AFL Round 1 tickets: Jon Ralph on why Essendon v Hawthorn clash must be moved to MCG

Victorian fans could only watch on with envy as supporters in other states enjoyed live football last year. Now the AFL has the perfect chance to give back, writes Jon Ralph.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – JUNE 14: Zach Merrett of the Bombers handballs during the round 13 AFL match between the Essendon Bombers and the Hawthorn Hawks at Marvel Stadium on June 14, 2019 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

Xavier Campbell positions it as a gift to the Victorian football fans locked out of football games for 18 months.

If the AFL can move the Essendon-Hawthorn clash from Marvel Stadium to the MCG in Round 1 and boost the capacity from 28,961 to 50,000 fans, why wouldn’t it just make it happen?

Especially when the league owns Marvel Stadium and the MCC is adamant it could make the switch work.

“After the last 12 months we have had, we should explore every opportunity to allow access to as many members and fans as possible,” the Essendon chief executive told the Herald Sun on Tuesday.

Only a few hours later AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan shut down the proposal despite a week of informal discussions between Hawthorn, Essendon and the league.

Yet in a COVID era where everything and anything can be altered at a moment’s notice, why wouldn’t the AFL allow 21,000 more fans to bask in the glory of a live AFL game?

To worship at the altar of the MCG, to make that sacred walk down the Yarra Park Hill past the statues, to pay an exorbitant amount for a mid-strength beer, to engage in all the usual pre-game banter with rival fans then scream your lungs out like a lunatic for two and a half glorious hours.

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Moving the Essendon v Hawthorn game to the MCG will allow more fans to attend. Picture: Getty

An AFL that has preached agility and flexibility and nimbleness is at least having a think about whether that Round 1 swap could work despite stating on Friday all games would be played at scheduled venues.

For Essendon none of the usual impediments that would be in the way of a move from Marvel Stadium to the MCG are insurmountable.

The Herald Sun understands the MCC had given a commitment that it could bump out all the fans from the 1.45pm Melbourne-Fremantle clash in time for the 7.25pm Essendon-Hawthorn clash.

It would be tight, but even given the commitment to deeper cleaning with COVID requirements the MCC could make it happen.

Essendon is prepared to consider a game swap later in the season if required to fulfil contractual requirements that ensure Marvel Stadium has a set amount of games.

But with the AFL owning Marvel Stadium a financial settlement would be easier than swapping a contest given Essendon’s MCG home games are against Carlton, Richmond, Melbourne and Collingwood.

It’s fair to say Essendon and Hawthorn don’t like each other.

Only 5500 more Essendon and Hawthorn members would receive tickets for the clash but many MCC and AFL members with affiliations to both clubs would be able to front up.

Members can’t wait for the latest instalments of two clubs who have witnessed Dermott Brereton burning an Essendon jumper and the line-in-the-sand game and the 1985 Grand Final brawl and Alastair Clarkson labelling Matthew Lloyd a “sniper” after running through Brad Sewell in 2009.

In theory Melbourne and Fremantle could play their Round 1 clash at Marvel Stadium instead of the MCG.

But if those mild-mannered Melbourne fans are bigger on exquisite cheese platters than outright mutiny, can you imagine the uproar if they had waited 18 months to return to their favourite MCC seats, only to be denied?

The AFL fans lapped up a pair of football festivals last year under bizarre circumstances.

Want an old-fashioned footy festival?

Four consecutive games in three days at the MCG: Richmond-Carlton, Collingwood-Western Bulldogs, Melbourne-Fremantle and then Essendon-Hawthorn.

The concern for the AFL might be that it sets a precedent that other clubs would want to follow.

But By Round 3 the league is hopeful it might be at 75 per cent capacity if the run of no COVID positives continues, which would mean clubs would be happy to play at scheduled venues.

Other Marvel games in the first month would likely not shut-out many fans anywhere as many fans, including North Melbourne-West Coast, St Kilda-Melbourne, Western Bulldogs-West Coast, North Melbourne-Western Bulldogs and Carlton-Fremantle.

Essendon and Hawthorn fans have already signed up in their droves despite donating last year’s fee, despite the reality the season could already be ravaged, despite all the adversities and sacrifices COVID has thrust upon them.

The least the AFL can do is sacrifice a game at a stadium it owns for adequate financial reward to allow those fans to remind themselves again why they fell in love with this maddening, addictive game in the flesh instead of on their flat screen TV.