Merrick said: "The city of Melbourne and the state of Victoria are fantastic and nowhere deserves a Grand Final more than here.

"We hope to get a huge crowd, it would be fantastic to have a sea of blue shirts in the stands and we want to present a really intimidating home Grand Final for whoever comes to meet us."

Grand Final tickets went on sale exclusively to Melbourne Victory members on Thursday, with thousands being snapped up immediately.

Melbourne Victory members had until last night to purchase tickets, before they go on sale to Football Family members at 9am on Saturday and the general public at 9am on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the battle over Telstra Dome between the AFL and Melbourne Victory is set for another round, with Melbourne Victory's post-Grand Final family day scheduled for the Dome on the same day the AFL will host a NAB Cup match.

Victory confirmed its family day would be held at the Victory Room at Telstra Dome from 12pm to 2pm (AEDT) on Sunday March 1, with the NAB Cup match between one of Carlton or North Melbourne and Hawthorn or Melbourne to be held at 4.40pm the same day.

The AFL, which this week was reluctantly forced to switch the match between Richmond and Collingwood because of a clash with the A-League Grand Final at the same venue, said it did not know that Victory intended on holding its function on the same day.

The AFL does not take control of Telstra Dome until two hours before the game starts.

That leaves just a 40-minute window between the conclusion of the Victory function and the gates opening for the NAB Cup.

A Telstra Dome spokesman said the venue often held functions on the same day as matches, and that the Victory Room was one of the biggest function spaces in Melbourne.

Melbourne Victory has confirmed it knew that there was an AFL match on that day when it booked the venue.

The scheduling of the Victory function in the context of the events of this week where Telstra Dome affirmed its right to determine who plays at the ground makes for some intrigue.

Adding to that is the fact that Sunday March 1 is the first day the ground will be known as Etihad Stadium. The deal with the Abu Dhabi-based airline has irked the AFL and raised tensions over the financial terms of using the ground.