I’m not a footy fanatic but when I found myself in Melbourne during AFL grand final week, I couldn’t help but be swept along in the purple wave, with Fremantle Dockers fans far outnumbering Brisbane Lions supporters in the four days I was in the city.

As the self-proclaimed sporting capital of the country, I had to include a few sport-based events during my visit and a tour of the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) was top of the list.

Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) members conduct the tour, which lasts about 75 minutes. Highlights include the MCC Long Room, with its comfy and worn leather sofas in prime position overlooking the turf and sporting memorabilia on display, including Shane Warne’s floppy white hat and cricket shoes worn during his last MCG test in 2006 when he took his 700th Test wicket. The MCC Library, founded in 1873 and featuring more than one million books and papers on 119 different sports, is also part of the tour, along with the Ron Casey Media Centre and the Ponsford Stand.

Unfortunately, as my visit was just days before the AFL grand final, we weren’t allowed in the player change rooms or to walk along the boundary line but we were able to view the ground from the different seating levels. I did manage, however, to put a toe or two on the hallowed turf where just an hour later Kylie Minogue rehearsed her set and days later Dockers players’ and fans’ hearts were broken.

Our guide, Greg, was a wealth of information. Did you know, for example, you can wait more than 30 years to become a full MCC member? Greg was lucky, waiting just 18 years many years ago. Membership provides free admission to the MCC Members’ Reserve for all AFL home-and-away and finals series matches including the grand final and all international and domestic cricket matches but not special tournaments such as the ICC Cricket World Cup. Greg was looking forward to the Grand Final. Greg told us all about the history of the MCG and highlighted sporting stars of decades gone by, including Betty Wilson, one of the greatest female cricket players of all time who set more than a dozen Test records in her career in the 1940s and 1950s, and Bill Ponsford, famous opening batter of the 1920s and 1930s. Although over time Ponsford was overshadowed by the great Sir Don Bradman, he does have a stand named after him at the MCG.

The MCG isn’t just about cricket and AFL, with the ground playing host to the 1956 Olympic Games when legendary sprinter Betty Cuthbert won three gold medals. It has also played host to numerous concerts, starting with David Cassidy in 1974 through to AC/DC in 2025 and Taylor Swift, Eminen and Ed Sheeran among those in between.

If the MCG tour isn’t enough sport for you, a visit to the Australian Sports Museum inside the MCG is well worth it. More than 95 different sports are featured, providing stories of Australia’s sporting history, with exhibits including a Shane Warne hologram and the 1956 Olympic Cauldron.

I was so swept up in footy fever, a couple of days later I returned to the MCG to soak up the atmosphere at the AFL Footy Fest in Yarra Park, featuring entertainment, AFL and AFLW player appearances, giveaways, AFL Play zone, music and food trucks and bars. I had to come home with a limited-edition Team Kylie footy top from the Team Kylie pop-up shop.

Perhaps one day I’ll even make it to the grand final.