Woods chasing sweet sixteen
COLLINGWOOD will today chase grand final glory in an MCG showdown with West Coast that would deliver a sweet 16th premiership to the Magpies’ faithful.
Crowds yesterday packed city streets to shout their support to the grand final teams, with Collingwood captain Scott Pendlebury and Eagles skipper Shannon Hurn showing off the premiership cup.
But today fans of both teams are hoping for a much more meaningful premiership parade, as up to 100,000 supporters fill the MCG to witness a battle to decide the AFL champion.
Pendlebury said the Pies had a simple plan.
“We’ve just got to be harder for longer and the side that does that will win,’’ he said.
But Hurn said his team was primed to spoil the show.
“It’s a good feeling at the moment but we know that we will have to play well,’’ he said.
It comes as authorities have warned desperate fans not to buy seats from unauthorised sellers, with a suspected batch of fake tickets being peddled by touts.
More than 170 investigations are under way into scalpers caught trying to rip off footy fans during this year’s finals. And fake tickets that are being sold for up to $1000 above face value are set to cause grand final heartache before the game even starts, with their barcodes to be rejected at entry gates.
Authorities believe the price of tickets being scalped online are also being pushed up by fake bids, with prices varying wildly from a few hundred dollars up to thousands.
New State Government ticket inspectors had yesterday busted scalpers illegally advertising 83 grand final tickets for sale at inflated prices.
At least 147 scalped tickets to Collingwood’s preliminary win against Richmond were intercepted online as well as 114 seats to four other finals matches in Melbourne.
Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley said the team was in “a really good space’’ and the secret to its meteoric rise probably lay in the setbacks and challenges it had overcome in recent years.
“This group has been together largely for three or four years and it’s taken some hits,’’ he said.
“We’ve fallen short, we’ve skinned our knees, we’ve had to dust ourselves off and I think going through those experiences have made us a far more resilient, tighter knit group.''
A shower or two and top temperature of 16C have been forecast for Melbourne today.
Pies midfielder Steele Sidebottom said the team would be confident rain, hail or shine after riding a rocky road to the brink of glory.
“There’s been some ups and downs and I think everything that has happened in the past has put us in the position that we’re in now,’’ he said.
Several roads around the MCG will be closed or have restricted access today and there will be a 40km/h speed limit in place on Hoddle St after the match.
VicRoads traffic controllers will be stationed inside the MCG to adjust traffic lights around the ground, if required.
Police will also be stationed at intersections around the ground to help pedestrians cross roads safely.
Fans have been urged to take public transport to the game with no parking in Yarra Park outside the MCG.