Geelong and GWS “home” finals

[Seeds]

This mentality is why this will never truly be a national competition - it’s the VFL until they do the right thing and start sharing the GF across states like the Super Bowl does.

Disagree with this. If you rotate the grand final you still get just as much home ground advantage for some teams that are undeserved. It just becomes random.

Grand finals dont have as much home ground advantage as other finals because the way tickets are distributed and the fact interstate fans travel in large numbers. Therefore it should always be at the biggest ground. If its at a smaller ground you either get no actual fans getting to see the game due to lack of seats or you do but lose the rich neutral fans resulting in much less money for the afl and larger fan bias for the home team.

 

[Colonial]

Disagree with this. If you rotate the grand final you still get just as much home ground advantsge for some teams that are undeserved. It just becomes random.

Grand finals dont have as much home ground advantage as other finals because the way tickets are distributed and the fact interstate fans travel in large numbers. Therefore it should always be at the biggest ground.

So we fans from around the country get to mortgage our house to afford the flights and accomodation.

Nah, it’s a national comp share the love, or else all this complaining down south about fairness is just rubbish.

 

[Seeds]

So we fans from around the country get to mortgage our house to afford the flights and accomodation.

Nah, it’s a national comp share the love, or else all this complaining down south about fairness is just rubbish.

You have completely missed the point. Fairness only occurs within seasons. Not over a course of multiple seasons. Each season is independent. Rotating grand finals provides zero increase in fairness in an individual season. The only way rotating grand finals can do that is if there is more then one grand final each season.

If there is only one grand final then it should be at the ground that can provide the least amount of bias each individual season. And that is clearly the mcg.

Ps. If you can afford grand final tickets then you can afford interstate travel. Rotating grand finals also does not reduce the amount of fans forced to travel interstate (it actually increases it) and probably drives up grand final ticket prices due to less capacity.

Ps. I say this as someone who lives in brisbane and follows a non melbourne team.

 

[blackey]

Hello,

I’m new to the game and something doesn’t make any sense to me…

Can someone explain why Geelong can’t play a home final at their home ground, which holds 40k, yet GWS get to play a home final at their home ground which only holds 25k.

Because the stadium and the town both are a cold s**thole.

 

[Piggy Smalls]

When you're based interstate, qualify top 4, win both finals, and then have to fly to Melbourne to play a lower ranked tenant on their own home ground to win the cup, I may have some sympathy for you.

 

[Jim Prideaux]

As far as I’m aware, and haven’t seen anything otherwise besides opinion, it can still hold AFL and cricket games.

The new seating layout has made it a genuine rectangular stadium, so it can’t host AFL, as for cricket, maybe hit and giggle as Eden park is allowed to host.

I was at Accor a month ago, there is no way it will be hosting AFL. New screen is nice though.

 

[Walshawk]

So?

Geelong being forced to play home games at the mcg along with home finals just makes the unfairness to geelong even worse.

Experience at the ground is not what makes home ground advantage. Its amount of your fans vs the opposition. It’s travel time. Both are worse for geelong at the mcg then gws playing at scg. Regardless of how many times a year they play there.

Are you happy to give up Easter Monday? That would be the cost of playing all games in Geelong. Either the Hawks host every year or we find another opponent. You can’t play the second biggest game of the AFL season (after Anzac Day) in front of 35k in a regional town.

 

[Hawkk]

Are you happy to give up Easter Monday? That would be the cost of playing all games in Geelong. Either the Hawks host every year or we find another opponent. You can’t play the second biggest game of the AFL season (after Anzac Day) in front of 35k in a regional town.

Could easily play an MCG game every second year — the Cats don’t play us twice in a season much anymore. So they could play us at the MCG every second year and at KP once every 4-5 years (as part of their push to host the 5 ‘big’ Melb clubs at KP)

Easter Monday was a bust before Hawks v Cats and I dont think it would work with another opponent. Hawks v Dons has potential but that’s round 1 and clashes with ANZAC Day.

 

[PhatBoy]

Are you happy to give up Easter Monday? That would be the cost of playing all games in Geelong. Either the Hawks host every year or we find another opponent. You can’t play the second biggest game of the AFL season (after Anzac Day) in front of 35k in a regional town.

Yes. As a dual code follower I couldn’t care less about big crowd games. Big event games have their place: my league side plays an Anzac Day game every year and yes it is an event but it holds 40,000 not 90,000 and it’s a big occasion regardless.

I can’t go to any of these games myself I just want to watch my team on tv. I couldn’t care less if it’s in front of 90k or 5k

 

[Seeds]

Are you happy to give up Easter Monday? That would be the cost of playing all games in Geelong. Either the Hawks host every year or we find another opponent. You can’t play the second biggest game of the AFL season (after Anzac Day) in front of 35k in a regional town.

Absolutely yes.

 

[Sentinel]

If there is only one grand final then it should be at the ground that can provide the least amount of bias each individual season. And that is clearly the mcg.

With 18 teams, there are currently 152 different potential grand final matchups.

