Play Nice Geelong home final at GHMBA Stadium, is this an unfair advantage?

[winty]

Don’t have a problem if Geelong want their 11 home games at Geelong but just to ensure fair justice they then play 8 games away from Victoria (which can inc a couple to say Darwin, Cairns, Alice Springs, Canberra, Hobart or Launceston) and then 3 away games in Victoria @ MCG just like every other non-Melbourne side.

You do realise there are another 9 Victorian based teams, don't you? Which of those teams will be forced to play home games against Geelong interstate under your plan?

 

[mcgarnacle]

What's the point in finishing 1st, lol. May as well tank 3 games and then finish 2nd, and get the same result and be fresher for the finals...That apparently would be against the integrity against of the competition though...But everyone else should get a home final if they finish Top 4.

Marvel tenants should get home finals, and so should Geelong. The AFL has no leg to stand on when it allocates half the ticketing to MCC neutrals, corporates, and other big wigs. The whole comp is a f*cking joke these days, lol. We are the only competition in the world who prioritises fan and corporate satisfaction over competition integrity. I don't care where we have to play, but we damn sure better get an equal amount of tickets...unlike that farce in 2017.

The amount of money we lose as a club, is ridiculous, when compared to the supposed 'gains.' Think about interstate tourists staying in hotels, air b'n'b's and the money that they contribute to the local economy, if West Coast, Adelaide, Brisbane or GWS play us. But sure, let's just give the MCG and the AFL even more money.

I genuinely don't see it in our best interest to win all of the coming games, given it won't make an iota of difference. No other club has that mindset. Where is the integrity or fairness in that?

Gil and the MCG of course, have the final say though. It's pretty damn simple - give us 11 home games and don't give us MCG 'home' games. We'll still have to play 'away' games there anyway.

Collingwood and Richmond have had it far too good, for far too long. Also amusing to me that for the 37 years that Richmond has no success, they had no problem playing at KP. They still had one of the largest membership bases, and they still had big crowds. Why is it only since their record has improved, that they now can't play there anymore, due to 'locking out the fans'?

With that said, Richmond are still far better than Collingwood when it comes to 'integrity' (don't even know how Buckley has a leg to stand on with his odd comments).

Collingwood never goes down there, despite having poor records at times, at the same time as Richmond were going down there. Explain the logic in that to me? Lol. There is none. They had similar membership bases and had down years at the same time. One team played there and one team didn't. Money talks, bullsh*t walks.

I'm so tired of the AFL justifying things. Just come out and say that you're prioritizing monetization and profits, over club satisfaction, and I'd probably accept this BS a lot more. Don't try and act like we're somehow the benefactors, when we never asked for any of this. Was just foisted upon us.

One final note, if we are going to play there, at least make it a Saturday afternoon or night. That's fair to our fans. Friday night does not work, yet that's what we've had the last 3 years in a row. Give our fans an actual chance to get there for our 'home game.' Surely that isn't that hard.

The quest for minor premiership is amusing. I'm not going to troll through modern day stats, but I'm sure history will show that the negatives of minor premiership (i.e., expectation and premiership favouritism), actually outweigh the benefits (home-ground advantages). Perhaps the fact some interstate clubs have been minor premiers recently and need to play off on the MCG against MCG tenants skews this, but I'd say being minor premiers isn't really all its cracked up to be considering #2 has the same on-field benefits in the weeks prior to the GF - ex pressure, the McClellend Trophy and a Friday night prelim.

And of course the AFL prioritises $$$. This is Australia. If AFL were run equitably, it wouldn't be an 18-team league with 9 clubs playing out of 2 venues in one city, and two clubs playing in front of no one in regions that don't have a demand for them, being propped up by the league to survive. All well and good to look to OS leagues such as the NFL or EPL etc, clubs playing out of their own home grounds and playing in them in each and every home game. Australia is small fry trying to have a BIG sports league. It can't sustain it 'equitably'. You've got fans wanting equity and fairness, but think about what you'd have if it was actually administered that way? You'd be lucky to have a 6-club ******* league. May as well go back to state suburban leagues with 10k attendances and players being part-time professionals. Organically, this is what this country can really service.

 

[STPer18]

Melbourne teams playing at Kardinia Park would basically be a home game for them anyway. It's just 'down the road' after all. At worst it's a 'neutral' venue, still in the same state. #Melbumlogic

 

[kirky]

You do realise there are another 9 Victorian based teams, don't you? Which of those teams will be forced to play home games against Geelong interstate under your plan?

4 easy - Western Bulldogs, Hawthorn, North Melbourne, Melbourne - each plays games outside of Melbourne (currently two now do it in Tasmania, one does it in the Northern Territory).

