The AFL has added to Geelong’s finals challenges, confirming their home semi-final will be at the MCG and not Simonds Stadium.
After losing Friday night’s qualifying final to Richmond, the Cats are now into the sudden-death match against the winner of the Sydney-Essendon elimination final on Saturday.
The Cats held their tongues over the Richmond game being played at the MCG despite Geelong finishing second and the Tigers third.
Geelong were the “home” team by name only – of the blockbuster 95,000 crowd, the noise clearly showed about two-thirds were the Tiger army.
The Cats have called for a broader discussion once the season is over about how the AFL goes about scheduling finals.
They were never a chance to play the game in Geelong, given it’s the only final at the weekend in Melbourne.
But the crowd argument, which was the obvious factor for the qualifying final, does not quite hold up if, as expected, Geelong play Sydney.
Geelong’s round-20 match against the Swans at Simonds Stadium attracted only 30,000 fans, although that figure will be bigger next Friday, given it’s a final.
Cats captain Joel Selwoood said the massive Richmond crowd presence was not a factor in Friday night’s loss.
“We could throw that up all day (whether it should have been played at the MCG),” he said.
“For a footy fan, it definitely is when you can get 95,000 there.
“We expected to be dominated in the crowd sense but it doesn’t play out too much on the field.”
Since the Cats became an AFL power in the mid-2000s, the only time they have hosted a final at Simonds Stadium was their 2013 qualifying final loss to Fremantle.
The rest of their home finals have been at the MCG.