Melbourne have done enough to retain their Queen's Birthday blockbuster status as nearly 60,000 fans attended the annual clash against Collingwood.

On Friday, AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou added further weight to the game when he called on Demons fans to support it, or risk their club forfeiting a hold on the match.

Demetriou said on Friday the game should normally attract at least 65-70,000 supporters and added the league wanted at least 60,000-65,000.

The match attracted 59,548 and the strong message from the league was the Demons had done enough to keep the fixture.

"We were pleased with it, 60,000 is a good turnout," a league spokesman said.

It's easily Melbourne's biggest crowd of the season - before Monday, they had not played in front of more than 48,000 fans.

Dreary winter weather, including some rain earlier in the day, prevented a bigger crowd.

On Friday, Melbourne chief executive Paul McNamee said the club had a "compelling" case to retain the Queen's Birthday game.

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