This ground never fails to disappoint me. Arrived close to the bell & walked the city side flank. Full &/or committed to the North Melbourne club areas, plus some 'Auskick' reservation. Shot up to level 2 but no entry allowed & level 3 was closed.

OK, back to level one & bluffed my way into a North Melbourne area for Q1. Out of there & around the otherside, but no seating. Amazing. Helpful attendant says they are letting people into ;level 2 via section 30. Eventual get a seat up there.

Coffee at half time. Nah, but available down stairs. Its a hole.

Imagine the MCG cutting of top level viewing. Its a dump. Its always been badly run & the tradition continues. Plse MFC Darwin, Maniku, even Goschs, but no more Etihad please.

• that's no good 19, we bought tickets on the 2nd level, demons cheer squad end near the goals, good seats and cheaper than normal prices today

I would have like the roof closed though, that is the only benefit to the ground, instead we had to put up with the wind tunnel effect for half the game. At least at the G you don't get that freezing wind coming out of docklands!

This ground never fails to disappoint me. Arrived close to the bell & walked the city side flank. Full &/or committed to the North Melbourne club areas, plus some 'Auskick' reservation. Shot up to level 2 but no entry allowed & level 3 was closed.

OK, back to level one & bluffed my way into a North Melbourne area for Q1. Out of there & around the otherside, but no seating. Amazing. Helpful attendant says they are letting people into ;level 2 via section 30. Eventual get a seat up there.

Coffee at half time. Nah, but available down stairs. Its a hole.

Imagine the MCG cutting of top level viewing. Its a dump. Its always been badly run & the tradition continues. Plse MFC Darwin, Maniku, even Goschs, but no more Etihad please.

No more Darwin either but the thing that amazes me at Etihad is how many special and restricted areas they seem to have for a ground that apparently claims to have a brilliant view from any seat.

I'm sure if it's your home ground you work out some way to rig the system and get some brilliant seats on a week to week basis but for casual attenders all you do is cop it in the neck. And it seems to change every game Melbourne play there.

Why is there a restricted North Melbourne area at a Melbourne home game?

There were heaps of seats in the Melbourne member section. Why didn't you join us there?

Etihad's a toilet, you say? So does that mean I can contest my public urination charge?

This ground never fails to disappoint me. Arrived close to the bell & walked the city side flank. Full &/or committed to the North Melbourne club areas, plus some 'Auskick' reservation. Shot up to level 2 but no entry allowed & level 3 was closed.

OK, back to level one & bluffed my way into a North Melbourne area for Q1. Out of there & around the otherside, but no seating. Amazing. Helpful attendant says they are letting people into ;level 2 via section 30. Eventual get a seat up there.

Coffee at half time. Nah, but available down stairs. Its a hole.

Imagine the MCG cutting of top level viewing. Its a dump. Its always been badly run & the tradition continues. Plse MFC Darwin, Maniku, even Goschs, but no more Etihad please.

It did, Round 7 2008. The comeback match against Freo had the top level closed.

The only good thing about Etihad today was that it meant all the Dees supporters were packed at one end so it created a comforting (I use the term loosely) atmosphere. And I prefer it with the roof open to be honest

Etihad's a toilet, you say? So does that mean I can contest my public urination charge?

What are you guys talking about? Etihad was flush with vacant seats.

Etihad is to sporting stadiums what Andre Rieu is to classical music and what Kenny G is to jazz - a bad joke.

Did anyone else see the bloke walking around at half time replacing all the divots torn up during the first half?

What a joke!

And I pity all who play there (except Essadun and Carton).

No more Darwin either but the thing that amazes me at Etihad is how many special and restricted areas they seem to have for a ground that apparently claims to have a brilliant view from any seat.

I'm sure if it's your home ground you work out some way to rig the system and get some brilliant seats on a week to week basis but for casual attenders all you do is cop it in the neck. And it seems to change every game Melbourne play there.

Why is there a restricted North Melbourne area at a Melbourne home game?

