MCC member and keen to score a walk-up ticket to the Richmond/Collingwood AFL Preliminary Final tonight? You’d better get your skates on. Lines outside Gate 2 at the MCG are already absolutely heaving with multiple hours remaining until doors open.
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Ahead of the hotly anticipated Prelim which is virtually guaranteed to bring the entire city to a screeching halt, the MCC announced that 13,000 seats would be available to those who are a) lucky enough to be an MCC member, and b) keen enough to ditch work midway through the day and lineup outside the ground for a few hours.
While none were quite as dedicated as Albert, the man who spent the past two nights camped outside the gates, the lines quickly expanded to the point of ridiculousness, with heaving crowds trying to be one of the lucky handful who gets through the gates later today.
Just before 9am this morning, things were still reasonably calm outside Gate 2.
Early 🐧 catches the 🐛 @MCC_Members pic.twitter.com/vzRrJ0tlbq
— Anthony Everard (@AnthonyEverard5) September 20, 2018
But by 12:35pm, that had definitely changed.
Line at the MCC – 12:35pm. Gonna be a huge Prelim! #AFLFinals pic.twitter.com/3XpbzuAzQB
— Tony (@scruffybushrat) September 21, 2018
At 2:30pm it was already teetering on the point of being pointless.
The MCC queue at Gate 2 as at 2.30pm. Just 2.5 hours until entry. #AFLTigersPies pic.twitter.com/NlvCLUB1W9
— Melbourne Cricket Club (@MCC_Members) September 21, 2018
But a mere hour later, at just on 3:30pm, it had swelled firmly into batshit insane territory.
A 3.30pm update from the MCC queue. Gate 2 will open at 5.00pm. #AFLTigersPies pic.twitter.com/T3ulMyP756
— Melbourne Cricket Club (@MCC_Members) September 21, 2018
All public ticketing for the game is long gone, with club and AFL members tickets all snapped up and all corporate seating extremely scarce.
Match officials are expecting a crowd of around 97,000 people, with the MCG’s official capacity of 100,024 expected to get a fair nudge once gates actually open from 5pm onwards.
If you’re one of those lucky hundred-thousand odd to have scored a ticket, gates open at 5pm for MCC Reserve members, and 5:30pm for the general public.
Strap yourselves in, footy fans. This is gonna be an absolute cracker.
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