2012 fixture

[SJ]

In general it looks a better fixture than 2011 though.

 

[Selective Retention]

We can really hit the season running if we can get the W in the first two rounds.

 

[witsend]

In general it looks a better fixture than 2011 though.

Agreed
Would have liked to play Carlton twice tbh...I see them as a challenger.
Collingwood I suspect will drop off now MM has gone.
The key to our year will be early wins, and Freo in WA and Hawks early will be tough. We were unbelievably lucky to get such a great start last year and it gave us the luxury of player management from very early in the season.

 

[witsend]

We can really hit the season running if we can get the W in the first two rounds.

Yep...pull out all stops in those two games...name the best sides possible, then blood some kids.

 

[vinum coupe]

In general it looks a better fixture than 2011 though.

At this early stage I dont like it.
It's choppy. Unless some teams come out of the woodwork in quality we are going to be playing a couple of crap teams, then a very good one, then more crap, then very good etc.

And it's the same when it comes to interstate games.

I reckon those are the sort of fixtures when you can come unstuck.
For example if you play 3 very solid teams in a row your form seems to lift through that block of games, and upsets are less of a possibility.

No doubt the club will prove me wrong, but I am hesitant about our level of motivation in 2012. And fixtures like that dont help if you're a little up and down with motivation.

 

[Grizzly_82]

At this early stage I dont like it.
It's choppy. Unless some teams come out of the woodwork in quality we are going to be playing a couple of crap teams, then a very good one, then more crap, then very good etc.

And it's the same when it comes to interstate games.

I reckon those are the sort of fixtures when you can come unstuck.
For example if you play 3 very solid teams in a row your form seems to lift through that block of games.

On the other hand it allows us to rotate and blood some more kids. Expecting Tommy to get alot of confidence from the draw lol

 

[SJ]

At this early stage I dont like it.
It's choppy. Unless some teams come out of the woodwork in quality we are going to be playing a couple of crap teams, then a very good one, then more crap, then very good etc.

And it's the same when it comes to interstate games.

I reckon those are the sort of fixtures when you can come unstuck.
For example if you play 3 very solid teams in a row your form seems to lift through that block of games, and upsets are less of a possibility.

No doubt the club will prove me wrong, but I am hesitant about our level of motivation in 2012. And fixtures like that dont help if you're a little up and down with motivation.

In my opinion that is far better than playing six contenders in a row followed by six consecutive easy-beats.

 

[Poetic Justice]

I must admit I didn't analyse it much, from how long the breaks are etc but on a quick glance I quite like it.

Plus it looks as though I will be easily able to see a few more games than I did this year.

 

[Seb]

Round 4 until we unfurl the flag, though?

That's kind of awful.

 

[Seb]

I echo the sentiment of playing Carlton twice and possibly on the MCG?

We always play them at the Dome.

 

[SJ]

I echo the sentiment of playing Carlton twice and possibly on the MCG?

We always play them at the Dome.

We played them at the MCG last year and the year before.

 

[kriso182]

16 of our 21 games on free to air (Channel 7).

Round 23 not locked in as its a floating fixture.

 

[vinum coupe]

In my opinion that is far better than playing six contenders in a row followed by six consecutive easy-beats.

Ok, well we have complete opposite views then.
So that's the end of that discussion

 

[Seb]

We played them at the MCG last year and the year before.

short term memory, I guess.

I remember 2009, because I felt sick after it thinking we couldn't win the flag. Still, I would prefer to play them at the G.

I'm not a massive fan of the Friday night games. Always leaves the weekend feeling a bit empty.

 

[SJ]

Ok, well we have complete opposite views then.
So that's the end of that discussion

I know it worked well for us this year but those first 13 rounds were incredibly tough and if the Round 1 match had finished a minute earlier, goodness knows where we may have been at the half-way mark of the season. A nice spread gives you a chance to regain some form if you drop a few matches against the tough teams.

 

[goyoucatters]

16 of our 21 games on free to air (Channel 7).

Round 23 not locked in as its a floating fixture.

As one of those people who won't be subscribing to Fox, this is a highlight for me.

And the two trips to Queensland are pretty handy for me as well.

 

[Crhferrari]

A challenging but acceptable fixture. I agree with SJ, it is generally better than the 2011 one.
The six-day breaks before clashing the pies are an issue. Apart from that should be OK.
Just a draft comment on it. Will do some detailed analysis later.

 

[bingle]

I find it a little bit baffling that only 4 MCG games have been scheduled and 5 at Etihad given the reigning premiers tag and all. I'd have had the Carlton fixture at the MCG at least.
8 Friday night games is good from a marketing point of view i guess and with only 2 of them as home games. I actually don't mind that given the local fans dont usually turn out in very big force for home friday night fixtures.
Interesting to note for the 2nd straight year no WA team goes to skilled and for the FOURTH straight year the Cats play once against Port at home. We havent played at AAMI against them since the Round 1 2008 and wont again until at least 2013.

On a small note i'm glad the AFL changed the fixture at the 11th hour and gave the Pies a trip to Perth.

Overall no big surprises for me (tough luck for Collingwood and Essendon on the 4 day break ahead of ANZAC day)

 

[vinum coupe]

Oh sure, I can see that.
And the start to this year I thought was ridiculously tough. Hence I picked them to be something like 7 and 4 at the half way mark.

But I can clearly remember the days in the early 90's when we played state games (different kettle of fish I know) but lots of clubs hated their players playing.

I loved it when ours did because they always came back looking like they were playing a higher quality of footy.

It's probably a useless conversation as we can't measure the outcome. But I just feel that if you play and beat two low clubs your form is an unknown quantity leading into a game against a top team.

If we went back through the fixture this year it will be littered with clubs having a 'choppy' draw getting rolled when they hit decent opponents.

Edit - and if we start 7-0 all my comments are completely irrelevant

 

[SJ]

North has a dream draw.

 

[Crhferrari]

And it is actually a lock for our RD 23 match against Sydney. We would be playing RD 22 on Sunday and the RD 23 match is at KP. Considering the match time of other matches, I can say it will be a Saturday early game and will be shown on FOX, but won't rule out the Saturday afternoon one.

 

[kriso182]

No home games at the G on the Friday night is a winner. (2 at Etihad) I think the Geelong fans would much rather get to the Docklands than the G for a Friday night game.

 

[bingle]

And it is actually a lock for our RD 23 match against Sydney. We would be playing RD 22 on Sunday and the RD 23 match is at KP. Considering the match time of other matches, I can say it will be a Saturday early game and will be shown on FOX, but won't rule out the Saturday afternoon one.

I would've thought that most of the Symonds' games would be the early fixture given the light probs we had for overcast days this year likethe melbourne game.
I'd lock in Sat (E) for that one. It might actually come down to the 7 day forecast whether it's 1:10 or 2:10 actually

 

[bingle]

the AFL have shot themselves in the foot a bit with the floating last round by scheduling RICH v PORT at the MCG. This restricts the AFL to having only 3 options for the Friday night game. either that game or the other 2 MCG games HAW v WC or ESS v COLL. no chance for STK v CARL

 

[Crhferrari]

We have 16 matches to be shown on 7, tied with Essendon as the teams in which the most matches shown by FTA networks.
But with Essendon and Collingwood almost a lock for RD 23 Friday night game while we play Sydney on a possibly Saturday early game(which will be shown on FOX), Essendon will pip us with 17 and Collingwood level with 16.