Quirks of the draw

[Rhysswans13]

I brought this up on the freo board but thought it would be interesting to see if any teams experience similar.

One thing as a freo fan that we expect when the fixtures come out is that we have to travel to Sydney to play the swans and surprise, surprise next season is no exception. So the updated stats after next year will be that since 2001 in the 17 games we have played the Swans in the home and away season 13 have been in Sydney while only 4 in Perth. Also in that time for 11 of those seasons we have been scheduled to play them once in the year and 10 of those games have been at the SCG.

Obviously this means Sydney always have to play the eagles in Perth as they are required to travel west once a season but it would be nice for the AFL to mix it up as we still won't have played at Skoda Stadium in three years.

I wouldn't complain. You guys have matched it with us quite well at the SCG in recent years !

 

[Rhysswans13]

To be fair, I don't think WCE have played at Skoda either (WCE-GWS have been the Blacktown games).

They played this year. West Coast won by 100 points.

 

[Ramere]

For the 20th year in a row we have to play Essendon on the 25th of April...

 

[stoisle]

Including 2014 in the 33 years since the Swans moved to Sydney in 1982 Geelong has played them in Sydney (SCG or ANZ Stadium) 30 times. That does not include the 2005 Semi Final and we also played the Kangaroos there in 1999. In that time we have played 24 matches at Kardinia Park.

 

[Riccardo11]

St Kilda have only 2 MCG games, which I understand is the lowest in the league. Comparatively GWS has three matches at the Home of Football! This is despite the club requesting more games at the venue next year.

It is also a quirk of fixture that Port Adelaide has hosted St Kilda in every season but once since their inception, and this continues next year.

 

[Sttew]

The regulation no Hawks to the Gabba (Haven't played there since 2008) and the regulation trip to Launceston and Geelong were in our fixture again for about the 1000th year in a row ...

You'd have to be unlucky to play at Geelong. Only happens 7 times a year!

Cats seem to play Hawks twice a year, without fail (since 2008 anyway).

There is absolutely nothing random or fair about the AFL draw; its all about maximizing TV exposure and $$ for the AFL.

 

[Doss]

Geelong and Sydney have played twice a year since 2008, and will do so again next year.

That will be seven years in a row.

 

[im_a_lazy_sod]

Including 2014 in the 33 years since the Swans moved to Sydney in 1982 Geelong has played them in Sydney (SCG or ANZ Stadium) 30 times. That does not include the 2005 Semi Final and we also played the Kangaroos there in 1999. In that time we have played 24 matches at Kardinia Park.

Wait. So you've played them 30 times at SCG/ANZ and 24 times at KP in H&A, so all in all you've played them twice 24 times out of a possible 30-odd seasons

The AFL really needs to rotate double-ups haha

 

[Pal22]

Geelong and Sydney have played twice a year since 2008, and will do so again next year.

That will be seven years in a row.

This is incorrect - Sydney and Geelong only play each other once next year - round 11, SCG on a Thursday night

 

[Doss]

Wait. So you've played them 30 times at SCG/ANZ and 24 times at KP in H&A, so all in all you've played them twice 24 times out of a possible 30-odd seasons

The AFL really needs to rotate double-ups haha

Well, everyone played double ups between 1970 and 1986, when Brisbane and West Coast joining made that impossible. Since then:

From 1987-90, every team played 9 out of 13 other teams twice.
From 1991-94, every team played 8 out of 14 other teams twice.
From 1995-2010, every team played 7 out of 15 other teams twice.
In 2011, every team played 6 out of 16 other teams twice.
And from 2012 onwards, it becomes only 5 out of 17 played twice.

TL;DR: It really should be counted from 1987 onwards, as that was the point the fixturing of the modern competition became less than completely mirror image.

 

[Doss]

This is incorrect - Sydney and Geelong only play each other once next year - round 11, SCG on a Thursday night

I stand corrected, I was sure I'd read they were playing twice again.

2014 will be the first time since 2005 that Sydney haven't travelled to Geelong, then. Conversely, Geelong haven't avoided an away game against Sydney since 2007.

