The inequity of round 22 in Perth - again!

[No 1 Draft Pick]

Assuming there is no local derby in WA in round 22, the odds for one of the other teams to have to travel there should be 1/14 (ie you would expect to play in Perth round 22 once in a decade at most which is acceptable).

That in mind, why in the ******** are the Crows about to play there in round 22 for the 4th time in 8 years (98/01/02/05)? We all know that playing in Perth is a MAJOR disadvantage the following week (which means first week of finals for round 22 games). The Crows have been thrashed in their 3 week one finals appearances after playing in Perth in round 22 (98 - Dees, 01 - Blues, 02 - Lions). This is seriously someone at AFL taking the pi$$ and its not on. Can someone do the math for me - what are the unlikely odds one team must play there 4 times in 8 years in round 22?

We have been dudded a number of other times with the draw in recent years in both the real season (02 finals vs Dees - enough said) and also the preseason cup - ie Tigers game played in Melb in 02, Wizard Cup GF in 03 vs Pies should have been in Adelaide based on equity (and I told Wayne Jackson in very clear terms on that night that the AFL had f*cked the Crows over a number of times with finals draws. He was standing next to me at the urinals and the poor guy had no option but to listen to a pi$$ed half-crazed Crows fan cr@pping on. I ended up buying him a beer though and made him promise 'to never f*ck the Crows over again come finals time - which he did and was very apologetic believe it or not)

Why arent the Crows throwing their weight around more to ensure this doesnt happen. Could you imagine Collingwood, Essendon or other Big 5-6 clubs being consistently shafted in such a way. The Crows are a major player in this league but I dont feel they are always as political as they should be to ensure successful outcomes in some areas - especially the draw!

[portentous]

It doesn't make any difference if you don't make the finals. I think you're about an 60/40 chance to do so. I think Neil Craig will be far more concerned about improving your record at Footy Park in 2005, and an away win or two before getting that far ahead of himself. Just my thoughts....

[crows98]

Yeah well said portentous,

At this point of the season we should just be worrying about winning enough games to make the finals instead of how unfair the system is and has been to us over the years. I personally will be glad to get 14 or 15 wins to give us a good shot at the finals next season.

[macca23]

It doesn't make any difference if you don't make the finals. I think you're about an 60/40 chance to do so. I think Neil Craig will be far more concerned about improving your record at Footy Park in 2005, and an away win or two before getting that far ahead of himself. Just my thoughts....

You're certainly right with your first sentence.

But I genuinely think that we are a chance to finish 7th to 8th if we have no major injuries for a change.

If my assessment is right, then not only does it matter, but it becomes a 2 edged sword, as we would have to travel in the 1st week of finals to play the 5th or 6th team which could well be the WCE or Freo. 2 trips to Perth in a fortnight .... pfffftt ..... good night Irene!! :rolleyes:

There are 14 non WA teams in this comp available to play against 1 of the 2 WA based teams in perth in the last round (the other WA team plays away). That's once every 14 years!! We get 4 times in the last 8 years!! :mad:

Eddie would put a contract on Demetriou if that happened to the most protected team in the AFL - Collingwood!!

[portentous]

Yeah and we get Brisbane in Brisbane every year too. That's the way the cookie crumbles I'm afraid. I don't like it when Choco whinges about the draw as until every team plays each other twice, sh** like this is gonna happen. Maybe when a couple of Vic teams fold, we'll get some sort of equity, but until then it's a broken record really.

Not saying I disagree with you BTW, but not sure what can be done about it under the present system.

[crows98]

Yeah and we get Brisbane in Brisbane every year too.
We have our fair share of games in the sunshine state as well.

Isn’t it a bit ironic that South Australia being a healthy football state and not needing any hand outs from the AFL and that we are the ones that are treated badly from the AFL and when l say we l mean Port Adelaide and the Adelaide crows

[topjars]

Id just like to be in with a chance of a finals appearance come Rnd 22; but Im strugglin to understand how we will win any of our first 4 games :( at the moment.

[maccas_no1]

I dont think it's fair we again get a trip to Perth in round 22, but we do have three 'Home' games before we have that trip, so yeah six of one and half a dozen of another, what do you do.

[Kane McGoodwin]

You're certainly right with your first sentence.

But I genuinely think that we are a chance to finish 7th to 8th if we have no major injuries for a change.

If my assessment is right, then not only does it matter, but it becomes a 2 edged sword, as we would have to travel in the 1st week of finals to play the 5th or 6th team which could well be the WCE or Freo. 2 trips to Perth in a fortnight .... pfffftt ..... good night Irene!! :rolleyes:

There are 14 non WA teams in this comp available to play against 1 of the 2 WA based teams in perth in the last round (the other WA team plays away). That's once every 14 years!! We get 4 times in the last 8 years!! :mad:

Eddie would put a contract on Demetriou if that happened to the most protected team in the AFL - Collingwood!!
Exactly, if were to sneak into the finals, we would be dudded yet again by probably having to travel interstate after the long Perth trip. All we ask is that the AFL spread the R22 Perth game amongst all sides on an equitable basis .... yeah, like that would happen. :rolleyes:

[- PC -]

I am annoyed for a completely selfish reason

I dont get to see the Crows play until round 22.