Been following football long?

If a final is played at Geelong do Geelong members realise not all members would be able to go. The opposition is entitled to as many tickets as is Geelong.

 

[Art Vandelay_]

If a final is played at Geelong do Geelong members realise not all members would be able to go. The opposition is entitled to as many tickets as is Geelong.

Yes, and I’m his press conference yesterday, where he made a 3-4 discussion on our fixturing, he also stated that the feedback from members over multiple years was overwhelmingly in favour of home finals on our home ground.

I think us as fans know the score, some will miss out, but I think club and fan base are united in the quest of what is fair.

 

[kirky]

Yes, and I’m his press conference yesterday, where he made a 3-4 discussion on our fixturing, he also stated that the feedback from members over multiple years was overwhelmingly in favour of home finals on our home ground.

I think us as fans know the score, some will miss out, but I think club and fan base are united in the quest of what is fair.

Fair call as long as members don’t bitch and moan when they can’t get to the game.

 

[And_ROOS]

Fair call as long as members don’t bitch and moan when they can’t get to the game.

I have missed out on tickets before, and I missed out on tickets to Grand Finals.

And I bet you that in 50 years I won't remember which Grand Finals I couldn't get tickets to. But I bet you I remember the ones we won.

 

[JohnZ]

Fair call as long as members don’t bitch and moan when they can’t get to the game.

Every finals, there are members who miss out on tickets, either due to sellouts or it being out of state, or financially unavailable to them. It's disingenuous to say that out of the 18 clubs, only cats fans would bitch and moan, especially considering none did at the 2013 final.

 

[North11]

The AFL opened a huge can of worms by allowing Geelong to play in KP in 2013.

If they allow Geelong, Who play at least 5 matches a year at the MCG to have home finals in Geelong, then they need to allow St Kilda (3 matches at MCG), Bulldogs (2 matches at MCG), and North Melbourne (1 Match at MCG) to have home finals at Docklands.

Geelong are the most vocal but they are no where near the most disadvantaged. Mitch Duncan has played 3 times as many games at the MCG than Shaun Atley or Jarryn Geary.

Yep this is exactly what I said. I agree 100%.

 

[Duskfire]

Alright, awesome if Geelong play at Kardinia. North, St Kilda and Bulldogs can all play at Marvel. Why not? Same as Geelong except a bigger ground, also North, St Kilda and Bulldogs can sometimes only play 1 game a year at the MCG and some interstate teams actually play more games at the MCG than some Victorian clubs.

They certainly should. This isn’t just a Geelong issue, this should apply to every team. They should play where they want, and if that means more finals at Marvel then so be it.

Hopefully the article linked earlier nips any of the arguments about Geelong wanting home games at the mcg in the bud. Chris Scott has said flat out they request 11 home games and they get denied. Everyone knows Geelongs home ground, people arguing against it are just being pedantic.

 

[blue harvest]

As the ladder stands now, week 1 of finals all of Cats, Pies, Tigers and Bombers get a home state final. Does Cats v Eagles go down to Kardinia?

 

[doppleganger]

As the ladder stands now, week 1 of finals all of Cats, Pies, Tigers and Bombers get a home state final. Does Cats v Eagles go down to Kardinia?

With AFL preference now being

Thursday night
Friday night
Sat twilight
Sat night

For week1 Finals you would think it would be a chance, but to accommodate it would then mean the minor premier going the later route?

Would be great for shits and giggles if they fixtured Ess v GWS at Marvel instead!!

 

[Rabman]

The way the ladder is starting to shape up, Collingwood, Richmond and Essendon might secure home finals at the MCG thus making Geelong's argument easier.

 

[ryancash]

Bait taken......hook, line and sinker

 

[Do the Dew]

Melbourne teams playing at Kardinia Park would basically be a home game for them anyway. It's just 'down the road' after all. At worst it's a 'neutral' venue, still in the same state. #Melbumlogic

Exceptttt... Melbourne-based teams rarely play at Geelong in general. Even if Geelong got 11 home games like other non-Vic sides, Melbourne-based sides would only travel down the highway once every 2 years on average. Comparatively, Geelong plays 5 games this year at the G, meaning that's it's clearly not a scary away venue compared to going to Adelaide, Perth, Sydney, Brisbane... So even though kitty litter park is just down the road, it will never be a neutral venue for Melbourne sides

 

[STPer18]

Exceptttt... Melbourne-based teams rarely play at Geelong in general. Even if Geelong got 11 home games like other non-Vic sides, Melbourne-based sides would only travel down the highway once every 2 years on average. Comparatively, Geelong plays 5 games this year at the G, meaning that's it's clearly not a scary away venue compared to going to Adelaide, Perth, Sydney, Brisbane... So even though kitty litter park is just down the road, it will never be a neutral venue for Melbourne sides

It's just down the road and still in the same state. Basically a home game for all Melbum teams. My logic is infallible.

