Cats want next AFL Hawks clash in Geelong
Jul 15, 2017 - 7:48 PM To the neutral, Saturday's AFL classic between Hawthorn and Geelong had it all.But to Chris Scott and the Geelong footy club, there was one thing missing.
It wasn't on their home ground.
The Cats hope their developed Simonds Stadium - which will soon boast a capacity of 40,000 - will count the Hawks as visitors next season.
Their three-point win at the MCG was a Geelong home fixture.
To Scott, it's an issue of fairness that should be fixed.
"For the integrity of the game, every team in the competition should be able to decide where they play their 11 home games," he said.
"That's pretty simple."
"I understand that sometimes you'll get bigger crowds (at the MCG) ... but that shouldn't override the integrity of the game."
He denied a conflict between the football and commercial departments of his AFL club, saying "commercially, the club would like to play on Geelong".
"If there's been any confusion about that, let's nip it in the bud," he said.
Hawthorn hasn't played at Kardinia Park since 2006.
Geelong has played at least three home fixtures at the MCG or Etihad Stadium in recent years, which has included a Hawthorn match each year since 2009.
The last 23 meetings of the Hawks and Cats have taken place at the MCG.
That includes the 2008 grand final, the 11-match Geelong winning streak that followed, and the Hawthorn's nailbiting 2013 preliminary final that stopped the rot.
More than 1.7 million people have seen the epic rivalry play out during that run on the game's biggest ground.
For the second time in two years, the match-up was decided by Isaac Smith with the last kick of the game. On both occasions he missed.
Source: AAP
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