And the little old ground coped remarkably well, given that the infrastructure from the days it last hosted league football (1985) is all gone.
Which got us thinking that of it's OK to stage concerts at Arden Street, why not a game of footy? Not every week, mind you, but why have not one weekend, perhaps over the final round of NAB Challenge matches, in which the old Melbourne league grounds are brought back to life?
The Crows played Fremantle at Thebarton Oval in suburban Adelaide a fortnight ago, while Freo hosted the Eagles in a pre-season derby at Fremantle Oval at the weekend. Why can't some of Melbourne's suburban grounds also be revived for one glorious weekend?
Some of them wouldn't be practical. Glenferrie Oval, with its sardine-can like dimensions would struggle to cope even with 16 players per side, which was nearly introduced by the AFL as a NAB Cup trial for this season. The Lake Oval was converted into a soccer stadium years ago and is now halfway towards being the new home for track and field in Melbourne.
The main stand at Moorabbin has been gutted and the terraces are now piles of dirt, so scratch that as a venue.
But there are still enough of the old Melbourne suburban venues, which for one weekend in March, could fit a few thousand people and stage the last serious hit-out before the start of the season.
If this columnist was in charge, here is how the 'Back to Footy' weekend would be scheduled.
Arden Street: North Melbourne v Gold Coast. Wouldn't attract a massive crowd, so there would be plenty of space on the pleasant grassy hills that have replaced the grimy terraces where the Shinboners once played. All this just a short stroll pre-match from Melbourne's best fruit and vegetables (and Spanish doughnuts) at the nearby Vic Market. Barnesy could still play a few numbers afterwards as well.
Visy Park: Carlton v Hawthorn. A blast from the past this one, and a no-brainer because the Blues and the Hawks always played their final practice match against each other in the days when the two clubs were the co-tenants at Princes Park, as we then knew it. There used to be a bit of feeling, as well.
Victoria Park: Collingwood v Richmond. Still able to accommodate a few thousand people as demonstrated last year when the Pies made it the home base of their VFL side. The train ride to Victoria Park Station on the Hurstbridge line would be still be more preferable than risking the ire of the world's meanest parking inspectors.
Junction Oval: St Kilda v Sydney. The old lake premiership. From 1897 to 1965, when the Saints decamped to Moorabbin, there was always an edge to the clashes between St Kilda and South Melbourne, who back then were separated only by the length of Albert Park Lake. Considered large enough to host the annual Community Cup each year - one of the great Melbourne community footy traditions - it could certainly host an AFL practice match.
Whitten Oval: Western Bulldogs v Melbourne. One of the great games at the old Western Oval was the final game of 1987, when the Demons broke through to make the finals for the first time in 23 years. The pre-game highlight was all the Range Rovers that struggled to fit into the narrow, nearby streets of West Footscray. That's after they crossed the Maribyrnong River for the first time ever.
Windy Hill: Essendon v Geelong. The Cats still play games at Skilled Stadium, so forfeit the right to play a home game on this weekend. Why not travel to Windy Hill for one last game of footy before the Bombers depart for their new digs near Tullamarine Airport and Windy Hill is converted into one huge bowling green for the benefit of the Essendon Bowls Club.
Brunswick Street Oval: Brisbane Lions v Greater Western Sydney. The Lions always want to play more games in Melbourne, so why not here at their Victorian spiritual home? But more importantly, playing a NAB Challenge clash at what is now known the W.T. Peterson Community Oval would highlight the outrage that the ground is named for a local councillor instead of Haydn Bunton, Kevin Murray or the other countless stars who graced the turf in the days when it was a league football venue.
Adelaide and Port Adelaide, Fremantle and West Coast can play each other at any of the number of fine local stage league venues, such as the aforementioned Thebarton and Fremantle Ovals.
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The spat between Melbourne and the Casey Scorpions over the decision by the Scorpions highlights the growing gulf between AFL clubs and their VFL affiliates.
The Western Bulldogs and Richmond have both admitted in recent weeks that their five-year plans call for them to ditch their respective VFL affiliations with Williamstown and Coburg, while West Coast and Fremantle are finalising a submission to the Western Australian Football Commission arguing that they should be permitted to field reserves teams in the WAFL.
They have been encouraged to do so by the AFL, with Andrew Demetriou's comments that for a mere $350,000 per year, AFL clubs could indeed run their own reserves teams. Is it mere coincidence that Collingwood and Geelong, winners of three of the last four AFL premierships, field their own reserves teams, while the other flag winner - Hawthorn - has pretty much assumed full control of the Box Hill Football Club and has re-shaped it for its own developmental requirements.
