AFL chief Andrew Demetriou says he completely agrees with Richmond and Carlton that their round-one blockbuster in 2013 should be played at the MCG, however it’s not available.
Richmond chief Brendon Gale and his Carlton counterpart Greg Swann united on Friday in their opposition to Demetriou’s suggestion the game could be switched to Etihad Stadium, which has a capacity of around 53,000.
Gale said the Tigers-Blues clash in round one had attracted an average crowd of almost 75,000 over the past six seasons.
Switching the game would leave thousands of fans from both clubs unable to attend the match and this was unacceptable, Gale said.
Swann said moving the fixture to Etihad was simply not an option.
Demetriou said on Saturday the AFL was determined to introduce a second bye as requested by the players for 2013.
“We’d like to start the season with a big bang,” Demetriou told SEN Radio.
“In order to do that, we need to start the season a week earlier and a week earlier enables us to trial this two byes for the players.”
Demetriou said one option was staging 18 rounds of nine games and six rounds of six games.
“We’d love to play it here at the MCG. We agree with Richmond and Carlton,” Demetriou said of the stoush between the AFL and two of the most powerful clubs in the competition.
“But the fact of the matter is the ground is not available and if it’s not available, we still need to play these games.
“Our objective is to start the season a week earlier.
“It’s in Cricket Victoria’s court because they’ve got this stadium (MCG) for that week in case the Sheffield Shield final is played here.
“We don’t disagree the game should be played here, but it’s not available.”