Wangaratta mayor Dean Rees has called on AFL bosses to look beyond the big cities and consider hosting the 2020 grand final at the Norm Minns Oval.
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Cr Rees, himself a Hawthorn supporter, said Wangaratta had already proved itself worthy as an AFL venue.
"Wangaratta has the facility, we've hosted top AFL matches including the top two teams of last year in a pre-season competition," he said.
"It is an AFL standard ground. We've got the right size, it can certainly hold up to about 15,000 people and we believe we've got the facility for it."
During the pre-season, Richmond and Collingwood held a grand-final rematch at the Norm Minns Oval in March.
The AFL has not announced where the grand final would be held in 2020, but all games have been moved to Queensland due to the coronavirus outbreak in Melbourne.
Cr Rees said since raising the prospect, Wangaratta had been laughed off as a "hick town" by metropolitan media, but he was serious about the proposal.
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He said although the Wangaratta ground might not have the crowd capacity of the MCG, it was unlikely the 2020 grand final would be played in a full stadium, regardless of where it was held.
"If we were that 'hick' of a town we wouldn't have got the top two teams in the AFL - Collingwood and Richmond - at the start of this year," he said.
"We've also hosted the Ovens and Murray grand final. I think it was just Channel 9 News (Melbourne) trying to have a go at us.
"At the end of the day we've got the facility, we're in Victoria, we're not far from the border and we're COVID-free unlike in Melbourne - come and have your game here."
Cr Rees said the audience should be made up of country people from COVID-free areas, which would allow people to attend the grand final who might otherwise never get the chance.
Given the stringent testing measures in place in the AFL and the isolation hubs he did not believe there was much risk of players bringing COVID-19 to the region.
Cr Rees called for AFL head honchos to look beyond the city limits.
He said north-east Victoria had taken a huge hit after the region - and tourism industry - was ravaged by smoke and fire during summer followed by COVID-19.
"It would be milestone in the AFL calendar to state once 100 years ago we had an AFL grand final in country Victoria and to show we don't always have to be city bound," he said.
"Yes, we certainly can't hold the amount of people a big ground can however during these COVID times this might be the best bet.
"I know our odds are long, I think we're a $50 chance, but I might put a couple of dollars on it anyway just in case."
Digital journalists with The Border Mail.
Digital journalists with The Border Mail.
