Melbourne set to recreate grand final presentation ceremony at MCG on December 5
Melbourne has revealed details of its MCG premiership party including a chance for Simon Goodwin to give the post-match speech he was denied in Perth.
AFL
Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Melbourne premiership coach Simon Goodwin will finally get his grand final moment in the spotlight as the club braces for 40,000 fans to take part in its premiership celebration day on December 5.
The full replay of the club’s historic drought-breaking grand final win will be broadcast on the screens of the MCG before a recreation of the post-match ceremony.
Goodwin was infamously overlooked to give a speech by MC Basil Zempilas during the post-match at Optus stadium in Perth, but Demons CEO Gary Pert confirmed fans will hear from beloved premiership coach.
“It is the first chance our players, coaches and the wider club will have to thank our supporters for their loyalty,” Pert said.
“Simon Goodwin who will get the chance to deliver his much-anticipated grand final speech to the Melbourne faithful and some words from the captain Max Gawn and Norm Smith medallist Christian Petracca.
Catch all the ICC T20 World Cup action live & exclusive to Fox Cricket, available on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial today.
“We have plenty of different activations planned throughout the day, which will include the recreation of the players being presented their medals on stage.
“This event will be an incredibly special day and I strongly encourage as many Melbourne supporters as possible to get to the MCG for this once in a lifetime opportunity. “
The premiership cup will also be available on the day for supporters to take photos while halftime entertainment has also been planned.
The event will be a free-ticketed event with further details on how to obtain entry to be communicated next week.
Dees’ big profit just a fraction of Covid damage
– Glenn McFarlane
Melbourne will record a profit of between $1.5m to $2m following the club’s first premiership in 57 years, alleviating part of the Covid-hit that has cost the Demons $8m in lost revenue across the past two seasons.
It comes as the 2021 premiers forecast a plan to reach 65,000 members next year – and potentially 75,000 in the next few seasons – which chief executive Gary Pert says is imperative if it wants to remain competitive with the big AFL clubs.
“Without the finals or the premiership, we would have at best broken even, but we would expect to announce a profit of around $1.5 to $2m based on the momentum that the finals and winning the premiership brought to us,” Pert revealed to News Corp.
“It will give us some big financial momentum into next year and we are hoping that will come through membership and merchandise and bigger crowds.
“Melbourne people are very excited about the future and that’s a good thing.
“We are debt-free. We have had two years of Covid which has cost about $8m, but we haven’t had to go to the AFL for extra assistance.
“We are in a strong position, but Covid has taken away any sort of financial buffer that we had money in the bank. That has pretty much been used to get our way through Covid and maintain our current programs.”
In an expanded interview to launch the first leg of the Demons’ premiership cup tour – which will go national next year – Pert also said:
The club had spoken with the AFL and Channel 7 about playing more marquee games in 2022, including a likely Round 1 grand final rematch with Western Bulldogs
Negotiations are well underway with premiership coach Simon Goodwin and his management about an extension to his current deal, which runs out at the end of 2022
Work will start soon on a major upgrade of the club’s AFL and AFLW training oval at Gosch’s Paddock to make it MCG-sized in length and Marvel Stadium-sized in width.
The club is part of a working group with the AFL and the state government in the search for a permanent home base that can serve the Demons deep into the future
The premiership tour will run for as long as it takes for all Melbourne supporters to get the chance to get close to the trophy.
Melbourne’s push into its first Grand Final in 21 years – and its first flag since 1964 – saw it continue to sell memberships beyond the AFL’s cut-off point, finishing the year with a club-record of almost 55,000.
Pert said he was keen to encourage MCC members who are also Demons fans to tick the box linking them as Melbourne members.
“We are targeting 65,000 (members) this year and ultimately in the next couple of years we would love to get to 75,000,” Pert said.
“Once we get to that point, we will fundamentally be a different club.
“We will be a club that will be able to compete with higher membership clubs in terms of our facilities and resources, staffing numbers and membership services, but until you get to that point, we are always going to be compromised to a point and we don’t want that to be the case.”
Goodwin’s current deal runs through until the end of next season, but Pert said the club had made good progress in sorting through an extension.
“We’ve been in conversations with ‘Goody’ and his management, that will work itself out and I don’t see that as an issue,” Pert said.
“We will put that away and everyone can focus on a big and exciting year next season.”
Melbourne’s first leg of its premiership tour will kick off on November 19 at the Australian Sports Museum at the MCG before taking in a host of metropolitan, regional and coastal venues including Geelong, Ballarat, Warrnambool, Shepparton, Traralgon and Sorrento.
It will then go on the road next year, with a national tour to be unveiled when all border restrictions are eased.
Dees ready to take ‘People’s Cup’ on tour
Melbourne has vowed to make its cherished 13th premiership cup arguably the most accessible trophy in the game’s history as it prepares to start the first Victorian leg of its tour with the ambition of making it “the People’s Cup”.
Demons chief executive Gary Pert outlined the itinerary of the tour to News Corp, starting this month, saying he was determined to ensure every Melbourne fan had the chance to get up close and personal with the cup – free of charge.
The first leg of the Victorian tour will symbolically start at the MCG’s Australian Sports Museum before taking in a range of metropolitan, regional and coastal locations including Geelong, Ballarat, Warrnambool, Shepparton, Traralgon and Sorrento.
It will culminate on December 5 with a celebration event at the MCG, but the club will take the cup on a national tour to every state next year when there is an easing of border restrictions and protocols.
“It is the People’s Cup and we want to take it to the people,” Pert said.
“I say that because we are not going to be putting it in a cabinet and just locking it away.
“We want this to be something that every Melbourne supporter around Australia will have the opportunity to go and see the cup, hold it and get a photo with it.
“We know a lot of great long-term passionate supporters whose most vivid memory in 10 or 20 or even 30 years will most likely be holding the cup and getting a photo and sharing it with their family and friends.
“They might not have been able to be at the Grand Final, but we want them to experience it as they were such a big part of our success.”
Pert stressed the club’s official Cup tour events would be free to the fans, saying private operators seeking to profit out of unofficial functions had nothing to do with the Demons.
“They are not part of the club, they are promotions companies doing it for commercial outcomes,” he said. “They have used a replica cup.”
“We want everyone to get a chance to get close to the club. It is available to everyone for free, which is the same for the December 5 function at totally no cost.”
Having locked in Zurich as the naming rights sponsor of the tour, Melbourne wants to ensure there was no cost for fans, given their commitment through two years of the pandemic as well as watching from afar the drought-breaking first flag in 57 years.
“We haven’t put an end point to the tour … the cup will stay accessible and on tour for as long as people want it to be,” he said.
“We deliberately want to take it to shopping centres and community centres and later on to schools and sports clubs.
“Our young supporters get access to it because we haven’t had premiership success for so long.”
“It is really important to us that the kids and our young supporters get access to it because we haven’t had premiership success for so long.”
More Coverage
Originally published as Melbourne set to recreate grand final presentation ceremony at MCG on December 5
Ralph: The key Dees developments that could save Goodwin’s job
Melbourne’s public review said it was capable of playing finals, but their game plan had to be refined, now the work begins for Simon Goodwin after a tumultuous 31 months, writes Jon Ralph.
Hawks’ plot to climb draft order as stars open contract talks
Hawthorn cashed in its assets in this year’s draft to snare Tom Barrass, but is still plotting how it can move up from pick 33. Plus, two big names have started discussing new contracts.