with each team having their own little suburban ground instead of sharing two big grounds? But NRL is just another sport to me, not one that holds a special place in my heart.

This is the conditional allowance that I'm completely behind. Common Sense prevailing if or when this ever happens.

So why aren't NRL saying they have had a grand final every year since day dot just like AFL do?

I'd rather there not even be an MCC, just an antiquidated conservative boys club that somehow justifies having to wear a collar to get into watch a game of footy. I'd rather the MCC be ultimately dissolved. AFL members is where it's at. But there would be an uproar and a serious questioning of the value of MCC membership for very many people if they didn't get access to the Grand Final,

And yet almost every single week of the AFL season we force two Melbourne teams to play at the MCG, completely stripping the 'home' team of any genuine home field advantage. So far 14 Vic VS Interstate Grand Finals have been played at the MCG. The Victorian teams have only won 3. So you can keep telling yourself that playing the GF in Melbourne counts as a 'home' GF but statistically it doesn't seem to matter. It just doesn't effect the outcome.

Either push this afl grand final to ANZ Stadium. That way it will have bigger seating capacity. Anz stadium has approximately 84000 people at this stadium. This is more than enough to fill a stadium more than 80000. With the new Perth Stadium opening in 2018, I expect this AFL Grand Final to carry more than 70000 people at this stadium due to the growing population in the Western Australian capital.

Corporate types can just fly in their private jets over to whatever city his hosting the GF. It's not like they have no resources to get to another stadium.

Yes, that's right. If the minor-premiers won the preliminary final against no.2, that was the end of it. But if they lost the PF, then they had a right of challenge for another final, which then became the grand final. The NSWRL/ARL/NRL had a similar system right up to after WW2. The first mandatory GF in VFL (I think) was 1931 & first mandatory GF in NSWRL was 1954. I say 1931 was the first year of mandatory GF in VFL because that was the year they formalised the minor semi, major semi, prelim final & grand final. Another variation in the early years, after 14 home & aways, was to divide the teams in 'odds' (1, 3, 5, 7) & 'evens' (2, 4, 6, 8). This meant everyone played an extra three matches, then the final four was formailsed after this! Wikipedia has a very good article on the history of VFL/AFL finals systems. It takes you through the many variations that existed - round robins, various Argus systems, McIntyre-Page final fours, fives, sixes & eights. It eventually does your head in trying to understand all the variations that occurred over a century, but a good read if you're patient!

as a Sydneysider I would hate to see the GF moved from the MCG. Great ground and great tradition.

Now I just think that McLachlan and whoever did his research are dreaming. They don't have the most members, don't have the biggest crowds, don't have the biggest TV audience, don't have the largest revenue, don't sell the most merchandise, don't sell the most memorabilia,, but are still somehow the biggest club. Something smells very fishy here.

Thank you Sheek. Not certain I understand much more but thanks. I see now what you mean with the "right of replay” but it gets lost to me as it seems that if minor premiers win the final then the final gets counted as a grand final. But if the minor premiers lose the final then the final doesn't get called a grand final, the next game does. Something weird going on there. Seems to me some VFL years didn't really have a grand final at all but we seem to overlook that.

Oh I forgot to use my calculator, the figure should be 18,000 fewer seats

Storm Boy, I have ever so briefly looked at just a few of those seasons you list above. 1897 (inaugural) - four semi-finalists play round robin. Essendon declared champions by winning all three games; Geelong runners-up winning 2/3. 1914 - what has probably confused you here is the then popular "right of replay" by the minor premiers. Carlton (1) & Souths (2) both won their semis, with 1 vs 3 & 2 vs 4. However, when Souths beat Carlton in the premlinary final, Carlton exercised their right of replay as minor premiers, duly winning the rematch (grand final). Had Calron (as minor premiers) won the preliminary final, that would have sufficed as the grand final! 1935 - by now the long-established 'final four' format was in place. Major semi-final, 1 v 2; minor semi final 3 v 4. Winner of major straight to grand final, loser of major plays winner of minor in preliminary final. Winner of preliminary progresses to grand final. 1972 - saw the 'final five' for the first time (my favourite type of finals format). In the first week, the minor premiers had a bye. In the qualifying final, 2 played 3 & in the elimination final, 4 played 5. The following week the winner of the qualifying final played the minor premiers in the major semi-final, while the loser of the qualifying final played the winner of the elimination final in the minor semi-final. And so on... Final 6s & final 8s you should be familiar with, including their variations. I think that right now, they have the final 8 system spot on.

According to friend Wikipedia, all but nine played at the MCG while listing those that weren't.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/afl/swans-flying-higher-than-magpies/story-e6frexx0-1226439739561 Found the article... With support from AFL CEO too. And think, this was two years ago BEFORE the premiership.

Tell that "no team hosts the GF" theory to the Hawthorn players who will sleep in their own beds and play in their regular stadium, while the Sydney team has to travel. Sure, it's not a long flight, but it's still the wrong way around compared to their respective ladder positions. Fact is that the AFL pretends to be a national competition, and then gives preference to Victorian teams in the GF. It's a farce.