 

[inCOGnito]

One of the main key indicators of Grand Final winners over a long period of time now is that they have been good performers 'interstate' the year they have won the flag, so your points in post from both sides of the ledger ingognito seem well justified and considered and I congratulate you on your unbiased post which is 'rare' on Big Footy, my only query to further add thought to the discussion is that it appears to be a far more even competition now than ever before, so will it be more necessary to have home ground advantage both in home and away and finals like never before in order to have a crack at winning flag.

Cheers Gazza - appreciate just having a conversation about a topic rather than a slinging match to make a point to whatever benefits the team you follow. I agree, if you can't win on the road your generally not going to win a flag. It's a massively daunting task taking on teams in finals (e.g the best performed teams, usually in some kind of winning form) at a ground that they prefer or are more familiar with due to the number of times they play there. With how many teams could play off for the flag, winning one could simply be the difference of playing the team home or away. Back to the point, it's probably unfair that geelong don't get to play a final at geelong if they earn the right (yes I know the rules say home state final), but I'd suggest that they don't get to ay home games at the mcg throughout the year if that's the case. For a similar scenario, the NSW teams tend to get thrown on the Olympic stadium up there, so similar to geelong and mcg, but do they play any home games there? Would it be considered more neutral for them to play a team there and lose the home ground advantage too? For what it's worth though, all the conversation is pretty worthless as the afl is a massive business and in the business of making money. An extra 30000 fans at a game is massive revenue to them

 

[Sttew]

yes I know the rules say home state final

Yes. So how does the AFL justify / explain GWS getting a Prelim at Spotless?

 

[inCOGnito]

Yes. So how does the AFL justify / explain GWS getting a Prelim at Spotless?

Not sure Sttew - you'd have to ask the AFL. On the other hand the giants play all their home games there as far as I'm aware. Maybe the AFL thought nobody would show up if it wasn't there.

Either way if you have a read back through my other posts on this thread, you'd see my stance on the whole thing and the cats position on gmhba vs mcg "home" games. I'd like to think it's an unbiased opinion. I think you shouldn't have any of the season games at the g as a 'home game' if you want finals at geelong. The cats get extra games at the ground that non tenants get which might be an advantage to winning a flag, who knows. It's definitely an advantage if you've played the 5 season games + 2 finals as the lead up to the grand final against say WCE who mightve only played two games there during home and away. They mightve been unlucky and have to play freo in their home ground advantage game as well.

Again, I think the cats have a unique scenario where they have one of the 'true' home ground advantages (don't share your home with anyone else and train on it), but get extra games at the G. I think because you have mcg as a home ground during the year, why should it be different in finals? Playing in geelong is an advantage when trying to make a GF which suddenly flips when you make the GF (in my opinion). Anything could happen on GF day, but if you've had extra games (wins or losses) to analyze how you won games or lost them on that ground, surely thats an extra advantage as well.

Tl;Dr play all your games at gmhba if you want finals there so you have the same MCG exposure as a non mcg tenant.

 

[Floppy]

I would love for the Cats to have a Home Final.
Less money for them, and hopefully the Tigers or Pies face them, which means a lot of their members will miss out.

 

[STPer18]

I would love for the Cats to have a Home Final.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say I don't think you would.

 

[Floppy]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say I don't think you would.

No seriously I would, I want to see how it all pans out..

 

[STPer18]

No seriously I would, I want to see how it all pans out..

Ok, great stuff then Floppy!

 

[BruceTempany14]

Please would Geelong and Gerard “Sanctimonious Virtue Signaller “Whatley pee off. You can’t have it both ways . Play all your home games at Krapdinia Park and then you have a case . Move your so called “blockbuster @ against the Hawks down to that pissant ground and take the financial hit on the gate and then you will win the argument . Like your coach the lot of you are panicking about the Likley prospect of facing Richmond or Lions in first final . Overated knobs . Shades of 2017 again .


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

 

[Micksy]

I would love for the Cats to have a Home Final.
Less money for them, and hopefully the Tigers or Pies face them, which means a lot of their members will miss out.

No club gets ticket money for finals. The AFL takes all finals ticket money.
We would make half a million from food/beverage/souvenir sales. We hold the rights to these.
Both of these explain why the AFL will make up any old excuse to disallow a Kardinia Park final.