Melbourne is about 2500 giant glass triangles, a pitch's worth of turf and a bit of cleaning up short of having an extraordinary new stadium at its disposal. But by April next year, the brand spanking new facility next to Olympic Park will be ready to host its first match, the only question remains, who gets the chance to baptise it?
At this stage it looks as if Melbourne Storm will get first shot at the as yet unbranded rectangular stadium, which has a capacity of over 30,000 and a state of the art roof structure that makes it look more like a modern museum then a sports stadium.
While no date has officially been set for its opening, the Storm don’t play at home until the fourth round of the NRL, which is held over the Easter weekend in early April. It would appear to be the ideal timing for the opening of the new stadium should things continue to go to plan over the next few months.
Melbourne Victory, the team which pushed hardest for the development, will play Asian Champions League during that time, but its uncertain schedule may mean it gets second use. The other tenant will be the fledgling Melbourne Heart side, which will most likely have to wait a few more months due to lack of playing personnel more than anything else.
Looking across an uneven gravel pitch strewn with metal, pieces of cranes and glass triangles, I'ts hard to believe that within five months this ground will play host to anything. But the turf is already growing at Pakenham in Melbourne's east, ready to be transferred to the new ground probably in the second week of January.
In the eight weeks between now and then, the roof will be completed, the scaffolding removed, the seats will start to go in and the polish will be put on the insides, which look impressive enough already even if they are still bare concrete.
The giant gym area will be in the final stages of set-up, the 25m indoor swimming pool will be complete, the dressing rooms will be fitted out, the radio and TV studios will be wired up and things will start to look like they should.
There's still a lot of work left in the place, but army of construction workers and tradesman gives you every faith that barring disaster, it will all be in place for whoever gets the chance to play.
The feeling is very similar to the Allianz Arena in Munich, a stadium Socceroos fans who travelled to the World Cup will be familiar with. The roof, which resembles a collection of interlocking, concentric soccer balls, has been described as a triumph of engineering and marks the stadium as something unique.
But while the exterior is impressive, it will be the view from inside the stadium which will please most fans. Even without the corner flags, goals and touchlines, you can get a sense of the closeness fans will feel from the