Smell that? Ya bloody smell that, ladies and gentlemen? It’s FINALS FOOTY time, baby. The most wonderful goddamned time of year. And if you’re anywhere near Melbourne, you’d be fully aware that the entire city is literally counting down the remaining seconds of the work day until tonight’s astronomically big AFL Qualifying Final between Geelong and Richmond at the hallowed Melbourne Cricket Ground.
While scores on scores on scores of Melburnians will be glued to the telly either at home at the pub somewhere, those who were lucky enough to actually get tickets to the game might wanna start organising themselves now if they plan to be in their seats by the time the first ball is bounced.
Security at the MCG is being beefed up in anticipation of a crowd that’s tipped to exceed a whopping 95,000 people. Tickets for the game completely sold out in staggeringly quick fashion – even the usually slow-moving AFL Member tickets went like the dickens.
Unlike throughout the season, where patrons were checked on an ad-hoc, random basis, tonight’s game will see every single person who passes through the gates have their bag checked, and be passed over with a security wand before entering the stadium.
This additional checking is predicted to cause long lines at the ground’s gates, with fans encouraged to add an extra 20 minutes to their planned arrival time to avoid missing any of the action.
Victoria Police’s acting commander David Clayton asserted that the move was not being done in response to any specific threat, rather as a necessity given the size of the predicted crowd.
People need to plan, use public transport if you can, it will take additional time to get to the ground because of traffic congestion … people need to be patient and considerate. We will be very diligent and strict in applying our 100 per cent bag check and 100 per cent wanding, this will take a fair bit of time and I’m sure fans are already used to this.
Already this year we’ve confiscated box cutters, some knives and even the odd set of knuckle dusters. But with all this taken into consideration it’s very important that patrons give themselves plenty of time to arrive early.
Clayton confirmed there were no plans to bring back the controversial “ring of steel” fence trialled during last summer’s cricket season.
The game between the Cats and Tigers is scheduled for 7:50pm tonight. The head says Geelong should do it comfortably, but the heart is holding out hope for a Richmond fairytale. Either way, it’s the matchup between Harry Taylor and Alex Rance that will prove pivotal.
FINALS FOOTY YOU BLOODY BEAUTY.
