mcg v telstra dome

[aflconvert]

I've finally persuaded my other half thta we should go to melbourne for a few days next season ;catch up with family and friends there , have a look around and most important of all see a Swans game

Which brings me to my question . I've been to Melbourne several times before but I've never been to a game at either MCG or Telstra Dome. So if you've been to games at both which game would you recommend (I dont want to go to Optus - comments by RWOers have turned me off that venue and we wont have a car so the Geelong game is out)

[NMWBloods]

If you've never been to the MCG then you really should go there. Telstra Dome is a pretty good place to watch footy also though.

[desredandwhite]

I think I like both equally.

Docklands is the more comfortable ground, I reckon - sightlines are great (though in the top deck in some places the viewing of the nearest boundary is obscured) and it's safe from the elements. However the MCG has a LOT more character. The legroom is non-existant, but it is a great old ground.

As a first priority, go to the MCG - see if you can squeeze in a 2nd match at the Dome that weekend or something!

[CureTheSane]

Another vote for the MCG here.

Telstra Dome is great, but every time I flash my membership there, they direct me up to the top level.
So if you DO go there, get there an hour before the game starts, bring a paper and sit down the front row of the 4th level on the wing.

The MCG for some reason let up sit wherever we like.
Parhaps we haven't been playing the big drawing Vic teams when I've been there?

[swansrock4eva]

Even if it's not to a Swans game, get to the 'G for a BIG match. The first game I ever saw in Melbourne was Pies vs Tiges on a friday night with 69,000 people - it was mammoth, given that the largest crowd I'd ever seen was aboout 20,000 at the SCG at that stage!

Unfortunately though, I am yet to take in the "dome" so can't comment on that one.

[Charlie]

Actually, I've got to say Docklands. It's a better stadium to watch footy in, and at the moment the MCG is a poor shadow of itself. Wait a couple of years and you'll see the MCG as it should be seen: the biggest Coliseum in Australia.

[sharp9]

Simple answer....you MUST go to a game at the G. For general admission you can sit around the fifty at the Jolimont end of the Southern stand on the top deck. You have to get there early, though (an hour is more than enough for most games). The view is awesome and inspiring. Whatever you do DON'T be tempted to buy a ticket in the Olympic stand unless a crowd of less than thirty thousand is expected. If you are a man and sit next to teo other men you have to sit one forward and one back because of the lack of ahoulder width. Plus the view is worse than from the Southern anyway.

Beats me why anyone would ever watch a game from the bottom level but some people seem to like smelling the liniment and not seeing the whole ground.

If it's a special trip it might be worth splashing out for the seats on level 2 or 3 at the front. Best seats in Australian sport! (IMHO).

But I also suggest going to a game at the Dome which is a fantastic place to watch footy. Pick a weekend when your second team is playing there (assuming you have one) and that could be perfect. This time general admission will get you right on the centre circle on the top deck in the front row - next to the cameras (if you are prepared to go an hour early). The reason for the difference (I think) is that at the G the AFL members seats take up 65% of the top deck (Hence being lucky to make it much past the fifty) whereas at the Dome the AFL members are on the bottom deck...hence lots of room for GA seating on level 4.

Of course if it's a big game then ALL seats at Telstra Dome will be ticketed. If you see the Bulldogs vs Freo then you can have a 100 metre row to yourself.

RND 6...... 30th April - 2nd May

Fri Night....Hawthorn vs Richmond (Telstra)
Sat Aft......Essendon vs Sydney (MCG)
Sat Night..St. Kilda vs Brisbane (Telsta)

[jixygirl]

I've been to both of these grounds loads of times and they both have unique qualities. But seeing that you've never been to the G' before, you must go to a Swans game there. The history and the tradition that is at that ground is fantastic and you can sit up close to the fence with a membership. Docklands is a good place to watch footy, so it would be good to go and watch another game of footy there. Also, if you're going to be in Melbourne on a weekday (or non-event day at the MCG) go on a tour of the MCG. I've been on the tours about 3 times now, and I was one of the first people to go on the new tour. It's fantastic.

[Bleed Red Blood]

The MCG has advantages in that with a melbourne membership you can sit wherever you please and the history there is enormous.

