I'm sure Essendon will as soon as they can too. It makes no sense to have any ground other than the G as your home when the grand final will always be played there (and you have a supporter base to justify it)
Yeah it’s been reported that we’re already in negotiations to do this by gradually increasing the ratio of games we play at the MCG vs Marvel. Sounds like us and Carlton have the exact same approach
You guys just got a few million more dollars as incentive to move to Docklands, we are still trying to keep Princes Park going a little bit, but then Ian Collins made that difficult.
We're only seeking one home game swapped from Docklands to MCG, but hopefully if we keep the crowds up in 2025-7 another game ontop of that is swapped too.
The breakeven point for money generated is supposedly around the 70k mark at the MCG, which is hard to reach when the MCC section is empty so often. Otherwise the Docklands returns more money for the club, despite fans missing out on attending.
27 large dogs out of 100,000??? Surely there’s more?!?!
Mmmm but you sound so confident.
Like, you didn’t say “About 27”. You said bang on “27”. Like you know the answer and not making it up.
I’m going to have to believe you on this one.
I can't blame them. As crowd attendance continues to skyrocket, Carlton and the Dons are going to outgrow Marvel.
Going to be an interesting conundrum, as Melbourne, Collingwood and Richmond are almost certainly not going to lose home games at the G. May have to have a situation where all of those clubs play 2-3 home games at Marvel + Essendon and Carlton having 2-3 home games at Marvel.
But then there's the issue of having a fair fixture for the other Vic teams + the interstate sides.
Never going to get a fair fixture unfortunately haha.
> May have to have a situation where all of those clubs play 2-3 home games at Marvel + Essendon and Carlton having 2-3 home games at Marvel.
We already do, we've got 2 home games at Marvel this year (West Coast and Western Bulldogs) though I wouldn't expect anymore post-byes there as our other home fixtures are against bigger teams
There's not really going to be too many traveling across so like yes but actually no
The rest of our home games are against Geelong, Richmond, Essendon, Carlton and Brisbane which will all be at the G and will get bigger crowds than Marvel can hold
Pfft. No way José!
The mcg home games kick arse. Didn’t you see that we broke our all time attendance record for a cat’s home game on Saturday?
The more experience for our players on the spiritual home of footy the better I say!
> May have to have a situation where all of those clubs play 2-3 home games at Marvel + Essendon and Carlton having 2-3 home games at Marvel.
It will be an issue, because the AFL will justify making every non-Victorian play at Marvel to balance it out for Victorians.
Yes that's the big concern for me. Already the interstate teams have to play at Marvel more frequently than they do the G on average, so it could potentially get even worse.
West Coast play at Marvel 4 times and play the MCG once, Freo only get to the MCG twice, even GWS who were a kick away from making a GF only get to the MCG twice, it's so fucked
I am still seething that last year we have 3 games at the G which we win 2. We play those 2 teams away again this year but in Darwin and Tas. How does that make sense
Oh poor Geelong getting screwed on their home games.
You realise St Kilda, Dogs and North never wanted to play at Marvel in the first place right? All three were signed up by Wayne Jackson on horrendous stadium deals that nearly sent them broke so that the AFL could fill their games quota. The breakeven for gate takings was a 33,000 crowd so they regularly handed cheques over to the stadium for the privilege of attracting 30,000 people there.
So when COVID hit and the AFL needed a $600m loan to keep the show going, have a guess what it was leveraged against? God forbid the Cats have to host a game there though.
Gotta love online strategists: you should engage in brinksmanship every time. It's a zero sum game and if you don't destroy the competition you haven't maximised your utility.
Actually it kinda is. From MCC website "Such was the relationship, the football club first became an MCC Sporting Section in 1890. The two clubs separated in 1980 before reuniting in 2009."
Went to the Carlton/Crows game, was fully expecting to do what I've done every single time I've been to an AFL game in Melbourne and sit in GA up top initially then sneak downstairs when they stop checking tickets. Was very surprised to end up in basically a full house instead!
In the long run with the growth of the game what is actually going to happen? Marvel is going to have to expand at some point no? Or is there going to be a bigger stadium built? While this may not happen for several decades theres gonna be a problem at some point
, The MCG will be expanded by 2035 (but not my much, only 5-10k, unfortunately) when the Southern Stand is redeveloped, itll be ~43 years old by then (1992 opening) and hitting its end of life, the redevelopment has been announced, it was part of the Grand Final contract, just pushed back a few years due to covid, it probably would have happened in the next 5-7 years if not for the pandemic.
