Richmond fans race for finals tickets Elissa Doherty
From: Herald Sun
September 02, 2013THE roar is about to become deafening.
Long-suffering Tigers fans will lead the fevered rush for the first finals seats in what will be a blockbuster start to the 2013 series.
But thousands of supporters could miss out on tickets due to overwhelming demand as five of Victoria's most popular clubs vie for supremacy this weekend.
On Saturday, Geelong hosts Fremantle at Simonds Stadium, which can hold just 33,000 fans.
Supporters have been sleeping rough at ticket outlets since Saturday to secure a seat.
Ticket sales have been brought forward a day this year and will be available from 9am on Monday for club members and 2pm for the general public.
The selling window has been narrowed by eight hours for members, finishing at 1pm on Mondays during the finals season.
The AFL predicts Sunday's Richmond v Carlton game would sell out and Tigers cheer squad president Gerard Egan said fans were scrambling to get tickets.
Thousands of supporters will be left to watch at home, with the Blues and Tigers having more than 110,000 members combined.
"They will be lining up at outlets and getting online this morning, but there will be some people who will be absolutely shattered that they can't get a ticket," he said.
The MCG can hold 100,000 finals fans but many seats are set aside for corporates and MCC members.
While Carlton, Richmond, Collingwood, Hawthorn and Geelong fans salivated at the prospect of premiership glory, Essendon players were drinking beer at Port Melbourne yesterday, watching their VFL team play Werribee after they were sensationally kicked out of the finals last week.
The Bombers were found to have brought the game into disrepute over their 2012 supplements program and were relegated from seventh to ninth.
Richmond diehards were excitedly working on their first finals banner since captain Trent Cotchin was 11.
The banner will take 15-16 hours to complete, with the Herald Sun granted an exclusive sneak peek of the giant Tiger to adorn the crepe paper creation.
The rest is top secret and will be finished on Wednesday night, and Mr Egan revealed the slogan would not attack the opposition.
"Our run-throughs are for Richmond. They're not for anyone else," he said.
Mr Egan said Richmond's cheer squad was the AFL's largest, with more than 600 members. Allocated 250 seats for the first final, he held a ballot.
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