Dockers have reservations about playing Cats in Geelong AN angry Fremantle yesterday began strongly lobbying the AFL after learning that it could be forced to play Geelong at Geelong in the first week of the finals. With the likelihood of four Victorian clubs hosting finals next week, the AFL yesterday made contact with the City of Greater Geelong, as the ground manager, and the Cats about playing a historic first final at Simonds Stadium, instead of Etihad Stadium, if their opponent was Fremantle. The league will await the outcome of this weekend's final home-and-away round of the season before determining its program of elimination and qualifying finals. With the MCG expected to host three of the first four finals, AFL scheduling general manager Simon Lethlean said yesterday it was preferable Etihad Stadium held a final, but did not discount Simonds Stadium as a potential venue next week. Fremantle president Steve Harris said yesterday a game at Geelong could prevent up to 15,000 Dockers fans from entering the boutique stadium, which has a capacity of 33,500. "We're happy to play anywhere where the league is not pushing 10,000 to 20,000 fans away from the gate," Harris said. It's like sending a memo to West Australians -- we don't want you here in Victoria. Harris telephoned AFL Commission chairman Mike Fitzpatrick about his "amazement" at learning of the potential fixture anomaly, while Dockers chief executive Steve Rosich discussed the disadvantages of playing outside of Melbourne with league executives. "Mike said he appreciated our position," Harris said. It's almost impossible to get flights out of Perth to Melbourne on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, so that means thousands of our passionate supporters would not have the opportunity to get in the gate if it was at Geelong. Simonds Stadium has not had a crowd this year above 30,100 and in our past two finals at the MCG against Geelong, last year and in 2010, when we were a top-eight club, not a top-four club as we are now, the games attracted around 45,000. Harris said he hoped common sense would prevail, allowing the Dockers to play at either the MCG or Etihad Stadium. "Surely, the key objectives of the AFL are to maximise attendances and expose finals football to as many people as possible," he said. The Dockers have not won at Simonds Stadium in four attempts since their latest win there in 2005. They lost at Geelong in round 14 this season by 41 points. Playing a final at Geelong, which has previously been rejected by the AFL, would be an enormous advantage to the Cats, who have won 42 of their past 43 games at home by an average margin of 59 points. The club's only loss at Geelong since the start of 2008 was against the Swans, by 13 points, in round 23, 2010. Four finals must be played in Victoria next week if the current ladder positions of first, second, fifth and sixth remain the same, with Hawthorn, Geelong, Richmond and Collingwood presently in those spots. Etihad Stadium spokesman Bill Lane yesterday said it was the AFL's call on where it played finals. "If required, we are available, keen and willing to host a game next week," Lane said.