Geelong are set to host a VFL/AFL playoff match at their regular home ground for the first time in 116 years when they take on Fremantle in a qualifying final next Saturday.
With all four finals in week one to take place in Victoria, the AFL is expected to announce this weekend that the clash between the second-placed Cats and the third-ranked Dockers will be at Simonds Stadium, rather than Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, despite the latter venue being much bigger.
Simonds Stadium has a capacity of 33,000 – which the AFL has estimated is big enough to accommodate the expected crowd for a clash between Geelong and Fremantle.
Big-drawing Melbourne-based clubs Hawthorn, Richmond and Collingwood will host the other three finals in week one at the MCG.
Under coach Ross Lyon, Fremantle have made “play anywhere, anytime” their mantra – one sure to be severely tested against a Geelong team which has won 43 of its last 44 matches at Simonds Stadium.
“With our members and fans, we haven’t experienced that many top-four double chances,” said Lyon.
“We have members and fans who couldn’t get a seat or a ticket down there. What’s it seat, 30,000?
“Outside of that, we’re an anywhere, anytime team. We’ll go and play.
“At the start of the year, you thought if you finished third you wouldn’t be playing in a regional centre.
“You’d be playing in a metropolis at world-class venues.
“But it’s out of my control.
“It’s not a problem for me. We’ll go down and play.”
The only other final to have been played in the city of Geelong was way back in 1897 – the first year of the VFL – when Essendon beat Geelong by six points in a semi-final at Corio Oval.