Fixture 2022 Fixture for the Lions

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Sick of always playing in bloody Geelong and Tasmania. How many years in a row have we played Geelong down there?
I don’t personally mind playing the Cats at GMHBA, as it is their Home Ground and we do need to learn to beat them there.
But I don’t like it when they fixture us at Ballarat and Tassie against teams where their home grounds are in Melbourne. That is where I think it gets unfair for the Vic Members.
 
I stayed the night earlier this year, and also after dealing with that robbing bought the worst kebab of my life and ate it on the street. Brutal stuff.
Couldn't find someone in a wheelchair to throw it at? :(
 
I don’t personally mind playing the Cats at GMHBA, as it is their Home Ground and we do need to learn to beat them there.
But I don’t like it when they fixture us at Ballarat and Tassie against teams where their home grounds are in Melbourne. That is where I think it gets unfair for the Vic Members.
I don't think we really need to learn to beat the C-ts down there. It's not like they're going to play a final there.
 

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Jan 13, 2001
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Vic fans completely screwed and club doesnt give a s**t.

Equal fewest games in Melbourne of any club. As for claims of the 5th Victorian game, when a Vic membership again includes games at Geelong, then we can count it, its no different than saying Suns at Metricon is a home game for Lions.

Swann & the club pretend to care but heard it all before, they're liars the lot of them including Fagan. They didn't try and lobby for more Melbourne games.

Hawks in Tassie as per usual
Geelong in Geelong as per usual

Club thinks this is ok and never says anything. We are pathetic as a club, no real leadership, just hollow lies. It explains why can't play at MCG and choke on finals, no backbone.
 

Jon Brown

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Mar 13, 2019
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My Vic membership auto rolled over before the fixture was released. Will be asking for my money back. Absolutely sick of it, all these years I assumed once we were back up the top end of the ladder regularly we would have more pull on this front. Whether or not we have more pull, evidently we're not even pulling.
 

Lazza16

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Lets be honest, the AFL clearly reward the Vic teams to the extra payments they receive being in Victoria that are outside of the cap (e.g. media entitlements, players partners in jobs etc.) to the venues we play. You don't see Collingwood playing in Balarat or some other crap place consistently. Unfortunately, l can't ever see it changing.
If we all give a shite we make a change but we all don't.
 
I always love this narrative as if the club can take its bat and ball and go home instead of being stuck playing whereever the AFL puts it.
Maybe if it were a one off, or every now and then but I cannot remember the last time we actually had 6+ Melbourne games.

Clearly just not doing enough behind the scenes to fix the issue, so yeah, the club could probably do a bit better in pushing it as an issue, just as they've pushed the Easter issue over the years and gotten its way.
 
Mar 12, 2003
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I always love this narrative as if the club can take its bat and ball and go home instead of being stuck playing whereever the AFL puts it.
I think the club can do more to control the narrative to an extent. For example, this year Swanny told the Roar Deal they asked to not play in Ballarat in 2022. Now, don't get me wrong, I went to the Ballarat game this year, and it was a rubbish day, cold, miserable, windy, rained on and off, all the reasons I moved from Tassie. And we played the ground poorly. So I completely get why we want to avoid playing there.

But when you come out and say "we don't want to play at X" you also forfeit the right to trot out the "any time, anywhere" line.

We'd have been better off saying to the AFL, as one of our 3 allowed requests, "7 away games in Melbourne thanks". Now, we're never gonna get 7, but if we walk the line well enough, we might get 6 plus Geelong, or 5 at worst. We might still get Ballarat, but we're also getting our Melbourne games, and it means we're less likely to get things like 2 trips to Perth.

And in any case, we didn't get Ballarat so instead they gave us Launceston in May and Canberra in July. I've been to Canberra in July and trust me, if they make it a night game it will be a hell of a lot worse than Ballarat in April.
 
Mar 12, 2003
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Or as per the merger agreement.

4 games is atrocious considering Fremantle get 6!
We have to remember the merger agreement was signed when 9 of the other 15 clubs were based in Melbourne. That's 60%. Out of 11 games that's 6.6 games in Melbourne each season, so asking for 6 games at that time was entirely reasonable, and in fact most of the time we should have received more.

