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THE MCG will be at its best for the Grand Final after the absence of preliminary finals footy allowed ground staff to treat the surface like a veteran player resting his body during the mid-season bye.

After largely being left to its own devices last weekend, the turf is set to be in pristine condition on Saturday after a few weeks of good weather. 

With the exception of its usual mow, aeration and light fertilisation, the grass had a rare – and welcome – break over preliminary finals weekend ahead of the biggest moment of stadium's season. 

"Essentially leaving it alone is the best thing we could have done over that weekend," the MCG's arenas operations manager Tony Gordon told AFL.com.au.

"There's not a lot of change you can make to the ground in this final week so all the preparation we've done is in the lead-up before this week.

"The one thing we do is aerate the surface to make sure it's not too firm for the match, which is something we do throughout the season as well." 

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The fact the grass needed little help to look its best was improved by the re-laying of the centre corridor in July after a string of international soccer matches.

The grass will be cut up to 11 times across Friday and Saturday morning before the Australian U17 v U18 All-Stars curtain-raiser – and at least twice in each direction on both days.

While the balmy weather was "certainly helping things", Gordon said the weekend off had definitely helped get the turf prepare to be beamed onto the national and international stage.

"It's huge. Just like the players have a bye week in the middle of the season to try and get over any niggling injuries and refresh their bodies, it's the same for the ground," he said.

"We can get a chance to recover any areas that have struggled a bit through winter and make sure we put our best foot forward for the Grand Final."

The MCG will host its open day on Sunday, when fans will get one final chance for a kick-to-kick on the arena, as well as access to areas that are usually off-limits to the general public, such as the change rooms and the MCC Long Room.

Then, it gets a very brief reprieve before work to transform the centre square into a series of cricket wickets begins on Monday morning. 

A contractor will remove the turf from the centre where the wickets will sit, before machinery is used to take out the sand underneath on Tuesday morning.

The wickets will then start moving in from their winter home near Punt Road Oval. 

"They come in starting Tuesday night. We can only do the work between 8pm and 5am because the wickets travel from Yarra Park on Brunton Avenue to the stadium," Gordon said.

"We can manage to get four or five wickets in each night and it takes two to three nights to get them in. 

"While that's happening, the outfield is getting a heavy scarification, some core aeration, some new seeds put out, the sand top dressing and fertiliser as well."

Gordon said his seven-person team was pleased with the condition of the ground, after 56 hours of labour this week sandwiched between dress rehearsals and sound checks on Tuesday and Thursday.

With a final lick of paint to come on Friday afternoon to top up the logos, painted from handmade templates, the grass is expected to be at its best by the first bounce on Saturday afternoon.

"I don't remember a Grand Final week where we haven't had to worry about rain affecting it," he said.

"It's a lot less stressful than usual."