As the AFL play-offs head ever closer to the Grand Final of 29 September, the teams that remain in the competition give it their all and the fan anticipation grows ever higher.
This Friday 21 September, the two eternal rivals from Melbourne will clash in what promises to be one for the record books. This particular rivalry goes back way before the formation of the current AFL, from when the sport was bound within the Victorian state limits. Collingwood’s president Eddie McGuire, even urged the security around the MCG stadium to be heightened in order to avoid any mishaps.
The two teams fought for over a total of five championship titles in the 20’s, while more recently they participated in the 1980’s final that ended with an 81-point defeat for Collingwood; a record defeat in a final back then.
Richmond, who finished top of the table and shows no signs of slowing down in the play-offs, will take on Collingwood, who secured third place in the regular season and seem to be capable of creating an upset.
The two teams are prepared for the game and fans are counting backwards until kick-off time, however some of them, understandably, have been left with a feeling of disappointment from their favourite clubs.
The 40,000 tickets that were released were not enough to satisfy the large fan clubs both teams have – Richmond have over 100,000 counted members while Collingwood are close to 75,000 – which practically means that some of even the most faithful members that have been following their team the entire season will have to watch the preliminary final from their living room.
Whichever of the two teams wins will qualify for the Grand Final where they will face the winner of the West Eagles – Melbourne game, set to be held on Saturday 22 September at the Optus Stadium in Sydney.