Blockbuster crowds suggest Geelong is unlikely to play Collingwood at Kardinia Park anytime soon

While three of the historical “big four” have been visiting Kardinia Park in recent seasons, sheer weight of numbers suggests Collingwood is unlikely to play in Geelong anytime soon.

Geelong coach Gary Ayres talks to his players at three-quarter-time before the Cats Collingwood by three points 1999.

Sheer weight of numbers suggests Geelong hopes of drawing the largest of the big four Melbourne clubs back to Kardinia Park for the first time in 26 years should remain a pipedream for now.

With Geelong having 10 home games in 2025 at Cat Park, it will be interesting to see which high profile outfits make the trip down to Moorabool St.

Geelong has also requested more games against the big four, with a proposal to have them play each of them at least once in a five-year rotation.

And with GMHBA Stadium now boasting a 40,000 capacity, there is recent evidence to suggest the AFL is more open to the idea of having some of the historical big four teams – Collingwood, Essendon, Richmond and Carlton – playing for premiership points down the highway more regularly.

The Tigers, who had played once at Kardinia Park since 2012, returned to Geelong this season in Round 13, and when scheduling that match, it was far from certain the Tigers would fall over so spectacularly as they did last season under new coach Adem Yze.

Steven King celebrates a goal with Jason Snell in a three-pointer victory over the Pies in 1999.

Meanwhile, Carlton, have played three games in Geelong since 1997, and all of them have come in consecutive seasons from 2018 onwards.

However, with Carlton once again a finals contender, and both matches this year attracting more than 75,000 fans, the Blues might not be back soon.

And then there’s Essendon, who have ventured to Kardinia Park twice since 1993 and will be back again next year.

Which poses the question: when will we see Collingwood play a game in Geelong?

The Pies have not played in Geelong this century, with a battling Collingwood unit last visiting in July, 1999 when Gary Ayres was the coach.

However, a history of blockbuster crowds between Collingwood and Geelong strongly suggests the status quo will remain for now.

Richmond’s Dustin Martin after the Tigers’ loss in Round 13 this year — only their second trip to Kardinia Park since 2012. Picture: Graham Denholm/Getty Images.

Since 2007, barring the covid-impacted seasons of 2020 and 21, and finals, only two games between the Cats and the Pies have pulled less than 45,000 fans – the lowest being the 40,582 that attended the Round 22 fixture at the G in 2015.

That season was a rarity for hoops supporters: one of two since their 2007 premiership year where the Cats missed the finals.

And since 07, Pies and Cats games have pulled 25 per cent more fans than Bombers v Cats fixtures and Blues and Cats games when played in Melbourne.

It’s similar numbers with Tigers v Cats games in that period.

An average of just over 19,000 punters attended the past two Cats v Bombers games at Kardinia Park, although the first was during the covid-impacted season of 2021 and last year amid grandstand works.

With Round 1 to feature the Cats taking on the reigning premier on its home deck, it will be interesting to see if 2025 could potentially feature an all too rare a concept: a genuine blockbuster against a big Victorian club at Kardinia Park.

With Essendon returning to GMHBA next year, who knows if they will be the real deal by then.

Originally published as Blockbuster crowds suggest Geelong is unlikely to play Collingwood at Kardinia Park anytime soon