Preview The Home Ground Factor in Finals is hugely overrated

bh90210fan

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And the only way a Victorian team plays interstate in finals is if they're lower on the ladder and expected to lose anyway.
And you’d expect there’d be a few less vic premiers if the lower placed vic team had to travel interstate for a grand final
 
Jun 30, 2009
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Deroesfromgero
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There doesn't seem to be much supporting data backing up the hypothesis in the OP, seems more like a feeling or an opinion.
Is there even a single team with a better away finals record?

Maybe sydney?

When you look at the numbers it really puts the dogs flag in perspective.
 

dean33

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What? You're still playing on your home ground though, as opposed to having to go elsewhere and play so I'd say it's an advantage still. What you've actually done is highlight the benefit of being an MCG tenant - ie Hawthorn would be playing as the "away" team on their home ground, something non-Vic teams would almost never get.
Yes but the flip side is no advantage when playing as the higher ranked team. We could play 3 finals against pies, hawks, demons and not enjoy home ground advantage in any of them. However it is what it is and we just deal with the cards we are dealt, something insular interstate fans have trouble doing.
 
Jun 30, 2009
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Yes but the flip side is no advantage when playing as the higher ranked team. We could play 3 finals against pies, hawks, demons and not enjoy home ground advantage in any of them. However it is what it is and we just deal with the cards we are dealt, something insular interstate fans have trouble doing.
Thats because as previously explained - 50% of the time you play another tenant its a disadvantage as you are higher ranked and 50% of the time its an advantage as you are lower ranked yet still play on your home ground and still dont fly.

If we are lower ranked we fly in all but derbies.
 
Sep 13, 2015
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Im trying to find the stats for finals only - someone posted them here - the home ground advantage for teams hosting a team from interstate are more probounced than tge regukar season
That’s because they are typically higher ranked and (in theory) are better than their opposition anyway. Would the result to the Sydney v Essendon EF last year have changed if it was held at the MCG?
 

Brunswick Trap King

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Mate, I goto the MCG a lot. Compared to going to grounds with home ground advantage there is no experience of any distinct advantage. Even as far back as when I first started going to footy when most clubs had their own ground and only Demons and Tigers played at MCG. If you played a game at MCG or Waverley Park you could tell it was as close to neutral as you could find but goto Moorabin, Geelong, our own ground at Princes Park, Western Oval, Windy Hill, Perth, Adealide etc etc, the massive home ground advantage were clear. Now we removed most of those home ground advantages it comes back to far less with Geelong, Perth based clubs and Adelaide based with the big advantages that other clubs used to enjoy. Those clubs with distinct home ground advantage are the loudest about the talk of it WHEN they do not enjoy the protection of having it.
I guess that solves it then. All other grounds have home ground advantages but the MCG tenants because you've experienced it.

What a load of s**t.
 

dean33

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Thats because as previously explained - 50% of the time you play another tenant its a disadvantage as you are higher ranked and 50% of the time its an advantage as you are lower ranked yet still play on your home ground and still dont fly.

If we are lower ranked we fly in all but derbies.
You fly more often, you get used to it. A luxury vic sides don’t have when they fly. Heavily weighted in favour of non vic teams but vic teams continue to punch above their weight.
 
Jun 30, 2009
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You fly more often, you get used to it. A luxury vic sides don’t have when they fly. Heavily weighted in favour of non vic teams but vic teams continue to punch above their weight.
If we are better at flying its a HARD EARNED advantage.

Not a gifted advantage - like gf’s at your home ground.
 
Jun 30, 2009
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That’s because they are typically higher ranked and (in theory) are better than their opposition anyway. Would the result to the Sydney v Essendon EF last year have changed if it was held at the MCG?


But i do remember that exact situation happening to west coast where we had to play a “home game” vs the bombers in melbourne.

We lost.
 

dean33

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If we are better at flying its a HARD EARNED advantage.

