The AFL is standing by its decision to allow Greater Western Sydney to host their preliminary final at Spotless Stadium despite fears Western Bulldogs fans will be left disappointed.
The Dogs defeated Hawthorn in front of 87,823 fans at the MCG to advance to a preliminary final that will be held at Giants’ 24,000-seat stadium on Saturday.
The Giants have a membership base of around 16,000 while the Bulldogs have approximately 40,000 members.
But the AFL is sticking with historical modelling that indicates Spotless Stadium, and not the larger-capacity ANZ Stadium, will be required to accommodate the crowd.
“In the AFL’s history of preliminary finals in the national competition where one team is travelling, the highest numbers of fans for the travelling team has been in the 6000 to 8000 range, with multiple games below that,” the AFL said in a statement.
“Given the size of the GWS member base … the AFL believes Spotless is the right fit for the match.”
The Bulldogs played the Giants at Spotless this season in round nine when 9,612 fans watched GWS score a 25-point win.
Tickets for Saturday’s clash go on sale on Monday morning and Bulldogs president Peter Gordon urged his club’s members to create a headache for the league.
“We’d like to break some records,” Gordon told Channel Seven’s Game Day.
“We’d like to have as many people going as possible. We want to create a problem for the AFL with capacity.”
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