The Aus Open, GP, Melbourne Cup and Boxing Day Test have profile. But nothing binds Melbourne like the grand final, writes SHANNON GILL.

It’s lunchtime on Thursday but Kathy Parsons has already been at the MCC gates for a long time. She, her partner and others have set up camp so they’re first to find a seat when the MCG opens for business on Saturday. She loves the crowds milling about through the week.

“Look at the people,” she says excitedly.

For the people of Melbourne, locked down six times across 262 days over the past few years, this is what matters most.

The Australian Open and Grand Prix have the international profile, the Melbourne Cup and the Boxing Day Test have the prestige, but the AFL grand final inspires and binds Melbourne like nothing else.

For two strange seasons, it has been missing. In each of the pandemic lockdown years, the inevitable announcement that the grand final would be moved interstate served as the final, killer blow to Melburnian spirits.

In 2022 it’s back.

We have returned to work. Public health measures have been relaxed. But for all the signs of Victoria’s gradual return to normality, none have been more reassuring than the restoration of the grand final to its traditional home.

Peter Wearne, the General Manager of Facilities from the MCC, says that in a world of digital bookings, MCC Members still want a section of the ground available to those prepared to queue. Between 5,000 and 6,000 seats will be up for grabs when gates open at 8am on Saturday.

That’s why Kathy is camping out days from the first bounce.

“The members still want it as a part of the history and tradition of being an MCC member,” Wearne says.

When asked about what time she got in the queue, Kathy is sheepish.

“I’m not allowed to say that,” she says. “Just early … we don’t divulge that!”

She doesn’t want to give the game away for next year when she hopes to snap up the best available grand final seats again.

Her team isn’t even playing on Saturday.

“I’m actually a Collingwood supporter,” she continues. “But my sister and my dad are Geelong and I live in Geelong, so my heart’s with Geelong.”

Kathy has a swag and her partner a lightweight tent laid out on the concrete concourse next to the MCC gates. They’ll sleep here for the next two nights to ensure they get those prized seats. They have deck chairs, books and food, but they spend most of their time on one activity.

“So much people-watching,” she laughs.

In the Yarra Park surrounds, the AFL’s Footy Festival is running. It’s a nice idea made nicer by having two public holidays. There are crowds around, but everything seems somewhat restrained.

The string of celebratory press conferences and media stunts that would usually be happening in this precinct through the week have gone quiet.

The Hawthorn revelations have turned the week on its head.

The league has gone into damage control.

A bunch of social media sensations that have been campaigning for Gillon McLachlan to “kick a torp” with them have arrived to meet McLachlan for a planned video; one of those events that was organised last week before the CEO’s farewell tour ground to an abrupt halt.

As they wait, it’s not quite the frivolity all expected it to be. The same can be said for the grand final parade on water concept.

Still, the show must go on.

Tom Lynch, Luke Shuey and AFLW player Akec Makur Chuot are cheerfully signing autographs and taking selfies for a snaked queue of fans. Brownlow medallist Patrick Cripps is jumping around with children in a Coles tent to promote a healthy eating program. The kids love it, especially when they get to kick a footy.

Inside, entertainment rehearsals are being performed. Robbie Williams is meant to be showing up soon. Delta, too. All the while, ground staff are preparing the surface. Grass is being watered, team logos are being sprayed on the ground.

Wearne says all the physical infrastructure of the MCG falls under his remit. Unlike coaches, who tell their players a grand final is “just another game:, the MCC is acutely aware of the spotlight this weekend.

“When it comes to grand final week everything turns up a notch,” Wearne tells CODE Sports. “Everything is highlighted on grand final day, and you want it to be perfect for the pinnacle of the season. It‘s like that for the AFL and the players, and it’s also like that for those of us working behind the scenes.”

Lights will be double and triple-checked. Every seat in the stadium and every bit of catering equipment is inspected to make sure they are functioning properly.

The Australian Federal Police and Victoria Police will conduct multiple walk-throughs as they check safety and security for the fans and VIPs. The logistical layers are mind boggling.

But, Wearne says, one item sits above all others on the priority list.

“The turf is what everyone is looking at so we spend a lot of extra time on that,” he continues. “You take the care and attention to another level.

“We roll the turf at this time of year to make it that little more stable. Because it’s the last game of the season, we will double paint all the line markings so they really pop and stand out.”

There are quaint traditions that mark the occasion.

“During the finals series we change the pattern to a diamond cut rather than the checkerboard cut in the regular season,” he says. “There’s no requirement to do it, it‘s just our turf guys’ little way of saying it’s finals time.

“It’s tricky in grand final week because all of that has to be done around the entertainment staging and performance rehearsals.”

If weather permits, the ground staff will be out there again on Saturday morning giving the turf one last cut at the 25 millimetre level. There is still much to do. Wearne’s team will not relax until every patron leaves the venue on Saturday evening.

“Look at it this way,” he says, “when the MCG is full it‘s the third or fourth largest city in Victoria. So we are responsible for a lot of people.”

MCG Tours are popular this week and Bryan is the volunteer tour guide on duty.

“It’s my 28th year doing them, and I enjoy coming back every time,” he says. “It’s buzzing around here being grand final week. It‘s much more than just a footy game now.”

Most people who take the tour are unaware of their guide’s resume.

Bryan, as in Bryan Kenneally, is a veteran of 171 games for Melbourne. He ran a victory lap around the MCG as a member of the 1960 and 1964 premiership teams.

“Ninety five per cent-plus don’t know that I played,” he laughs. “Unless it’s a Probus group or some other older group they don’t know.They’re interested in the ground, not me.”

While he’s not one to trumpet his football achievements, the ground and its connection to the city is something he does pass on to tour groups.

“When you stand out on the balcony at the back of the Ponsford Stand, look across at the skyline of Melbourne,” he says. “You can walk there in 15 minutes. That’s what I do when I come to a game.

“What (tour groups) like most of all is getting down to the ground level on the artificial turf to see the grass up close.”

Back outside, an elderly couple interrupts a woman walking to an official engagement to ask for directions.

She politely talks through where they need to go on a map.

Then she’s interrupted.

“You’re not the girl from the TV are you?” asks the man.

It is indeed Daisy Pearce.

It has been a difficult and confronting week for football and the fallout from the Hawthorn allegations will rightly reverberate for many months, perhaps years, to come.

But a walk around the MCG precinct is a reminder of what is good about the game and the grand final tradition Melbourne has missed these past two years. Whether it‘s Kathy the superfan, Peter the GM, Bryan the former great or Daisy the star, all are enjoying footy’s return to its normal orbit.

Traditions and connection. That’s what nonpartisan folks will tune in for on Saturday. Not Robbie or Delta or the music blaring between goals.

“It will be a great game,” Kenneally says. “I won’t miss it.”

Shannon Gill is a Melbourne sportswriter with a focus on AFL,cricket and basketball. Previously working inside some of Australia's biggest sporting organisations, he has been a freelance writer for a decade and is co-host of the cult sports history podcast 'The Greatest Season That Was'. Pixies and TISM fan.

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