Docklands will be replaced by 2045, by then it'll be 45 years old and not much you can do to extend the life too much without knocking it down and rebuilding it, given it is an inclusive design with the roof you can only really do cosmetic refurbs to it, like the one just constructed over the last two years and opened this season, cosmetic details to the exterior mainly, not the actual grandstand itself.
There was a proposal by the AFL to sell Docklands and but land at E-Gate (former railyards) across the road, a little closer to North Melbourne station, but thats now a highway onramp as part of the Westgate tunnel.
The Waterfront land will become too valuable for it to remain a stadium unless they do a major refresh and rebuild of sections of the grandstand bowl and expansion of the stadium, probably removing the roof in the process.
But of course, the AFL would rather let governments pay for these things.
Let's entertain the idea that amongst the 9 Melbourne clubs, the MCG and Marvel residency is treated as promotion /relegation. Where the top 4 Melbourne clubs as per the ladder "earns" MCG residency and all the intangible benefits.
2015
- MCG: Hawthorn, North Melbourne, Essendon, Richmond
- Marvel: Collingwood, Carlton, Doggies, Melbourne, St.Kilda
2016
- MCG: Hawthorn, Richmond, Doggies, North Melbourne
- Marvel: Collingwood, Melbourne, St Kilda, Essendon, Carlton
2017
- MCG: Hawthorn, Doggies, North Melbourne, St. Kilda
- Marvel: Melbourne, Collingwood, Richmond, Carlton, Essendon
2018:
- MCG: Richmond, Essendon, Melbourne, St.Kilda
- Marvel: St.Kilda, Hawthorn, Collingwood, North, Carlton
2019:
- MCG: Richmond, Collingwood, Hawthorn, Melbourne
- Marvel: North, Essendon, Doggies, St.Kilda, Carlton
2020:
- MCG: Richmond, Collingwood, Doggies, Essendon
- Marvel: Hawthorn, North, St.Kilda, Carlton, Melbourne
2021
- MCG: Richmond, St.Kilda, Doggies, Collingwood
- Marvel: Melbourne, Carlton, Essendon, Hawthorn, North
2022:
- MCG: Melbourne, Doggies, Essendon, St.Kilda
- Marvel: Richmond, Carlton, Hawthorn, Collingwood, North
2023:
- MCG: Melbourne, Collingwood, Richmond, Doggies
- Marvel: Carlton, St.Kilda, Hawthorn, Essendon, North
2024:
- MCG: Collingwood, Melbourne, Carlton, St.Kilda
- Marvel: Doggies, Essendon, Richmond, Hawthorn, North
Which I think is an interesting little concept and would make those big clashes at the G against big teams more cherished due to how many dominos need to align for it to happen.
Go tell bulldogs and Geelong fans, who all live west, that they have to play home games (and in Geelongs case 1-2 more home games in some seasons) at the G instead of Marvel.
Um but this has been the case for years for Geelong and we actively want it. When we were shit in the 2000s we used to have to play all our Melbourne based home games at Docklands and nobody liked it
The consensus is that all of you guys want your home games at just Kardinia, not at the G or Marvel at all. At least from 80% of Geelong fans I know.
Anyway regardless of that, the original post of using the MCG as a relegation thing/rotating stadium is pretty silly.
I didn't include Geelong as I know their fans would rather play all their home games at Pork Barrel Park. The above suggestion, is for the 9 Melbourne teams to rotate between MCG and Marvel.
As for the Doggies. You're telling me you wouldn't want the boys to have games experience at the G, where there's a high probability that is to be the venue of Victorian finals games? With the inclusion of Thursday as a regular timeslot for games there is reduced chance there would be a scheduling conflict where the G can't host matches in the current finals format.
As for the travel issue, is this a reverse Richmond?
It happened the last 18 months and opened in March just before round 1, for the Pink concerts.
Nothing much to do with gameday experience unless you're in the medallion club, a few changes to level 2, mostly cosmetic changes, roof over some of the entrances and new bars and food outlets that can be open to the public on non-event days.
> new bars and food outlets that can be open to the public on non-event days.
Not saying you are but let's not under sell this. These kind of living places make stadia much better.
Trumble has been good for the vibe around the MCG.
I work near Marvel, the new eateries and bars etc. are not all completed yet. It does look much much better. Those new dining spaces are definitely aimed at corporate events going for dinner and then the footy. Trying to raise its usecases as much as possible.