Since I moved here in 2000 I have been lucky enough to see the Crows twice a year, and this year I will only see them once...and that is all the way to the last round.

As to equality? Until there are an even number of teams for an even number of rounds( whether by decreasing teams or increasing rounds) then this will happen

The WAFC were concerend the intensity from a home derby in the last round took away from what football is all about..finals, and were anxious not to have their teams ultimate success be sacrificed to a ''minor round'' game.

Yet this now means one team travels on the last week, creating IMO even more difficulty in the travelling schedules the first week of the finals.

As long as football continues to be Vicentric then these issues will continue to arise year after year

[footballphantom]

I agree that this has been an unfair situation. The Crows board/management should be making a lot more noise.

With the MCG agreement in place it would not be amiss to force a Victorian team to WA in round 22. In fact I would say that Subi and Footy Park could play two games that last weekend, so that the WA and SA and Lions and Swans teams do not travel in the last week but 6 Victorian teams do. This would mean all teams based outside of Victoria would play home games.

I think that this would be a fair trade off for the MCG agreement, until the AFL have the guts to start talking to the MCG.

[- PC -]

I agree that this has been an unfair situation. The Crows board/management should be making a lot more noise.

With the MCG agreement in place it would not be amiss to force a Victorian team to WA in round 22. In fact I would say that Subi and Footy Park could play two games that last weekend, so that the WA and SA and Lions and Swans teams do not travel in the last week but 6 Victorian teams do. This would mean all teams based outside of Victoria would play home games.

I think that this would be a fair trade off for the MCG agreement, until the AFL have the guts to start talking to the MCG.

Not bad ....except part of the MCG agreement is 41 games a year to be played which averages out to 2 a week.

http://www.mcg.org.au/default.asp?pg=themcgdisplay&articleid=540

In 1990, the redevelopment of the Southern Stand was underpinned by a 40 year contractual commitment by the AFL to support the MCG with prime content, particularly the Grand Final, at least one match per week in the finals series, and a minimum of 41 home and away matches per year.

And a bit further which was interesting


We indicated to the AFL that we would be prepared to relinquish our contractual right to the preliminary final each year, if they supported our move to relocate Carlton’s headquarters to the MCG. Specifically, we sought:


an increase in AFL home and away matches from 41 to 48 (seven Carlton matches);

13 of the best 15 home and away matches to be played at the MCG each year;

minimum of eight Friday night matches at the MCG each year; and

all Preliminary Finals scheduled for Victoria to be played at the MCG,

which we considered to be reasonable and in the public interest.

Regrettably, this came to nought.


Apparently Telstra Dome will have 49 matches to the MCGs 41 so I can see a fair few more one sided arguments

[outback jack]

Its weak leadership at the top that has given us this game again. Why doesnt someone like Trigg bring it up and make a hell of lot of nosie over it? we just hear a bit of complaining when the draw is given out and then we dont hear anything after that. Would any other club even allow that to happen?? I could just imagion the noise that port would make if it happened to them, and it just would never allowed to happen to collingwood. The team that has no chance to make the finals should have to go over there, so whoever finishes last each season, it will ever happen though.

[tinman]

I am annoyed for a completely selfish reason

I dont get to see the Crows play until round 22.

Since I moved here in 2000 I have been lucky enough to see the Crows twice a year, and this year I will only see them once...and that is all the way to the last round.

As to equality? Until there are an even number of teams for an even number of rounds( whether by decreasing teams or increasing rounds) then this will happen

The WAFC were concerend the intensity from a home derby in the last round took away from what football is all about..finals, and were anxious not to have their teams ultimate success be sacrificed to a ''minor round'' game.

Yet this now means one team travels on the last week, creating IMO even more difficulty in the travelling schedules the first week of the finals.

As long as football continues to be Vicentric then these issues will continue to arise year after year

At least we only travel to Perth once this year - the last few have seen two trips here. Great to see us play but pretty unfair programming when teams like Collingwood have been here something like twice in the last 5 years for a home and away game....

I also had concerns about the Darwin "home" game to be played by the Bullies. I knew as soon as it was announced that it would be a WA or SA team that would have to make the trip. If this becomes a regular feature just watch how long it takes before Collingwood, Essendon & co have to make the trip.......

[tredders16]

Winning games before Round 22 would be more of a worry for all sides at the moment, but I agree that Adelaide have been shafted by going to Perth in R22 too many times in the past 8 years, but the way I look at it is that if you have an organised travel plan with recovery and re-hydration(plane travel de-hyrdates you) the battle should be half won.

We play there most years twice and most times we win and also win back in Adelaide the following week. I am not 100% sure of the winning ratio of Adelaide based sides after the trip to Subi but I know we won there both times in 2004, by small margins, this would indicate a hard and close game as well, and then the second time won the week later in Tasmania against St Kilda.

I guess you would have to look at how your season is progressing as well because you could be out of finals calculations by this stage and Perth is a lovely place for an end of season trip. I actually saw Mark Ricciuto with a Perth travel brouchure while he was walking through West Lakes on Friday.

Maybe that's what he is thinking as well. Who knows?