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- Listen: Real Footy Podcast
- Fans flocking to MCG
- Footy’s biggest fans start camp out for grand final tickets
- In-demand North defender Ben McKay chooses Essendon
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Listen: Real Footy Podcast
Fans flocking to MCG
Fans line up outside the MCG ahead of the Collingwood v GWS preliminary final.Credit: Getty Images
Fans line up outside the MCG ahead of the Collingwood v GWS preliminary final.Credit: Getty Images
Footy’s biggest fans start camp out for grand final tickets
Football fanatics have begun sleeping out on Exhibition Street awaiting the opening of Ticketek in the hope of securing their seats at the 2023 grand final.
Fans with swags and sleeping bags started to queue from Wednesday night ahead of the city office opening for grand final ticket sales on Sunday.
Dean Symes, Judy Meehan and Wayne Lillingston line up for grand final tickets on Friday night. Credit: Alex Crowe
Essendon supporter Wayne Lillingston was lined up alongside Geelong supporter Judy Meehan and Essendon supporter Dean Symes on Friday evening, taking turns waiting for tickets with fellow grand final diehards.
The trio have become friends over many years of queuing for grand final tickets.
Meehan said she’d been travelling from Warrnambool to line up for tickets since 1980, when they closed the regional tickets office.
“My first grand final was 1966 to see St Kilda and I’ve been going ever since,” she said.
“I’ve been very lucky, I’ve always gotten tickets.”
Lillingston said the ticket line had filled up with more and more regional fans over the last 20 as Ticketek offices had closed in country towns.
Dean Symes, Judy Meehan and Wayne Lillingston line up for grand final tickets on Friday night.Credit: Alex Crowe
“I’m from Ballarat,” he said.
“If you don’t trust the computers or the technology, or if you think you could have a better chance of getting them this way you just do it.”
Symes said from a ticketing perspective it was best if Carlton and Collingwood fans didn’t make the grand final as their members would likely snap up the tickets.
Despite that, he said Victorian teams in the grand final would be something special.
“Collingwood deserved to be there. They’ve been a very good side to watch – which is very hard for me to say,” Lillingston said.
In-demand North defender Ben McKay chooses Essendon
Ben McKay has finally made a call on his future, choosing to exercise his free agency rights and sign with Essendon.
The 25-year-old intercepting defender told Sydney this week that he would remain in Victoria to continue his 71-game career, but days passed as he weighed up the Bombers and Hawthorn.
Ben McKay is on the move from North Melbourne.Credit: AFL Photos
Senior sources familiar with the situation at all three clubs confirmed McKay’s decision to this masthead.
As McKay is a restricted free agent, North Melbourne retain the option to match the bid and force a trade if they believed they were capable of gaining a better pick in a trade than they would receive as compensation for losing McKay.
That compensation could be as high as a selection immediately after North Melbourne’s pick two, depending on what contract McKay is offered.
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Good evening
G’day everyone and welcome to our AFL live blog. I’m Roy Ward and I’ll be tapping the keys tonight for the preliminary final between Collingwood and GWS Giants at the MCG.
The winner will take the first [available] berth in the AFL Grand Final, the other spot will go to the winner of tomorrow evening’s clash between Brisbane Lions and Carlton at the Gabba.
First bounce is at 7.50pm AEST.
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