It is highly likely that within five years, the Hawks with Box Hill and St Kilda with Sandringham (a top quality club that has worked seamlessly first with Melbourne and then St Kilda) and perhaps North Melbourne with its North Ballarat and Werribee partnerships, will be the only Victorian-based AFL clubs to still have this affiliate club relationship.
That means the likely creation of some sort of new Victorian club-based competition and an uncertain future for the VFL, which can trace its history back to 1877.
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If Israel Folau's signing with the GWS Giants was a publicity stunt, then chances are his first game would not have been this weekend against Port Adelaide somewhere in the Barossa Valley, but last week on home turf in the final weekend before the start of the National Rugby League season.
Conceding three goals to Jay Schultz while at full-back, then kicking into the man on the mark when moved to the forward line, is just an indication of the massive learning curve ahead for Folau.
A humbling start, to be sure. But there is still 12 months ahead for Folau before he plays a match that really counts. And with Kevin Sheedy, Mark Williams and Steve Silvagni among his mentors, the smart money would still be on him being in the Giants' starting line-up in 54 weeks' time, the opening round of 2012.
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CLUB BY CLUB
1. Collingwood: Mick Malthouse gave the NAB Cup a massive thumbs-up with these remarks late on Friday night. "It is silverware, it is a premiership cup. Any silverware is hard to achieve in an AFL competition so it's welcomed."
2. St Kilda: Justin Koschitzke watch has started. What was reported as a six-week injury has come in a little bit. Or in fact a lot. He might now play in round one.
3. Hawthorn: Belted Melbourne in the second half on Friday night with a forward line containing none of Lance Franklin, Jarryd Roughead and David Hale.
4. Geelong: 34 touches for Joel Selwood against the Blues. Going along beautifully.
5. Fremantle: Finished the pre-season with a pair of wins, but the injuries keep mounting. Tendai Mzungu's knee injury is another blow to Mark Harvey and to those of us who had him in our Toyota AFL Dream Teams.
6. Carlton: Lachlan Henderson got back on the park for the Blues on the weekend. They need him badly.
7. Sydney: If there was a Brownlow Medal for the NAB Challenge, Adam Goodes would be the warm favourite.
8. Western Bulldogs: Welcome back, Adam Cooney.
9. Essendon: An outstanding pre-season. James Hird has restored hope, among a few other things as well.
10. North Melbourne: Got on the pre-season scoreboard (beating the Giants doesn't count), but perhaps even better, drew 7000 fans to North Ballarat for the game against the Dogs. Maybe the plan for home games isn't such a pipedream.
11. Adelaide: Even Richard Tambling got amongst it against the Tigers.
12. West Coast: Interesting to note Jack Darling among the best against Fremantle. He owed the club after a slip-up the week before.
13. Melbourne: Hoping that NAB Challenge form really counts for nothing because the Demons really haven't shown much the last three weeks.
14. Richmond: Strong language from Damien Hardwick in describing a goalless final quarter against the Crows as "soul destroying".
15. Gold Coast: Will really need to have its best 22 up and about to be competitive in year one.
16. Port Adelaide: Did the job against the Giants, but round one against Collingwood represents a massive step up in class.
17. Brisbane Lions: Must beat Fremantle at home in round, otherwise a 0-4 start beckons with the Bulldogs and Melbourne (both away) and St Kilda to follow.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
We can't go past Collingwood's Heath Shaw, who, with 25 touches and six rebounds off half-back, won the Michael Tuck Medal on Friday night in the NAB Cup Grand Final.
THE TWITTERATI
"At home about to kick up the heels. Another great learning experience today! Bring on the season!" - Gold Coast defender Karmichael Hunt (@karmichaelhunt). The 'L' plates are off, time to play.
"I barely knew horse racing was popular until I moved to Melb. Living with @maxy_5 meant I was inundated with it 24/7 did my head in" - Collingwood's Harry O'Brien (harry_o) on life with Nick Maxwell.
"A good final hit out for the preseason, a necessary evil but everyone got through unscathed during the games. Bring on the real stuff!" - Sydney's Ryan O'Keefe (@okeeferyan) speaks on behalf of about 600 of his AFL playing colleagues as the NAB Challenge comes to a close.
GAME TO WATCH
This is the last weekend to enjoy the 'other' things in life, but if you really need a footy fix, Adam Cooney, Brian Lake, Robert Murphy, Dale Morris and Luke Hodge might all be running around in the same VFL practice match at Whitten Oval on Friday weekend.
The views expressed by author are not necessarily those of the AFL or the clubs.
You can follow Ashley Browne on twitter at twitter.com/hashbrowne
