Victoria-based members gift rare grand final barcodes to friends and family out west

Australia may be divided by border closures, but its football fans have come together with Western Bulldogs and Melbourne club members unable to attend the AFL grand final gifting their ticket barcodes to family, friends and fellow supporters in the west.

One recipient was Perth-based lifelong Bulldogs fan Kerry Leech, 65, who tried her luck asking for a membership barcode on a Western Bulldogs fan page.

Western Bulldogs fan Kerry Leech has secured tickets to the Perth grand final thanks to the kindness of two strangers in Melbourne.

“I’m on the Western Bulldogs forums and I just took a punt and thought, I’m just going to ask people, ‘Has anyone got a barcode?’ and I got three,” she said.

“One of the people who gave me two tickets â€" a husband and wife â€" they come from the same suburb I came from in Melbourne, it was really lovely.

“The Bulldogs winning the premiership in 2016 was the best day of my life, but this has trumped it, I’m rapt.”

The 60,000-capacity Optus Stadium is expected to sell out come Thursday, when the final allocation of 10,250 tickets is released to the public.

Any hope of additional seats being redirected to the public pool from the 24,000 given to Melbourne and Bulldogs members was quickly dashed when they sold out within hours of being released on Monday and Tuesday, despite Victorian-based members being unable to travel to WA.

Ms Leech, a nurse who moved to Perth in 1980, said some WA football fans had been caught trying to fake their allegiance to the Bulldogs online in an attempt to gain a rare membership barcode.

“One of the fan sites was actually shut down because they found out there were Eagles supporters on there,” she said.

“Some tested fans by asking a trick question about the nickname for the bridge near Whitten Oval that only a local would know ... as soon as I read it, I thought, ‘Mount Mistake!’, I haven’t said that word in 30 years.”

More than 27,000 grand final tickets have already been allocated to AFL members, sponsors and corporate packages, while members from the two clubs got priority access to 12,000 each.

West Australians trying to secure tickets to the AFL grand final by asking for Victorian membership barcodes on Gumtree.Credit:Gumtree

Some tickets have already appeared for resale online, with advertisements only lasting minutes on Gumtree before being removed.

It is unclear if this is due to punters being eager to make a quick sale in a state which bans ticket scalping, or whether the website is removing the posts. Gumtree was contacted for comment.

The anti-scalping laws were rushed through Parliament just in time for the historic grand final in Perth and restrict the resale of a ticket to no more than 10 per cent above its original cost.

A Consumer Protection WA spokesman said any person or website advertising the resale of a ticket at an inflated price could be liable for prosecution including a $20,000 fine for individuals and $100,000 for companies.

Grand final formalities falling into place

The formalities surrounding the grand final continue to be finalised, with locals Birds of Tokyo tipped to be confirmed as the half-time entertainment this week.

Bulldogs favourite son Chris Grant and Melbourne icon Garry Lyon have been selected as the presenters of this year’s premiership cup.Credit:The Age

Melbourne legend Garry Lyon and Bulldogs star Chris Grant were selected on Tuesday to hand the premiership cup over if their team wins.

West Coast icons Glen Jakovich, John Worsfold and Andrew Embley will also take part in the medal and cup ceremonies.

A Melbourne-style grand final street parade has been scrapped in favour of a free, ticketed open training session on the eve of the season decider.

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