Telstra Dome is a great place also very comfy and great to be able to get away from the weather sometimes.

I suggest you go to both.

[DST]

If you are planning on coming down to Melbourne mid winter I would suggest the Dome, nothing worse than coming all that way and having to a) sit in the rain and b) watch a rain hampered match. But spend the extra $20.00 and sit on level two you won't be disappointed as these seats are still the closet elevated seats at any sporting ground in the world.

If it is early on or very late in the season take a chance and go to the "G" it is much better for general admission wise and has a fantastic atmosphere. The SnDon game at the "G" should be an absolute belter this year as Sheedy does not take to kindly to the thrashings like the one we handed out to the SnDOn's this year.

DST

[Mike_B]

Originally posted by DST
But spend the extra $20.00 and sit on level two you won't be disappointed as these seats are still the closet elevated seats at any sporting ground in the world.

Have you ever sat at the front of the O'Reilly Stand at the SCG???

[Plugger46]

MCG

[JF_Bay22_SCG]

I've at back and watched people's thoughts on things with interest.

Personally I still see the 'G as the Coloseum of footy, just as Wembley was the Mecca of English Soccer, the 'G is THE ground in the footy with the most memory, the most history and the most culture.

However with the Members & Olympic Stands now torn down the ground will still be in renovation mode. Turning up to the Hawthorn match with one whole stand completely missing just didn't feel right at all, even if the view by moonlight of the Melbourne CBD through the gap was something an artist would peak over. (JS/Des, did you ever capture that on camera?)

When the weather is drab and grey (aka the Melbourne match) sitting in the outer at the G can be an awful experience. The roof in itself is one advantage of the Phone Dome, even if when you leave Gate 6 and get outside the ground you nearly die when the gail off the water hits you.

The G is simply an easier day out. You can sit where you like. Footy in its most pure form, requiring little preparation or organisation.

The Dome, well it's easy to get to. It is cushy and new, with every seat being right close to the action. The expensive set-seating on the Ground Floor is a real bugger. But if you know people (aka me) I can smuggle you into the Cheer Squad area... On small crowd days (aka vs Melbourne there) you'd be able to come downstairs without too much hassle I think.

The seating at the Dome is based on metal foundations. So when the home side kicks a goal, the place rattles. The Cheer Squad spend more time banging flags on the floor in their chants than actually chanting sometimes.

They are both very different experiences. To be honest I'd put the G over the Commerce Dome. Because it is the people's ground, not some moron phone company's.

JF

[JF_Bay22_SCG]

Originally posted by sharp9

Beats me why anyone would ever watch a game from the bottom level but some people seem to like smelling the liniment and not seeing the whole ground.

If it's a special trip it might be worth splashing out for the seats on level 2 or 3 at the front. Best seats in Australian sport! (IMHO).

Phooey! Elevated overrated! There is nothing better than being in the middle of the Cheer Squad in a bay full of diehard Swans supporters. You are in an instant safe haven in enemy territory; often it doesn't feel like you are away from home at all (Carlton, Melbourne).

I don't go to the game to passively view the match as if it were on a chess board. I'll leave that for 'experts' such as the ever-beautiful Caroline Wilson.

I go to the match to try and alter the result of it. By encouraging my own team's players, by taunting the opponents, by revving up my fellow supporters in their encouragement of the team. By not just watching a spectacle but being an integral part of it.

I feel I in my small way can alter the result of the match. It might not mean much to you whether Sydney has flags waving at an away match. It matters very very much to me. Does that mean a better Swans effort on match-day, hell no? But having vocal supporters chanting helps lift the team. They feed off the energy we create.

Despite my limited view of the match behind the sticks, I'd not want it any other way. I want to BE that energy!

JF

[DST]

Originally posted by Mike_B
Have you ever sat at the front of the O'Reilly Stand at the SCG???

I kid you not, I remember about 6 months ago listening to an interview with the designer of both Telstra Dome and the new Wembly in England.

He confirmed in that interview that no ground in the world had closer seating from an elevated positon than Telstra Dome. It was why they had won the contract to design the new Wembly stadium in England as the design breif indicated they wanted this for their corporate and stadium seat holders.

I am sure other Melbourne members who have sat on level 2 can confirm this?

DST