However now 9 of the other 17 clubs are based in Melbourne. That's only 53%. Out of 11 games that's 5.8 games in Melbourne each season. Now, granted, on that basis, getting only 4 is a disgrace, particularly when other clubs not aligned to Victoria in any way have received 6. However the merger agreement is no longer particularly relevant or appropriate, due to the addition of the Suns and the Giants.
 

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Mar 12, 2003
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On the draw overall, I don't mind it, and think we've been looked after reasonably well.

Yes there's a mildly tough patch Rounds 9-12 when we're on the road 2 games in a row and then fly to Perth. But apart from the Adelaide/Hawthorn fortnight we don't play consecutive matches outside Queensland all season, whereas last season we played away Rounds 2-4, then Rounds 12-14 (including a bye admittedly) and Rounds 20-21 (Launceston direct to Perth).

Our first match is at home. Our last match at home. This plays right into the Melbourne 2021 (and Brisbane 2002/3) model of starting off like a freight train, having a bit of a flat spot in the middle, before picking up and coming home strong.

If we are to make the top 4, we need 16 wins to be sure. The 6 matches we are most likely to lose, I believe are:

Round 4 v Geelong @ Kardinia Park
Round 7 v Sydney @ SCG
Round 15 v Melbourne @ MCG
Round 18 v GWS Giants @ Manuka Oval
Round 20 v Richmond @ MCG
Round 23 v Melbourne @ Gabba

Now obviously we don't know how well all the teams will be travelling when we play them. For instance, Essendon away in Round 2 will be tough, Adelaide/Hawthorn/Freo might be doing well when we play them, and the Dogs at home will most likely be a handful. On the flipside, if we have improved to the extent we need to, we beat Geelong away, and if we're fair dinkum about contending in 2022 we beat Richmond at the G, in a nice warm up for September.

All in all then we want to be 11-2 by the bye, with a tough run home. That would probably put us top of the ladder, but if we lose 4 of our last 9 (as above) we'd probably be all but written off by September, despite having the double chance. And I don't think that's a bad place to be.
 
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On the quiet

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it could have been worse…
considering we have finished top 4 the last 3 years,
Pros though:

Starting and finishing at the Gabba.

Those double-up games couldn't possibly be better considering where we finished - we tend to play pretty well against GC, Giants, Essendon. We don't play well against the Saints but I don't rate them as a squad. Obviously Melbourne will be difficult.

Only one trip to Perth.

One trip to Adelaide.

5 of our last 8 at the Gabba following the bye.

Don't have to play at Ballarat.
I feel for the supporters based in Melbourne, but we have a pretty good draw, considering we have finished top 4 the last 3 years.
 
My Vic membership auto rolled over before the fixture was released. Will be asking for my money back. Absolutely sick of it, all these years I assumed once we were back up the top end of the ladder regularly we would have more pull on this front. Whether or not we have more pull, evidently we're not even pulling.

Entirely reasonable to my mind. Hopefully the club respects that.

Maybe if it were a one off, or every now and then but I cannot remember the last time we actually had 6+ Melbourne games.

Clearly just not doing enough behind the scenes to fix the issue, so yeah, the club could probably do a bit better in pushing it as an issue, just as they've pushed the Easter issue over the years and gotten its way.

We'd have been better off saying to the AFL, as one of our 3 allowed requests, "7 away games in Melbourne thanks". Now, we're never gonna get 7, but if we walk the line well enough, we might get 6 plus Geelong, or 5 at worst. We might still get Ballarat, but we're also getting our Melbourne games, and it means we're less likely to get things like 2 trips to Perth.

From previous interviews I'm pretty sure one of our requests each year is to adhere to the merger conditions, and the AFL ignores it.

The massively disappointing thing that shits me at the AFL is seeing clubs like GWS (in a previous year) or Fremantle (this year) get six games in Melbourne and/or seven in Victoria. It's obviously capable of interstate clubs getting the correct name of Melbourne games - they just deliberately ignore our request.
 

M Malice

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I don't think anybody on here would have much of an idea how hard the club pushes for more games in Melbourne, admittedly mostly pre Covid but from what I can recall coming from Greg Swann and a couple of others over the last few years we have been lobbying heavily for it... I'll take their word for it that they are doing all they can to get more games in Melbourne.
 

