Bombers and Magpies clash to stay at Etihad
Posted by Brent DiamondMar 7. 2011 3:29 am
THE NAB Cup grand final between Essendon and Collingwood will remain at Etihad Stadium despite a late push for it to be played at the bigger MCG on Saturday night.
AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou said today that despite the blockbuster – in which the Anzac Day competitors haven’t played in a grand final since their 1990 stouch – the game will remain at Etihad Stadium.
“There’s a couple of issues logistically. One, we’ve booked Etihad. Secondly, our ticket sales are supposed to go on sale at 9 o’clock this morning,” Demetriou said.
“We’ve pushed that back to 10.30 to have a look at it, but if we do move the game there are some things to be worked out with the ticket agents, so we probably couldn’t get tickets on sale for a day or a day and a half,” he told Triple M.
There have only been two pre-season deciders played at the MCG. In 1997 a massive crowd of 74,786 saw Carlton defeat Geelong, and in 2000 Essendon downed North Melbourne before 56,720. The latter crowd would almost be accomodated at Etihad.
But crowds in recent pre-season grand finals have been poor. A reasonable 42,381 saw the Western Bulldogs defeat St Kilda by 40 points last March, but only 37,277 watched Geelong thump Collingwood in 2009, and St Kilda’s defeat of Adelaide in 2008 drew a paltry 26,823 to AAMI Stadium.
It is predicted that the match will be sold-out mid week.
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