When you go to New York you see the baseball; in Melbourne you see the AFL. Those outside of Victoria just don't understand that AFL isn't just footy – it's a way of life. To followers of AFL the AFL Finals Series is a bit like the weeks leading up to Christmas: everyone is talking about their plans for the big day, there's parades, drinking, barbecues and decorations.
To those new to the AFL, the finals series is an excellent opportunity to witness the game at its best. By this stage in the competition the teams have been whittled down to the best and each game is played with do-or-die passion. Then there's the fans who, depending on how long their team has gone without a premiership, become increasingly emotional and likely to appear in crazy club-themed get-up on national television.
Tickets to matches in the finals series go pretty quickly but are quite affordable depending on which finals match you attend (the first weeks of finals are the cheapest). Even if you miss out on tickets you can still get an authentic Melbourne experience by watching the game in one of the cities pubs, plus there's always huge public screenings of the Grand Final across Melbourne (including at Fed Square).
