MEMBERS ON SPORTING STAGE - Melbourne Cricket Club
MEMBERS ON SPORTING STAGE - Melbourne Cricket Club
MEMBERS ON SPORTING STAGE - Melbourne Cricket Club
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CLUB NEWS<br />
September was a bumper month at<br />
the MCG, with seven AFL fi nals in<br />
23 days accommodating more than<br />
half a million fans who witnessed some<br />
fabulous football. The Grand Final saw a<br />
return to “the good old days”, with an all-<br />
Victorian contest to decide the<br />
premiership between the season’s two best<br />
teams, Hawthorn and Geelong.<br />
The public and members voted with<br />
their feet. The grand fi nal attendance of<br />
100,012 was the highest since 1986 and<br />
the fi rst event to break through the<br />
six-fi gure barrier since the new grandstand<br />
12 MCC NEWS DECEMBER 2008<br />
GRAND FINAL DAY LI<br />
Perfect weather, a massive crowd and a gripping contest<br />
was completed three years ago. It was also<br />
the highest Members Reserve attendance<br />
in more than a decade of grand fi nals.<br />
Such was the popularity and<br />
anticipation of the contest between the<br />
all-conquering Cats and emerging Hawks,<br />
more than 7500 MCC members queued<br />
patiently outside Gate 2 from early<br />
morning. After the gates were thrown<br />
open at 8am, the fi rst three levels of the<br />
Reserve were fi lled before the fi rst egg had<br />
been scrambled in the nearby Hugh<br />
Trumble Café.<br />
Soon, the bars and dining rooms were<br />
working at capacity, both inside and<br />
outside the Reserve. Early on, the Long<br />
Room was the place to be for many, either<br />
to relax on the famous couches or share a<br />
beer with old friends.<br />
With the immaculate arena bathed in<br />
bright sunshine, the atmosphere built<br />
steadily. Car park barbecues were<br />
gathering momentum as fans started to<br />
arrive in numbers to savour the unique<br />
experience of a grand fi nal at the ’G.<br />
There were two high-quality under-16<br />
curtain-raisers before world-renowned<br />
Aussie rock group Powderfi nger took