Ahead of the highly anticipated AFL wildcard final between the Western Bulldogs and Collingwood Magpies at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, a surprising off-field decision by AFL headquarters has dominated headlines, catching the attention of Bulldogs head coach Luke Beveridge. The decision: granting non-tenant Collingwood permission to hold a main training session at Marvel Stadium this week, a privilege long denied to the Bulldogs and other long-term tenant clubs of the venue. Beveridge, who has been focused entirely on preparing his side for Friday night’s do-or-die clash, couldn’t hide his amusement at the lopsided decision when questioned by reporters. “When I heard the news, I almost fell off my chair,” Beveridge told media with a laugh. “It’s just hilarious – a real crack-up. None of the actual tenant clubs can get approval to train on that ground for a main session. The only time we’ve ever been offered access is for a quick captain’s run in just our running shoes, and that’s not even worth the trip down for us.” Collingwood has been forced to hunt for alternative training grounds for much of the 2024 season after unseasonably heavy rainfall left its primary Olympic Park training facility unusable. The club has already made use of local university and school ovals multiple times this year to make up for the poor conditions at its home base, and this week turned to AFL headquarters to request access to the vacant Marvel Stadium surface. Collingwood completed its full main training session at the Docklands venue on Thursday, marking a rare access win for a club that doesn’t hold tenant status at the ground. Beveridge went on to acknowledge that the Bulldogs did not submit their own request for Marvel Stadium access this week, meaning the club was not formally turned down on this occasion. He also acknowledged the end-of-season reduction in event traffic at the venue likely made the approval easier for Collingwood to secure. “We put in requests for access to Marvel Stadium pretty much every year, and I get it – the ground gets a lot of use, so they want to limit extra foot traffic when they can,” he explained. “But the principle of it just gets me: if tenant clubs can’t get on it, why does a non-tenant get the green light? It’s just one of those situations where if you didn’t laugh, you’d cry. Obviously there’s less event traffic on the ground this time of year, so it was an easy case for them to make. Collingwood put their request in, made a solid case, and got approved – that’s just how it goes.” The Bulldogs coach declined to be drawn into any further discussion about Friday night’s high-stakes final, choosing to keep focus on his team’s preparation. The match, which Collingwood will face as the away side despite being the higher-ranked team, will kick off at the MCG on Friday evening with a spot in the next round of the AFL finals on the line.
Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge couldn’t help but ‘crack up’ at one question about Collingwood
