Foxtel Cup - What we learnt from Round 1

[The_Wookie]

Lessons from the First Round of the Foxtel Cup

So the first Round of the cup is over and the first teams have now been sent back to their respective leagues, able to enjoy their byes for the rest of the year. of the 16 teams that took part this year, only 8 remain. So what have we learnt so far.

I think the biggest thing we've learnt is the wide gap between the quality of the WAFL/SANFL/VFL and the rest of the country. There were some massive floggings in there, even the AFL bound GWS team was beaten soundly by the Bullants. There were no upset wins, although no one expected the Thunder to demolish Morningside at the neutral venue.

The surprise package could be the Thunder, bolstered by boom recruit, former Adelaide Crow Andrew Mcleod. They would appear to be on a different plane to the rest of the non AFL heartland states, which will come as good news to the AFL Northern Territory and its hard working administrators who oversee the Thunders program.

We learnt that the AFL doesnt like fixturing extra games at the Gabba, no Queensland team played a home game, both were sent to Aami Stadium despite both being scheduled for the Gabba. All SA teams except Port Adelaide played at home , while Claremont travelled to Tasmania. Of the Victorian teams, only the Bullants played in Melbourne.

We've learnt that the quarter finals will throw up some oddities in the fixture. Williamstown who won their round away against Swan Districts will play away again in Adelaide despite theoretically being the home team, and West Adelaide alreaady playing at home against Ainslie. In addition, Claremont will play the Bullants at Metricon stadium on the Gold Coast despite Claremont not playing at home last round, and neither side being from Queensland.

We've learnt that of the 8 games played, 5 drew reasonably good ratings compared to the NRLS Toyota Cup, and should expect this to be picked up again next year with some tweaking.

We've learnt that the Cup overall probably needs a few changes before the QLD/NSW/ACT and Tasmanian sides get fed up with being thrashed every year. How much worse would it have been if the top SA teams had been playing.

 

[Interceptor]

Lessons from the First Round of the Foxtel Cup

I think the biggest thing we've learnt is the wide gap between the quality of the WAFL/SANFL/VFL and the rest of the country. There were some massive floggings in there, even the AFL bound GWS team was beaten soundly by the Bullants. There were no upset wins, although no one expected the Thunder to demolish Morningside at the neutral venue.

I don't think the gap between the WAFL/SANFL/VFL and the other leagues was a surprise, the results just confirmed what has always been the case. In the GWS game though it was basically boys against men.

The second round should provide some more even contests and interesting matches.

Apart from lop-sided results, I think the scheduling has been the main negative so far. Most notable was the late shift of the North Adelaide vs Labrador match from the Gabba to Adelaide. This was done "without consultation or notice" according the North, with bookings and plans already made by players and partners to play in Brisbane. Now there's the eyebrow raising plan to have two non-Qld teams play in Qld. I guess there's the positive for the players and maybe fans to get a trip to the Gold Coast, but the organisers need to treat the participating teams with some more respect.

 

[Dirty Bird]

We learnt that the AFL doesnt like fixturing extra games at the Gabba, no Queensland team played a home game, both were sent to Aami Stadium despite both being scheduled for the Gabba. All SA teams except Port Adelaide played at home , while Claremont travelled to Tasmania. Of the Victorian teams, only the Bullants played in Melbourne.

Almost all of your imput on this board is good, but I'm getting suck and tired of your hate for SA.

Seriously " All SA teams except Port Adelaide played at home"?
I could say the same for others "All WA teams except Claremont played at home", "All Tasmania and New South Wales teams played at home".

It's really tiresome.

We know you didn't like the fact that the top 5 teams in SA all said no, but you don't have to continue to whine about it.

 

[The_Wookie]

the top 5 issue was actually the furthest thing from my mind when i wrote it. You could say whatever you wanted. feel free to write your own post accordingly. It makes more sense when you consider the same sa teams that played at home in the first round will play at home in the second round, even against teaams that have yet to ahve a home fixture.