MCG-sports stars vax vow campaign

Article posted by Coliseum, September 20^th, 2021

Image: Govt. of Victoria

The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) (Australia) has teamed up with a number of current and former Australian Football League (AFL) and Australian Football League Women (AFLW) players, media personalities, commentators, umpires, and fans in a campaign – #BePartoftheTeam – to encourage sport and live entertainment fans to book and receive their COVID-19 vaccine.

While most parts of the globe have been scathed by COVID-19, Australia had managed to keep the dreaded virus at arm’s length with extremely strict measures in place. But then, in June this year, one case of the Delta variant breached the walls of ‘Fortress Australia’ and started an outbreak that spread like rapid fire and the country is still fighting to douse the same.

The ‘Australasian Leisure Management’ stated that the AFL team Richmond Football Club’s Mick Molloy is joined by media personality Rebecca Maddern, Melbourne AFLW captain Daisy Pearce, leading TV presenter Shelley Ware, AFLW all-time leading goal kicker Darcy Vescio and the universally-known Collingwood cheer squad in encouraging all Victorians to #BePartoftheTeam.

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The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent and only fully professional men’s competition of Australian Rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport’s governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the game.

AFL Women’s (AFLW) is Australia’s national semi-professional Australian Rules football league for female players. The first season of the league in February and March 2017 had eight teams, the league expanded to 10 teams in the 2019 season and 14 teams in the 2020 season. The league is run by the Australian Football League (AFL) and is contested by a subset of clubs from that competition.

The 1,00,024-capacity Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as ‘The G’, is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria (Australia). Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere, the 11^th largest globally, and the second largest cricket ground by capacity.

The ‘Australasian Leisure Management’ further stated that as Managers of the MCG, Melbourne Cricket Club Chief Executive, Stuart Fox, said that the MCG had a responsibility to encourage the population to get vaccinated, in line with the health advice that major events in Victoria won’t be able to return until the State reaches key vaccination targets.

Fox noted, “We’re delighted to have teamed up with some of our State’s most recognizable and respected voices to lend our support and deliver the crucial message to encourage Victorians to get vaccinated. The MCG has been home to some of Australia’s greatest and most cherished sporting moments for more than 165 years, and has welcomed patrons from all walks of life. It sits close to the City Center as a landmark of unity, dreams and celebration and when full, the MCG is the beating heart of Victoria.”

Fox added, “For the last 18 months, too often the Ground has been left empty. It is symbolic of the struggle all Victorians and particularly those in Melbourne have felt. But there is one way to get back to doing what everyone loves – and that is to get vaccinated. And so with our friends who have all played their part in what makes the MCG special – whether that be on the arena, in the stands or calling the events for sports fans around Australia – we encourage you all to be part of the biggest team this generation has ever seen.”

AFL team Geelong Cats legend Billy Brownless also features in the #BePartoftheTeam campaign alongside the people’s champion of AFL umpires Ray Chamberlain, Indigenous AFL games record holder Shaun Burgoyne, FightMND Ambassadors Bec, and Neale Daniher, Richmond’s favorite sons Kevin Bartlett and Matthew Richardson plus everyone’s favorite commentator Anthony Hudson.

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