Crowd consoles Duncan

GEELONG fans deserve a final at Simonds Stadium, according to Cats midfielder Mitch Duncan.

The 35,000-seat stadium will go without an AFL final this September after the league decided to schedule the Geelong-Richmond qualifying final at the MCG.

Should the Cats meet GWS in a preliminary final in Victoria, that, too, will be hosted at the home of football.

Duncan said it was “a little bit” unfair that next Friday’s final would be played at Richmond’s home ground.

“A little bit, yeah probably. If you look at any other sport, they get to play at their home venue, but it is what it is,” he said.

“We built this stadium to hold 30-odd thousand which I think is probably enough to fill the void and we’ve put a lot of money in. It would have been great to play here in front of our supporters.

“In saying that, playing in front of 90,000 is pretty special too. And at the ’G, you’ve got to win at the ’G and play the Grand Final at the ’G, so you’ve got to win games there.”

But Duncan praised Richmond for its rise in form this season, describing the Tigers’ youth and exuberance as a key to their emergence.

“Obviously it’s a massive turnaround. I’ve been following them pretty closely with Josh Caddy going there,” he said.

“They put immense pressure on the ball carrier and just run in waves. They’ve got a high-scoring attack but a pretty stingy defence with Alex Rance leading the way, so it’s always going to be tough — any final is.”