Geelong forced to play red-hot Tigers in MCG ‘home final’
GEELONG has conceded the battle but is up for a longerterm war over its right to host finals at Simonds Stadium.
Club leaders yesterday had accepted the Cats would play their qualifying final against Richmond at the MCG, and were not going to be publicly critical of the decision.
“The time for discussion on this (for this year) is over,” Cats president Colin Carter said.
“Whatever they (the AFL) decide, we’ll happily accept.
“We won’t be getting involved in any sort of argybargy now.”
Mr Carter has previously led the charge over finals fixturing, arguing last month that outside of the Grand Final every match “should be up for grabs”.
“This whole notion that you play finals where you get a better crowd has somehow filtered into the system. I don’t accept as being a valid criteria at all,” he said.
“That is one of the things we will be arguing . . . I don’t think it’s defensible.”
Mr Carter maintained yesterday the need for long-term discussion on the issue, stating he would like to see an AFL policy that provided clarity over finals fixturing.
Chris Scott was similarly diplomatic, describing the location of finals as “a good debate for the industry” but one the Cats would stay out of at the moment.
“We respect that the AFL decides where those games are played and they, I’m sure, will justify their decisions in detail,” the Cats coach said.
Retiring star Andrew Mackie told Channel 9 he would prefer to play at Simonds Stadium but could see the benefits of a blockbuster clash at the MCG.
“I’d love to play here,” Mackie said outside Simonds Stadium. “We love the stadium, we obviously play really well here, we’d love to have a home game against anyone.
“But . . . this time of year, you’re just happy to be playing anywhere to be honest.
“I wouldn’t mind playing in front of 90,000-100,000 people at the MCG against the Tiges.”
The AFL has been in talks recently with the Kardinia Park Stadium Trust about hosting finals in Geelong.
The Cats have declared they would like to play all their 11 home games in Geelong, but it remains unlikely for 2018.
The completion of the final stage of the stadium’s $280 million upgrade — which would see capacity increase to 40,000 — is a key factor in the argument.
Kardinia Park has not hosted more than eight home and away games a season since Etihad Stadium was opened in 2000.
“There has been a little bit of commentary around where teams play their home game and we have driven that to some extent,” Scott said.
“I think this (home final) argument is completely different, but I think it’s a good debate for the industry to have.”
Economic modelling has shown that a Cats home game contributes more than $3 million to the local economy.
Tourism Greater Geelong and the Bellarine deputy executive director Brett Ince said an overnight visitor would spend about $195 on average.
“If it is an interstate team it does provide additional opportunity,” Mr Ince said.
“We certainly see a boost when interstate teams are in Geelong.”