TIGER MYTH

GEELONG is adamant it can cater for Richmond’s supporter base in its Round 21 clash at Simonds Stadium, with more than 3000 tickets still available.

The AFL has shut down calls to move the game to the MCG following claims the Cats’ revamped home base was too small to host the contest between the top-four aspirants.

Geelong officials yesterday said any suggestion the venue was inadequate, or that a significant number of fans will be locked out of the game, have been “completely exposed as untrue” based on the number of tickets still available.

A portion of the seats may have to be resold to Geelong fans if Tiger members do not exhaust their allocation.

That includes 450 Richmond away members’ tickets, more than 2000 general ad- mission tickets, 500 reserved seats, plus any extra seats expected to become available through the Cats’ resold seat program.

Surprisingly, in total, more tickets have been sold for Geelong’s home game against Sydney Swans at Simonds Stadium on Friday week, than the clash against the Tigers the following round.

Geelong spokesman Kevin Diggerson said there were “literally thousands of tickets still available” for fans of both sides. They are expected to remain on sale through Ticketmaster right up until the day of the game.

“The notion that Simonds Stadium is not big enough to host Richmond on August 12 is a furphy,” Diggerson said.

“Any move to have Geelong’s home game against Richmond played at Richmond’s home ground because Simonds Stadium supposedly cannot hold all of the Rich- mond supporters has been completely exposed as untrue.

“Anyone who wants a ticket can get one.’’

The past two games between the two teams at the MCG have attracted 45,000 fans, including Melbourne Cricket Club members.

The capacity for Simonds Stadium is 34,000 following a $193 million redevelopment.

The next phase would help increase the capacity by another 4000.

The AFL has confirmed the Round 21 match had been “fixed with certainty”.

“I don’t think this would be a game that would be moved given it’s a Geelong home game,” then AFL football operations boss Simon Lethlean said last month.

The Cats want to host finals and could host back-to-back matches against Greater Western Sydney in Round 23 and also the first final at Simonds Stadium.