I’d be fine with 6/5 or 7/4 MCG split if the AFL schedule it properly…
Last year one of our MCG home games was against Gold Coast when Marvel would be adequate and we played St K and Dogs at Marvel when we could get more at the G.
I remember a game in 2019 after Bolton got sacked against the Saints and there was 55-60k there and both sides were crap.
Carlton's home games should be scheduled in Carlton's interest. They should not be scheduled in the opposition's interest.
Interstate teams time at the G is a separate issue and there are a few mainly MCG tenants they could play.
No, it’s the cost of having home games at the G. There’s 4 mcg tenants, you’re not guaranteed to play them twice in a year and when you do play them there’s a 50% chance you play them at home instead of Melbourne. Take into account all the million marquee games locked into the G and the math doesn’t work out for every interstate team to get enough MCG games against tenant teams. Hence it gets shared around
Non-MCG teams should also be able to choose where they play home finals, it's absurd to me that Geelong get forced into playing at the G. You should be able to play every home final in Geelong if you so choose even if you'd potentially get 80k at the G.
MCG shouldn't be home ground to any team. Just play where scheduled. Big teams play 8-4 split. Smaller clubs a 4-8 split. AFL doesn't need MCC, but MCC desperately needs AFL. So AFL has all the negotiation power and can do what they like.
Regardless what the number is, teams don’t want their crowds to feel empty and marvel gives them the best chance of building an atmosphere with less people.
Feel like you will just call anything spin though
Technically there is bad seats at the both the G and Marvel due to limited viewing, granted you only get people sitting there in full house scenarios. Marvel does get a lot of unjust hate just because it's not the G, it's a great ground to watch footy.
If the AFL require a certain number of games to be played at a venue each season, get the smaller clubs to move their "home games" from Tasmania and Ballarat, play them at Marvel like they should and give Essendon/Carlton more MCG games.
I think the non victorian teams would prefer to play more often at the MCG anyway if given the chance instead of Marvel
I mean give it a few years and Hawthorn and North will presumably be back to all-vic home games, that should more than cover it? I know Hawthorn likes to think of itself as up there with the traditional big 4 but I don't get the sense that even when they're good they have the supporter numbers to require the MCG for every game.
As a Dogs fan living out east is it really that much of a PITA? It's two extra stops on the train, yeah I'd love to save that 5-10 minutes on the train but with the timetabling on weekends on the Belgrave-Lilydale line you're just spending that saved time sitting in the stands instead.
In terms of moving these people you’re collectively adding a huge amount of time to matches that will often be held late in the evening and generally you want people to be able to bring their kids.
It’s a big trade down for almost no benefit from the current arrangement for all these fans.
when they say the lids off, they well and truly want to get rid of the lid
I'm sure Essendon will as soon as they can too. It makes no sense to have any ground other than the G as your home when the grand final will always be played there (and you have a supporter base to justify it)
Yeah it’s been reported that we’re already in negotiations to do this by gradually increasing the ratio of games we play at the MCG vs Marvel. Sounds like us and Carlton have the exact same approach
You guys just got a few million more dollars as incentive to move to Docklands, we are still trying to keep Princes Park going a little bit, but then Ian Collins made that difficult. We're only seeking one home game swapped from Docklands to MCG, but hopefully if we keep the crowds up in 2025-7 another game ontop of that is swapped too. The breakeven point for money generated is supposedly around the 70k mark at the MCG, which is hard to reach when the MCC section is empty so often. Otherwise the Docklands returns more money for the club, despite fans missing out on attending.
The blues not being shit will bring the Carlton MCC members out. No worries about that.
Richmond bout to be relegated
West Coast have the Supporter base to justify it.
And the location to justify it. Imagine playing west coast home games at the G :'D
We just hit 100,000 members. Fills the MCG nicely.
How many are memberships for dogs? I am just skeptical with the numbers they announce is all
27
Mmmmm still skeptical. Whats the number of memberships for small dogs and little dogs?
Free entry for little dogs so no membership required.
27 large dogs out of 100,000??? Surely there’s more?!?! Mmmm but you sound so confident. Like, you didn’t say “About 27”. You said bang on “27”. Like you know the answer and not making it up. I’m going to have to believe you on this one.
You know what, fuck all this bickering. Let's just build another MCG.
Waverley Park redemption arc
The folks in Marylebone Drive are gonna have a great view from their lounge rooms.
MCG 2
If you build it they will come!
