IF THE predictions are right, then one of the biggest Melbourne-Collingwood crowds on record will be at the MCG on Monday for the Queen's Birthday clash.

The MCC is forecasting a crowd of 79,000 for the clash between the third-placed Demons (8-3) and the seventh-placed Magpies (7-4).

It marks the first time since 2006 that both clubs have been in the eight for the traditional public holiday game.

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The Demons and Pies still hold the record for the largest-attended home-and-away game in League history – 99,256 – in 1958 when theirs was the biggest rivalry in the game.

Two years before, they attracted 115,802 to the Grand Final.

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It was the first time a League game had attracted a six-figure crowd and was made possible because construction work had just been completed to increase the capacity of the MCG ahead of that year's Olympic Games.

Melbourne has hosted Collingwood on the Queen's Birthday holiday every year since 2001 and the largest attendance for the fixture was 78,773 in 2006.

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Brad Green and Ben Johnson do battle on Queen's Birthday in 2006. Picture: AFL Photos

Last year's game drew 70,926, the largest for 11 years.

Melbourne has always been the home team for these games, but with the Demons finally coming good and the game assuming genuine blockbuster status once more, there have been suggestions that this will alternate from next year and that the Pies will start hosting the games every second year.

The early forecast for next Monday is partly cloudy with a top of 16 degrees.