Ticketing system a fact of life: McLachlan

LEAGUE boss Gillon McLachlan has defended grand final ticket allocations, but has admitted he cannot pick a winner in tomorrow’s decider.

News Corp revealed yesterday a confidential memo that detailed the allocation of grand final seats.

More than 16,000 were provided to AFL affiliates with only 33,957 of the 99,870 tickets provided to members of competing clubs.

“I think we are transparent about it,” McLachlan said. “We lodge with the government all the allocations.

“There is so much demand and there is limited supply. We’d love to be able to get a quarter of a million people in here but we can’t.”

The AFL Fans Association said there was “clear room” for more tickets to be provided to competing clubs, saying that tickets should not be allowed to non- competing teams.

But McLachlan said was not an option.

“The members and the people have their say in the systems we have. Can we improve? Yes. But when you are putting more tickets in a certain area, you’re taking them off certain people.”

He supported the MCC’s move to review its ticketing section and said the league had “good chats” with the club to ensure that reaching capacity remained a priority.

Members have been waiting outside the MCG since Wednesday night in an effort to secure a set.

The weather is forecast to be 14C and McLachlan is optimistic of fairly good conditions for football. Not that he can decide on his tip.

“I think both teams have the momentum,” he said.

“They seem organised, confident and have had settled teams for a few weeks.”

The commission met earlier this week to discuss any potential rule changes for next season, but McLachlan said no announcement would be made until at least next week. that