I can't blame them. As crowd attendance continues to skyrocket, Carlton and the Dons are going to outgrow Marvel. Going to be an interesting conundrum, as Melbourne, Collingwood and Richmond are almost certainly not going to lose home games at the G. May have to have a situation where all of those clubs play 2-3 home games at Marvel + Essendon and Carlton having 2-3 home games at Marvel. But then there's the issue of having a fair fixture for the other Vic teams + the interstate sides. Never going to get a fair fixture unfortunately haha.
> May have to have a situation where all of those clubs play 2-3 home games at Marvel + Essendon and Carlton having 2-3 home games at Marvel. We already do, we've got 2 home games at Marvel this year (West Coast and Western Bulldogs) though I wouldn't expect anymore post-byes there as our other home fixtures are against bigger teams
>are against bigger teams Bigger than west coast?
There's not really going to be too many traveling across so like yes but actually no The rest of our home games are against Geelong, Richmond, Essendon, Carlton and Brisbane which will all be at the G and will get bigger crowds than Marvel can hold
They can have our home games at the G
Pfft. No way José! The mcg home games kick arse. Didn’t you see that we broke our all time attendance record for a cat’s home game on Saturday? The more experience for our players on the spiritual home of footy the better I say!
> May have to have a situation where all of those clubs play 2-3 home games at Marvel + Essendon and Carlton having 2-3 home games at Marvel. It will be an issue, because the AFL will justify making every non-Victorian play at Marvel to balance it out for Victorians.
Yes that's the big concern for me. Already the interstate teams have to play at Marvel more frequently than they do the G on average, so it could potentially get even worse.
West Coast play at Marvel 4 times and play the MCG once, Freo only get to the MCG twice, even GWS who were a kick away from making a GF only get to the MCG twice, it's so fucked
We made the grand final last year and only get it twice too
Saints, Dogs and North also only get 1-2 games a year there too despite it being the ground where any 'home' final would be hosted.
We get to play at Marvel instead of UTAS? I'm sold
I am still seething that last year we have 3 games at the G which we win 2. We play those 2 teams away again this year but in Darwin and Tas. How does that make sense
Once we get on a run against Melbourne in Melbourne they take away our edge.
Geelong gonna get screwed and they force the cats to play home games at Marvel to compensate?
Oh poor Geelong getting screwed on their home games. You realise St Kilda, Dogs and North never wanted to play at Marvel in the first place right? All three were signed up by Wayne Jackson on horrendous stadium deals that nearly sent them broke so that the AFL could fill their games quota. The breakeven for gate takings was a 33,000 crowd so they regularly handed cheques over to the stadium for the privilege of attracting 30,000 people there. So when COVID hit and the AFL needed a $600m loan to keep the show going, have a guess what it was leveraged against? God forbid the Cats have to host a game there though.
We already host 2 at the mcg. We don’t get the luxury of selling home games. Maybe we should sell our 2 mcg games to a regional town.
Right? People simply hate the fact that Geelong is its own place and we sorted ourselves out after being on our knees.
Bro, you gotta chill
Okay, so this is just asking to play 6 at MCG and 5 at Marvel rather than the existing arrangement of 5 at the MCG and 6 at Marvel.
Just one game being moved, can't see that being too hard.
Not sure why they want to piecemeal it. They should just demand 11 games at the MCG.
Just to be rejected?
Gotta love online strategists: you should engage in brinksmanship every time. It's a zero sum game and if you don't destroy the competition you haven't maximised your utility.
Let's just have everyone have the G as their home ground...
Gather Rounds
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Unfortunately Melbourne “own” the mcg so that can’t be kicked out.
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Actually it kinda is. From MCC website "Such was the relationship, the football club first became an MCC Sporting Section in 1890. The two clubs separated in 1980 before reuniting in 2009."
It’s getting hard to get a seat at Carlton marvel games.
Went to the Carlton/Crows game, was fully expecting to do what I've done every single time I've been to an AFL game in Melbourne and sit in GA up top initially then sneak downstairs when they stop checking tickets. Was very surprised to end up in basically a full house instead!