 

[kimirocks]

Not quite as bad as Freo/Swans but Carlton versus the 2 Adelaide clubs since they entered the comp is interesting.

v Port 9 games in Melb/16 games in Adel
v Adel 19 games in Melb/11 games in Adel

Alternating the home ground should be easiest part of the draw to get right.

This has been the most lopsided aspect of our fixture history.

I remember the early 90's Carlton at their peak never venturing across the border, only after they went s**t did they get sent to West Lakes.

In 91, 94, 97, 98, 01, 04, 05, 06, 08, 09, 10, Carlton played in Adelaide. 6 in 7 years, but outside of that period of incompetence (by both Carlton and the AFL's fixturing department), Carlton rarely travel to play the Crows. Next year will be 4 in a row in Melbourne.

Just for comparison, Adelaide travelled to play Carlton in Melbourne (twice is when finals took place in Melbourne. 93 was a Carlton home final, 01 was an Adelaide home final moved to Melbourne
in 91, 92, 93 (twice), 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 00, 01 (twice), 02, 03, 07, 08, 09, 11, 12, 13, 14.

Never believed the draw is equitable, but this has been pretty shameless by the AFL.

 

[radiojake]

01 was an Adelaide home final moved to Melbourne

No it wasn't -

Adelaide finished 8th in 2001 and played 5th placed Carlton

2002 Adelaide played a 'home' semi final at the MCG against Melbourne

 

[DJ75]

A great read on what equalisation really looks like in the AFL draw. http://www.unambitiousus.com/sports/the-brutal-truth-behind-the-afl-2014-fixtures/

 

[Gibbke]

Yeah, whatever. TV money is spread equally across all the teams as a dividend, before special payments anyway, so it starts to get down to how many they can drag through the gate if you want to start making extra money. Memberships have a direct link to onfield success, and this has nothing to do with tv. There are two Saturday night games each week, and lately, because of the substandard Qld teams, I can say that what we've been watching up here has been a Fox broadcast transferred to Seven rather than a match they bid for at the start of the season - nuts to his pets theory, because these games back up against All-Vic matches usually, and you will never see these circumvented by interstaters...

Heaps more, but my steak's ready...

 

[Boxhead_31]

15th year in a row that Collingwood haven't played Geelong in Geelong

 

[parano1a]

Collingwood: no games in Geelong, Canberra, Hobart, Launceston, Cairns, Darwin, Alice Springs or Wellington. I'd like to see the Pies travel to one of these 'novelty' venues for a change.

 

[Gibbke]

The only thing I really want to see in the draw is a better effort to spread the love. Don't care about where the opposition sat on last year's ladder, but there are several instances currently of teams who haven't been to a particular venue in years, Hawks not in Brisbane since 2008 being the one I'd obviously know off the top of my head. Not including the above mentioned "novelty" venues to this, but if you're a supporter of a travelling team who doesn't visit, it's a negative thing. I haven't renewed my membership for the Hawks for a while (I was there when they were doing it tough, but they don't seem to need me now anyway) and a big part of this is because they haven't dropped by lately...

Every year, visit every mainland state...it's not hard, with two teams in each one...

 

[blaze036]

Collingwood: no games in Geelong, Canberra, Hobart, Launceston, Cairns, Darwin, Alice Springs or Wellington. I'd like to see the Pies travel to one of these 'novelty' venues for a change.

Why

 

[Doss]

Why

To be fair, Collingwood and Essendon are the only two teams who haven't in recent years. Even Carlton played North on the Gold Coast not so many years ago.

 

[BluesMan]

15th year in a row that Collingwood haven't played Geelong in Geelong

Get over it, it's not going to happen. And it's pretty obvious why.

 

[blaze036]

To be fair, Collingwood and Essendon are the only two teams who haven't in recent years. Even Carlton played North on the Gold Coast not so many years ago.

Playing GC at the GC (their only home ground) is a little different to shifting the biggest club in Australia to Cairns Tasmania Darwin or NZ

 

[JZTIME!]

North will be live on FTA 10 times next year. Definately a quirk of this century

 

[Boxhead_31]

Get over it, it's not going to happen. And it's pretty obvious why.

Collingwood are scared?

 

[rustyg70]

I'd love to see the Pies travel to Perth twice, only so I can get value for money out of my membership.