From AFL ground to rugby pitch and back again: how the MCG transformed

Over the weekend the MCG welcomed 223,023 patrons through its gates, undertaking the immense task of hosting two blockbuster AFL matches and the opening test of the Bledisloe Cup.

While fans sat back and enjoyed around 57,000 hot chips and 25,000 pies over a weekend festival of sport, the MCG arenas team were behind the scenes putting in the hard work to make sure it was all possible.

The process was underway in the moments following the final siren of the AFL match between Carlton and Collingwood on Friday night, as the AFL posts came down and markings and logos were washed away – a process which took four hours.

As the sun rose on Saturday morning, so did the rugby goal posts. Spaces where there were once logos were painted green, markings for the rugby pitch were mapped out in yellow and around 240 metres of LED signage was put in place.

83,944 fans then packed the ‘G on Saturday night to watch the Wallabies play in front of their biggest home crowd in 20 years on a pristine pitch.

If getting the ground prepared for the Bledisloe Cup in an 18-hour window wasn’t challenging enough, an even smaller 15-hour window faced the arenas team to turn it all around again for Richmond to take on Melbourne on Sunday afternoon.

The final goal post switchover occurred – taking the total number of posts to have been moved in and out of the stadium on the weekend to 24.

And just like that in the space of about 33 hours, the MCG had gone from AFL ground to rugby pitch and back again.