Party like Snoop Dogg: Inside the AFL grand final after parties

The September Club is to the AFL grand final what the Birdcage is to spring racing at Flemington, what O is to the Australian Open, and what the Paddock Club is to the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix – a corporate hospitality showcase that allows Melburnians to do what they do best … enjoy a fabulous sporting adjacent day out on someone else’s dime.

While grand final tickets are notoriously difficult to secure, a ticket inside the small village of corporate marquees next to the MCG in Yarra Park is even trickier.

The AFL does not host an official after party but the September Club is clearly its domain. Its black-framed multistorey clubhouse dominates the encampment, where top AFL sponsors and media partners, including NAB, CUB, Channel Seven and SEN, wine and dine guests before, during and after the game.

Former AFL boss Andrew Demetriou at his new private members’ club, Sanctum, inside the Pullman hotel in East Melbourne.Credit: Penny Stephens

Former AFL players, celebrities and media personalities are enlisted as speakers at what the AFL bills as a “money can’t buy experience”.

A spokesman for the AFL declined to comment on the September Club but said its partners hosted about 3000 people in the VIP area every year.

Last year, guests in NAB’s marquee heard from Collingwood coach Craig McCrae and Olympic swimming champion Ariarne Titmus.

A spokeswoman for the bank said it hosted key customers in the September Club with the aim of deepening customer relationships.

“Throughout the day, guests will hear from some of the biggest names in sport during formalities in the marquee, enjoy the AFL grand final in the MCG and return to the marquee to continue conversations with their NAB hosts,” she said.

Snoop Dogg, pictured at Thursday’s Grand Final pre-game preview, will perform at an after party on Saturday night, hosted by Treasury Wines Estate. Credit: Wayne Taylor

Craig Hutchinson hosts what has become the party marquee for his sports media outlet, SEN, with DJ Nikki Pratt and a dance floor. AFL players drop in to the party, with former West Coast star Nick Naitanui taking a turn on the decks last year.

Tickets to the September Club are in hot demand because they can’t be bought, unlike the Birdcage at Flemington which now offers those with enough cash a way to buy their way in.

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A former CUB insider said tickets to the September Club were the biggest carrot the brewer had to keep publicans loyal.

Some pub owners were prepared to forgo tens of thousands of dollars in opposition tap contract value so as not to risk their two tickets to the September Club.

“The jostling inside CUB for tickets to host started about July,” he said.

But there is a substantial new player on the scene this year. Directly across from the MCG, private members’ club Sanctum – the dreamchild of former AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou – will host its debut grand final party in its new headquarters at the Pullman hotel after opening this week.

The private club – at which membership costs $5500 a year – will have “beers and bubbles” for everyone, Mike Brady singing Up There Cazaly, an AFL player as a guest speaker and then a DJ after the final siren.

Swans star Issac Heeney with Bar Bambi owner Nick Russian and Heeney’s cousin, The Bachelorette star Dave Billsborrow, after last year’s grand final.Credit: Instagram

“On grand final day itself, we’ll host a premium event experience for our members to come together for the biggest day on the football calendar. We’ll be open from 11am until late, giving our community a place not only to watch the game but to celebrate and reconnect afterward,” Demetriou said.

“Sanctum is a space designed to reflect the DNA of Melbourne — a city built on its sporting credentials, but equally renowned for its hospitality and culture. Within Sanctum, we’ve created a curated, members-only environment that brings these elements together.”

But Sanctum will not be hosting the grand final entertainer, US rap act Snoop Dogg. That hot ticket belongs to Treasury Wine Estates.

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“This Saturday, we’re turning up the energy in Melbourne with an unforgettable AFL grand final after party at a secret venue in the city,” said Treasury Collective managing director Angus Lilley, who praised his own brand’s 19 Crimes wines for “bold innovation and shaking up the wine world” – just like a certain rapper.

At the party, guests will enjoy “bespoke 19 Crimes Cali by Snoop cocktails, Cali by Snoop wines, and of course, an appearance by the icon himself — Snoop Dogg”.

Guests scheduled to attend include AFL and AFLW players Luke Dunstan, Blake Acres, Dayna Finn and celebrities including Dylan Alcott, Sharon Johal, and Sam and Snezana Wood.

Win, lose or draw, the most exclusive and tightly guarded parties are for the teams themselves.

Last year, the Brisbane Lions took over Centrepiece next to Rod Laver Arena and charged $299 for a chance to rub shoulders with players, premium food and beverage and “dance the night away to the best of John Denver”.

That didn’t stop most of the team heading to The Osbourne in South Yarra, where they were joined by West Coast star Harley Reid and Josh and Nick Daicos from Collingwood.

The losing Sydney Swans held a raucously defiant bash at Nick Russian’s Bar Bambi. Swans star Isaac Heeney was front and centre, as was Heeney’s cousin, Dave Billsborrow, a former star of The Bachelorette.

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