Not a gifted advantage - like gf’s at your home ground.
How so kranky? Due to you being based in Perth and having to fly to the milk bar if you need milk? Nothing hard earned about your location kranky, also have the advantage of any wa boys wanting to come home having a choice between 2 clubs rather than 10 clubs for any vic clubs. All advantage weighted in your favour, I know you know this already and are just here to stir s**t you wily old dog you.
 
Jun 30, 2009
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We’d still lose the free kick count by 10 in either scenario.
Wouldnt be surprised if you found a way.

Youguys ever think that a big reason (aside from the crowd) we win free kick counts is because our backs in the form of barrass and mcgov dont scrag and infringe on your forwards

They just outmark them
 
Jun 30, 2009
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Deroesfromgero
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How so kranky? Due to you being based in Perth and having to fly to the milk bar if you need milk? Nothing hard earned about your location kranky, also have the advantage of any wa boys wanting to come home having a choice between 2 clubs rather than 10 clubs for any vic clubs. All advantage weighted in your favour, I know you know this already and are just here to stir s**t you wily old dog you.
No because we fly every second week and face hostile crowds every second week - we are battle hardened to it from day one - you wily old fox.

And a lot of players dont want to come home as they dont want to spend so much time on planes. Jom is one especially - given his injury record the thought of spending more time in the polar opposite of a hyperbaric chamber is a big turn off.
 
Jun 30, 2009
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For the last 10 years?
Mate you are preaching to the choir.

if you think im going to argue that we dont get a good run with umps at perth oval you will be waiting a long time.

There are a few ither factors to mitigate though - our corral rather than tackle policy has been around for dwonks and that affects it. I personally hate it - yeah you dont get as many frees against - but its a tactic that comes unstuck in finals i reckon.
 

dean33

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No because we fly every second week and face hostile crowds every second week - we are battle hardened to it from day one - you wily old fox.

And a lot of players dont want to come home as they dont want to spend so much time on planes. Jom is one especially - given his injury record the thought of spending more time in the polar opposite of a hyperbaric chamber is a big turn off.
Probably more to do with living in Melbourne over Perth. You do have lovely beaches however:)
 

JohnnyFontane90

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i've always believed the biggest advantage is familiarity and suitability of the ground size to a team's style, more so than location and crowd.

carlton are bad but we are 100% worse at etihad than we are an any other stadium even though it's our home. if all the games were at etihad essendon might be the flag favorites. There'd be over 100 points swing in a carlton v essendon game at etihad compared to the MCG
 

JinmboJones

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Yes but the flip side is no advantage when playing as the higher ranked team. We could play 3 finals against pies, hawks, demons and not enjoy home ground advantage in any of them. However it is what it is and we just deal with the cards we are dealt, something insular interstate fans have trouble doing.
So you're saying your fans play for you when you're at your home game - is that the advantage? Or is it that your fans aren't allowed to attend non home games at the MCG? Here's me thinking the main advantage of playing at home was not having to travel and being familiar with your home ground and how to play it...
 
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You would expect the data to show home ground advantage for weeks 1-3 finals because the home team is generally higher on the ladder and therefore a better team and also gets a huge crowd advantage. And that's what the data does in fact show.

But for the GF the advantage is greatly diminished because you have the 2 best teams and the huge crowd advantage removed. And that's what the data shows, it's 8 wins a piece for Vic vs Interstate GFs.

Good stat 8 each.
Would love to splice that down to who was the better team for the majority of the year / which victorian teams had MCG home ground.

For example we played St Kilda in 97 who werent an MCG tenant.
 

dean33

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West Coast travels more often which is an advantage. Now I've heard it all.
You have an advantage when traveling over a side that doesn’t travel much, if you do something more often you get better at it no?
Marathons are hard, if I run 10 of them a year and you run 1, I’m tipping I’m going to be better at running marathons don’t you think?
 
Jun 30, 2009
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Deroesfromgero
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By over 10 goals, another example of your inflated ladder position due to greater hga during the season and getting found out in finals.
Such a crock

Only a victorian could call travelling perth to interstate every second week an advantage while when they have to do it once its a “huge disadvantage the next week”
 
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