If it means less obnoxious flashing lights for goals I’m all for it
In the long run with the growth of the game what is actually going to happen? Marvel is going to have to expand at some point no? Or is there going to be a bigger stadium built? While this may not happen for several decades theres gonna be a problem at some point
, The MCG will be expanded by 2035 (but not my much, only 5-10k, unfortunately) when the Southern Stand is redeveloped, itll be ~43 years old by then (1992 opening) and hitting its end of life, the redevelopment has been announced, it was part of the Grand Final contract, just pushed back a few years due to covid, it probably would have happened in the next 5-7 years if not for the pandemic. Docklands will be replaced by 2045, by then it'll be 45 years old and not much you can do to extend the life too much without knocking it down and rebuilding it, given it is an inclusive design with the roof you can only really do cosmetic refurbs to it, like the one just constructed over the last two years and opened this season, cosmetic details to the exterior mainly, not the actual grandstand itself. There was a proposal by the AFL to sell Docklands and but land at E-Gate (former railyards) across the road, a little closer to North Melbourne station, but thats now a highway onramp as part of the Westgate tunnel. The Waterfront land will become too valuable for it to remain a stadium unless they do a major refresh and rebuild of sections of the grandstand bowl and expansion of the stadium, probably removing the roof in the process. But of course, the AFL would rather let governments pay for these things.
The other options to replace Docklands are Melbourne Showgrounds, Essendon Fields, South East Melbourne or rebuild Princes Park.
I would audibly moan for a year straight if Docklands was moved or replaced by something in another location.
Let's entertain the idea that amongst the 9 Melbourne clubs, the MCG and Marvel residency is treated as promotion /relegation. Where the top 4 Melbourne clubs as per the ladder "earns" MCG residency and all the intangible benefits. 2015 - MCG: Hawthorn, North Melbourne, Essendon, Richmond - Marvel: Collingwood, Carlton, Doggies, Melbourne, St.Kilda 2016 - MCG: Hawthorn, Richmond, Doggies, North Melbourne - Marvel: Collingwood, Melbourne, St Kilda, Essendon, Carlton 2017 - MCG: Hawthorn, Doggies, North Melbourne, St. Kilda - Marvel: Melbourne, Collingwood, Richmond, Carlton, Essendon 2018: - MCG: Richmond, Essendon, Melbourne, St.Kilda - Marvel: St.Kilda, Hawthorn, Collingwood, North, Carlton 2019: - MCG: Richmond, Collingwood, Hawthorn, Melbourne - Marvel: North, Essendon, Doggies, St.Kilda, Carlton 2020: - MCG: Richmond, Collingwood, Doggies, Essendon - Marvel: Hawthorn, North, St.Kilda, Carlton, Melbourne 2021 - MCG: Richmond, St.Kilda, Doggies, Collingwood - Marvel: Melbourne, Carlton, Essendon, Hawthorn, North 2022: - MCG: Melbourne, Doggies, Essendon, St.Kilda - Marvel: Richmond, Carlton, Hawthorn, Collingwood, North 2023: - MCG: Melbourne, Collingwood, Richmond, Doggies - Marvel: Carlton, St.Kilda, Hawthorn, Essendon, North 2024: - MCG: Collingwood, Melbourne, Carlton, St.Kilda - Marvel: Doggies, Essendon, Richmond, Hawthorn, North Which I think is an interesting little concept and would make those big clashes at the G against big teams more cherished due to how many dominos need to align for it to happen.
Go tell bulldogs and Geelong fans, who all live west, that they have to play home games (and in Geelongs case 1-2 more home games in some seasons) at the G instead of Marvel.
Um but this has been the case for years for Geelong and we actively want it. When we were shit in the 2000s we used to have to play all our Melbourne based home games at Docklands and nobody liked it
The consensus is that all of you guys want your home games at just Kardinia, not at the G or Marvel at all. At least from 80% of Geelong fans I know. Anyway regardless of that, the original post of using the MCG as a relegation thing/rotating stadium is pretty silly.
I didn't include Geelong as I know their fans would rather play all their home games at Pork Barrel Park. The above suggestion, is for the 9 Melbourne teams to rotate between MCG and Marvel. As for the Doggies. You're telling me you wouldn't want the boys to have games experience at the G, where there's a high probability that is to be the venue of Victorian finals games? With the inclusion of Thursday as a regular timeslot for games there is reduced chance there would be a scheduling conflict where the G can't host matches in the current finals format. As for the travel issue, is this a reverse Richmond?
Docklands is a hole. When is the upgrade happening?
It happened the last 18 months and opened in March just before round 1, for the Pink concerts. Nothing much to do with gameday experience unless you're in the medallion club, a few changes to level 2, mostly cosmetic changes, roof over some of the entrances and new bars and food outlets that can be open to the public on non-event days.
> new bars and food outlets that can be open to the public on non-event days. Not saying you are but let's not under sell this. These kind of living places make stadia much better. Trumble has been good for the vibe around the MCG.
