Giants ponder radical MCG home game move … that would hand Vic club fixture free kick
GWS are considering addressing their dearth of games at the MCG by selling a home match, in a bid to give their players more experience playing at the iconic venue.
The Giants’ three-point win over Melbourne in Round 1 is their only scheduled game at the MCG in 2025, excluding potential finals, while they have played there just 12 times since the beginning of 2021, including two September matches in 2023.
The club have poked fun at their lack of MCG games on their popular social media channels, including making a cheeky request to the AFL in response to Collingwood expressing their wish to not need to travel to the Giants’ home ground of ENGIE Stadium for Opening Round in 2026.
However, Giants CEO Dave Matthews revealed to the Herald Sun the club is open to taking matters into its own hands by giving up one of their home games, to gain further MCG experience and increase their chances of a grand final victory on the ground should they qualify.
“When you think about it, we played Melbourne [in Round 1], and that’s our last home and away game at the MCG,” Matthews said.
“I guess in tennis terms, to win the Australian Open, you’ve got to play on Rod Laver Arena? And so, how can we get our players to get some experience on Rod Laver Arena?
“We’d like to be scheduled at the MCG a bit more. We understand the fixturing constraints. But we also did a bit of an exercise and imagined if you did take a home game there, and what does the break-even look like?”
The proposal is supported by the players and coach Adam Kingsley, who told the masthead ‘the more times we play on the MCG, the better for us’.
“That’s where we want to be playing at the end of September, so if we can continually try and build that experience, then that’s a great opportunity,” Kingsley said.
“But that’s from a football perspective. Financially, I’m not sure of the implications of that. That’s for Dave and Tim [Reed, GWS chairman] to sort out.”
Matthews revealed the club had engaged in preliminary discussions with Melbourne Cricket Club CEO Stuart Fox about the ‘economics’ of a Giants home game at the MCG.
However, the match would be unlikely to be against Collingwood or Carlton, who regularly draw large attendances at the Giants’ true home of ENGIE Stadium – the Pies’ twin Opening Round matches there in 2024 and 2025 drew crowds of over 21,000 and 19,000 respectively, among the largest in club history.
A more likely opponent would be Hawthorn or Richmond, both with large supporter bases guaranteed to provide a hefty crowd.
Such a match would likely break the club’s home game attendance record, which sits at 38,203 from their very first ever match, against Sydney at Stadium Australia in 2012.
GWS have played just 12 matches at the MCG over the past five years. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
According to reports, the Swans are standing in the way of an alternative bid by the Giants to play a home game at the SCG against any other team, with the club needing to vacate ENGIE Stadium for weeks at a time during the annual Easter Show.
The Giants also play four matches per year at Canberra’s Manuka Oval; however, it is likely that an ENGIE Stadium match would be the home game moved to the MCG.
Matthews said the move was borne out of a desire to ‘think outside the square’.
“We like to push the envelope on a few ideas,” he told the Herald Sun.
“I’m always encouraging our staff or our players or Adam to come to me with an idea about where we should be playing and when.
“That’s where the SCG and MCG get raised, it’s just the options and alternatives when we go dark in Sydney for a bit.”