If we count MCG tenants as CAR/COL/ESS/HAW/MEL/RIC/GEE(?) and Marvel tenants as CAR/ESS/NM/STK/WB, then the odds of a 'fair' game (i.e. neutral grand final where either both or no teams are home tenants) compared an 'unfair' game (i.e. non-neutral grand final where 1 team only is a home tenant - ignoring other factors such as interstate travel) at each venue, where the grand final is rotated and all other things are equal, is as follows:

• MCG (excluding Geelong as a tenant): 53% neutral / 47% non-neutral
• MCG (including Geelong as a tenant): 49% neutral / 51% non-neutral
• Marvel Stadium: 58% neutral / 42% non-neutral
• Adelaide Oval/Optus Stadium: 79% neutral / 21% non-neutral
• SCG/Gabba/People First/GMHBA/Engie Stadium: 89% neutral / 11% non-neutral

Simply put, if the AFL were to ever rotate the grand final randomly between stadiums there is a significantly higher chance that a grand final will be 'fairer' than if played only at the MCG each year. Not to mention that the current setup unfairly favours the same 7 or 8 sides every year than if the potential 'unfair' advantage were to otherwise be rotated around.

 

[tigers_of_old_08]

This mentality is why this will never truly be a national competition - it’s the VFL until they do the right thing and start sharing the GF across states like the Super Bowl does.

If you like the Super Bowl, maybe the NFL is more kind of game?

 

[My_Username]

Wed benefit anyway. We’d still play big games there because the likelihood of us not playing any matches against big sides there is extremely low whether they be a Friday or Saturday night against another big team or an every second year match against Hawthorn as an away team or whatever. Who the hell cares. We get made do it, we make the best of it. Stop making more of it than what it is/

Are finals not 'big games'?

 

[PhatBoy]

Are finals not 'big games'?

Not sure they count as ‘big home and away games’ as they aren’t ’home and away’ games

 

[My_Username]

Not sure they count as ‘big home and away games’ as they aren’t ’home and away’ games

You didn't mention H&A.

but even if you had.

If it's a valid move to move your big H&A games to the MCG, then it's surely a valid move to move your big finals to the MCG.

 

[PhatBoy]

You didn't mention H&A.

but even if you had.

If it's a valid move to move your big H&A games to the MCG, then it's surely a valid move to move your big finals to the MCG.

Finals will be played at the MCG come hell or high water. That has always been the case with the exception of when they were played at Waverley to my knowledge, and one at Docklands and a single one at KP. Same has gone for all teams.

I don’t see why we need to have our home and away games played there. The club doesn’t want to and a vast majority of our fans don’t either.

 

[parano1a]

I don’t see why we need to have our home and away games played there.

Collingwood has an iron-clad contract to play 5 away games at the MCG every season. If we play Geelong in Geelong, that would mean one less interstate trip.

 

[PhatBoy]

Collingwood has an iron-clad contract to play 5 away games at the MCG every season. If we play Geelong in Geelong, that would mean one less interstate trip.

Not my or Geelong’s problem. Unclad it or take it up with someone else.

 

[parano1a]

Not my or Geelong’s problem. Unclad it or take it up with someone else.

The AFL sets the fixture and will schedule all Geelong v Collingwood games for the foreseeable future at the MCG, as they should be.

 

[PhatBoy]

The AFL sets the fixture and will schedule all Geelong v Collingwood games for the foreseeable future at the MCG, as they should be.

Why should they be. Give a reason.

 

[parano1a]

So we fans from around the country get to mortgage our house to afford the flights and accomodation.

Toughen up, it's a 10 hour bus or train trip from Sydney to Melbourne. I've done the reverse for multiple NRL Grand Finals and enjoyed the experience rather than complaining about it.

 

[parano1a]

Why should they be. Give a reason.

The games usually attract upwards of 80,000 fans and the MCG is the most suitable venue, allowing more fans from both teams as well as AFL/MCC members to attend. It's common sense.

 

[PhatBoy]

Toughen up, it's a 10 hour bus or train trip from Sydney to Melbourne. I've done the reverse for multiple NRL Grand Finals and enjoyed the experience rather than complaining about it.

It’s a bit over an hour down the highway every one-two years to watch your team play a home and away game against the Cats after three decades without a trip down there and you’re telling other fans to toughen up:

Interesting.

 

[PhatBoy]

The games usually attract upwards of 80,000 fans and the MCG is the most suitable venue, allowing more fans from both teams as well as AFL/MCC members to attend. It's common sense.

So. There’s a cricket stadium in Ahmedabad that can accomodate 132,000. Why not hold it there instead.

Toughen up, hey.

 

[Colonial]

Toughen up,

Amusing considering the pies complaints over the years.

it's a 10 hour bus or train trip from Sydney to Melbourne. I've done the reverse for multiple NRL Grand Finals and enjoyed the experience rather than complaining about it.

lol no you haven’t. Pies haven’t left vic that often.

Actually have done the bus ride.