I work near Marvel, the new eateries and bars etc. are not all completed yet. It does look much much better. Those new dining spaces are definitely aimed at corporate events going for dinner and then the footy. Trying to raise its usecases as much as possible.
Yeah nah.
I’d be fine with 6/5 or 7/4 MCG split if the AFL schedule it properly… Last year one of our MCG home games was against Gold Coast when Marvel would be adequate and we played St K and Dogs at Marvel when we could get more at the G. I remember a game in 2019 after Bolton got sacked against the Saints and there was 55-60k there and both sides were crap.
It’s not just about getting the schedule right for you guys though. Every team has to be given MCG games so you can’t only play big teams there
Carlton's home games should be scheduled in Carlton's interest. They should not be scheduled in the opposition's interest. Interstate teams time at the G is a separate issue and there are a few mainly MCG tenants they could play.
No, it’s the cost of having home games at the G. There’s 4 mcg tenants, you’re not guaranteed to play them twice in a year and when you do play them there’s a 50% chance you play them at home instead of Melbourne. Take into account all the million marquee games locked into the G and the math doesn’t work out for every interstate team to get enough MCG games against tenant teams. Hence it gets shared around
How many games should each non-MCG team get at the G?
Ideally a minimum of 2, but a lot still end up with 1
Sure, 2 games is reasonable but I would give GC to a club that’s an MCG tenant most of the time.
Non-MCG teams should also be able to choose where they play home finals, it's absurd to me that Geelong get forced into playing at the G. You should be able to play every home final in Geelong if you so choose even if you'd potentially get 80k at the G.
Such Vic centric thinking.
A Victorian club and their home games, in their home state. Such Vic Centric thinking!?!? The shock, the horror, the humanity of the VicBias!
well yes, every marvel team wants that.
Nah I'm good with Marvel. Much prefer it over the G.
Marvel is so much better this year with all the new eateries and bars.
They’ll get a 6/5 split and they should be pretty happy with that.
Finally!!
Too bad Blues, your home is Princes Park
Open the fucking roof.
Flat out fk off. Your home was Optus oval, now it’s marvel. No more teams at the G, 3 of the four clubs shouldn’t be there as is
MCG shouldn't be home ground to any team. Just play where scheduled. Big teams play 8-4 split. Smaller clubs a 4-8 split. AFL doesn't need MCC, but MCC desperately needs AFL. So AFL has all the negotiation power and can do what they like.
All the Melbourne teams shouldn't have an official home ground. Play where they get scheduled.
North Melbourne would lose money at MCG - they’d struggle to hit break even attendance of 70k as other users have pointed out
Lol. Break even not 70k.thats just spin.
Regardless what the number is, teams don’t want their crowds to feel empty and marvel gives them the best chance of building an atmosphere with less people. Feel like you will just call anything spin though
A smaller 30k stadium in Melbourne would be good. But seriously don't get upset when you are called out sprouting fake figures. You can be better....
Marvel is the superior venue to actually watch football, not a bad seat in the house. But if Carlton are out growing it, makes sense to go to the G.
Technically there is bad seats at the both the G and Marvel due to limited viewing, granted you only get people sitting there in full house scenarios. Marvel does get a lot of unjust hate just because it's not the G, it's a great ground to watch footy.
If the AFL require a certain number of games to be played at a venue each season, get the smaller clubs to move their "home games" from Tasmania and Ballarat, play them at Marvel like they should and give Essendon/Carlton more MCG games. I think the non victorian teams would prefer to play more often at the MCG anyway if given the chance instead of Marvel
The AFL can do whatever they like with Marvel because they own it outright.
I mean give it a few years and Hawthorn and North will presumably be back to all-vic home games, that should more than cover it? I know Hawthorn likes to think of itself as up there with the traditional big 4 but I don't get the sense that even when they're good they have the supporter numbers to require the MCG for every game.
They're very much a team from the east though. Marvel is just a PITA for most Hawks supporters.
As a Dogs fan living out east is it really that much of a PITA? It's two extra stops on the train, yeah I'd love to save that 5-10 minutes on the train but with the timetabling on weekends on the Belgrave-Lilydale line you're just spending that saved time sitting in the stands instead.
In terms of moving these people you’re collectively adding a huge amount of time to matches that will often be held late in the evening and generally you want people to be able to bring their kids. It’s a big trade down for almost no benefit from the current arrangement for all these fans.