_THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT THE MCG…

This weekend the MCG will host the 2013 AFL Grand Final.  To mark the occasion, here are some interesting facts and figures that you might not know about the ‘G (all courtesy of www.mcg.org.au).

• The MCG arena measures 173.6 metres long x 148.3 metres wide from fence to fence (approximately 20,000 square metres in area).  The boundary line is located five metres inside the fence.
• The total volume of the MCG is approximately 1,700,000 cubic metres.
• There are 114 sprinklers on the ground.
• Approximately 350 man-hours are spent per week maintaining the turf, which includes rolling, cutting, line marking, fertilising, repairing irrigation, deploying artificial lighting rigs, re-turfing, match preparation, equipment maintenance, planning and scheduling.
• The grass is cut daily in summer (to a height of 11 millimetres) and twice a week in the winter (to a height of 27 millimetres).
• The MCG siren controls are located in the Ron Casey Media Centre on Level 3 of the Olympic Stand and are operated by pressing two red buttons simultaneously.  There is a UPS system in place to guard against power failure.
• Official attendance figures are governed by the bar code scanning turnstiles and other devices at all entry points around the ground.