It is a disgrace that the AFL schedules a Melbourne 'home game' against North at Etihad (thier home ground), particularly when the filth were scheduled to play GWS at the "G" the same afternoon! Maybe they thought that the Pies vs Giants would of been a 'blockbuster'? Collingwood doesn't need the 'home ground advantage' as much as us, as evidenced by the fact that they nearly got beaten by the Giants.

Plse MFC Darwin, Maniku, even Goschs, but no more Etihad please.

No use asking the club, Nineteen. There's definitely no one at Melbourne who wants us playing home games at Etihad. It's an AFL thing.

I'm not sure if there is some sort of 'rule', but the MCG clubs (Melbourne, Hawthorn, Richmond, Collingwood) seem to be playing one game at Etihad a year. It might be a requirement under a contract somewhere, I'm not sure. Collingwood plays a couple of home games there most years. Richmond, Hawthorn and Melbourne don't like it but seem to be forced into one game a year there.

Whilst we're pulling awful crowds, we have no bargaining power to try to get out of it, so I expect it to continue, though it's probably contractually required or something stupid like that.

No more Darwin either but the thing that amazes me at Etihad is how many special and restricted areas they seem to have for a ground that apparently claims to have a brilliant view from any seat.

I'm sure if it's your home ground you work out some way to rig the system and get some brilliant seats on a week to week basis but for casual attenders all you do is cop it in the neck. And it seems to change every game Melbourne play there.

Why is there a restricted North Melbourne area at a Melbourne home game?

we need three 30,000 + capacity stadiums, Kardinia Park, E-gate & Dandenong..

the money they are rolling into etihad could be used to invest into these boutique stadia.... they could start off at a 20,000 Dandenong stadium & gradually build on it...

... sell etihad for the land development when its handed over to the AFL.

Is a dump, should be bulldozed.

Is a dump, should be bulldozed.

Quote of the day.

OUR home game at Norf's home ground: a team against whom and a ground at which we have struggled for a decade or more. I do seem to recall that we have in the past sometimes done ok against them at OUR home ground.

Quote of the day.

OUR home game at Norf's home ground: a team against whom and a ground at which we have struggled for a decade or more. I do seem to recall that we have in the past sometimes done ok against them at OUR home ground.

Since Etihad has come in:

At Etihad: North 7 - 0 Melbourne

Anywhere Else: North 7 - 7 Melbourne

Etihad seemed to be giving out conflicting information regarding GA seating on level 2. Some tweets they had suggested it, the staff member at the start of the queue said there was some on level 2, the ticket seller said only between bays 30 something and 46 on level one, definitely no level 2, the usher on the aisle on level 1 said no.

By quarter time, there were people sitting up there, surely they did all spend the mega bucks to sit up there.

Finally, the reserved seat situation is a joke, to go from sitting on level 2 at the G for home games to being shoved down on ground level, unable to follow the play for an extra charge was a joke.

Etihad seemed to be giving out conflicting information regarding GA seating on level 2. Some tweets they had suggested it, the staff member at the start of the queue said there was some on level 2, the ticket seller said only between bays 30 something and 46 on level one, definitely no level 2, the usher on the aisle on level 1 said no.

By quarter time, there were people sitting up there, surely they did all spend the mega bucks to sit up there.

Finally, the reserved seat situation is a joke, to go from sitting on level 2 at the G for home games to being shoved down on ground level, unable to follow the play for an extra charge was a joke.

Half of level 2 is reserved for the Medallion Club, and another couple of isles for club function tickets (either side of the medallion club).

Today's game (Bulldogs v. WCE) had an expected crowd of only an additional 1k however they opened the third level for them.

Level 3 has some good seats and views - just frustrating that the Dees always seem to cop the [censored] end of the stick.

The only thing wrong with Etihad is our apalling record there for most of the last decade . In the early years of the then Colonial Stadium we had a terrific run there second only to home tenant Essendon . Row A Level 2 is one of the greatest football viewing positions one can enjoy .