AHEAD of Saturday night's ANZAC Day Eve clash against Richmond, fans are being encouraged to get to the game early to not miss a minute of the moving pre-game ceremony.

All gates at the MCG will open at 5:00pm and tickets are still available to the clash via Ticketek.

Attendees are advised to be in their seats by 6.45pm, for when the stadium lights dim and the pre-game ceremony begins. 

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The Australian Army Band will perform during the first part of the ceremony, before a torch lit from the Eternal Flame makes its way around the MCG.

The torch will be passed to Jennifer Allen - the granddaughter of Melbourne and Richmond great Frank 'Checker' Hughes - who will light the Cauldron with her family in front of a silenced MCG crowd.

This will be followed by a rendition of the Last Post, before the Australian and New Zealand national anthems.

Prior to gates opening, there are also plenty of reasons to get to the precinct early ahead of the Round 6 clash. 

In a VFL curtain-raiser of sorts, Richmond will host the Casey Demons nearby at the Swinburne Centre from 2:00pm.

Gates will open to the VFL match at 1:15pm, followed by a pre-game ANZAC Day observance at 1:40pm.

Melbourne and Casey members can access this game for $5, while general admission tickets are $10 and under 15s are free. VFL Round 2 tickets must be purchased online (no tickets at the gate) and are available via InTix.

From 4:30pm, the Demon Shop on Brunton Avenue will also open up, with a range of exclusive merchandise available to celebrate Nathan Jones' big 300-game milestone (while stocks last).

For a full rundown of what's happening on game day, visit our Game Day Guide.