The Zork

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I don’t doubt the club would like more Melbourne games. Is it at the top of their wish list though? I’d say likely not. Wouldn’t surprise me if they view it internally deep down as a nice to have.
 
Mar 12, 2003
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I don’t doubt the club would like more Melbourne games. Is it at the top of their wish list though? I’d say likely not. Wouldn’t surprise me if they view it internally deep down as a nice to have.
Completely agree. They view home games against Essendon and Collingwood as being more important than looking after their Vic members. They would do well to look at our crowd numbers during 2004. We pulled massive crowds at the Gabba against basically anyone. Perform on the field and it don't matter who we play. And part of performing on the field involves winning in Melbourne, and winning big games in Melbourne. And that success will be in no small way aided by having a strong Victorian supporter base, which through a generation of inaction is being put at risk.
 

mikey127

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Cirrct me if I'm wrong but I believe under Hawthorn's tassie agreement they they have to play 2 Victorian teams in Tas bit for that agreement we count as a Victorian team.


Also I guarantee you Sam Lord our Victorian member will be more annoyed then anyone about the Victorian games.

Just wondering how about we as the fans and members start a change.org petition to send to the AFL?
 
A recent history of the fixture requests we've put in:
  • 2017 season
    • Games in Victoria
    • Easy early run
    • ???
  • 2018 season
    • FTA games
    • Big clubs at the Gabba
    • ???
  • 2019 season
    • FTA games
    • Easter Thursday
    • Six games in Melbourne
  • 2020 season
    • FTA games
    • Big clubs at the Gabba
    • Six games in Victoria with more games at the MCG
  • 2021 season
    • Can't find an article on this one. Requests may have been shelved because of COVID.
  • 2022 season
    • Easter Thursday
    • No Ballarat
    • ???
The only times Victorian games aren't explicitly mentioned are when there's only two of the three requests mentioned, so I think it's fair to assume the missing one is "six Melbourne games".
 
Nov 26, 2012
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Copied these from reddit:

Brisbane will play West Coast in Brisbane again for the 22nd time the past 25 seasons, yet West Coast have never played Brisbane at Optus before and that's going to continue next year.

Hawthorn will play Brisbane in Tasmania again the 12th time the past 14 years, which coincidentally is similar to how many times they haven't played at the Gabba. (11 times the past 14 years they haven't played there)
 
The club should not have to request it - the AFL should already have in *it's* list of priorities alongside maximising blockbusters for big Melbourne clubs a parameter 'maximize Lions' games in Melbourne' and a programmed fault where 'if any non-Victorian club number of games in Melbourne is greater that the Lions = fail.

We should not have to beg for what they have already promised to provide ... and we should not be grateful when they give us less than others but better than an even less useful year. Have they ever explained *how* things like Freo 7 Lions 4 happen?
 

briztoon

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Cirrct me if I'm wrong but I believe under Hawthorn's tassie agreement they they have to play 2 Victorian teams in Tas bit for that agreement we count as a Victorian team.


Also I guarantee you Sam Lord our Victorian member will be more annoyed then anyone about the Victorian games.

Just wondering how about we as the fans and members start a change.org petition to send to the AFL?
Someone has to start it.
 

briztoon

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A recent history of the fixture requests we've put in:
  • 2017 season
    • Games in Victoria
    • Easy early run
    • ???
  • 2018 season
    • FTA games
    • Big clubs at the Gabba
    • ???
  • 2019 season
    • FTA games
    • Easter Thursday
    • Six games in Melbourne
  • 2020 season
    • FTA games
    • Big clubs at the Gabba
    • Six games in Victoria with more games at the MCG
  • 2021 season
    • Can't find an article on this one. Requests may have been shelved because of COVID.
  • 2022 season
    • Easter Thursday
    • No Ballarat
    • ???
The only times Victorian games aren't explicitly mentioned are when there's only two of the three requests mentioned, so I think it's fair to assume the missing one is "six Melbourne games".
There was a recent audio (can’t remember which podcast) interview with Swann, where he mentioned the club only asked for the Easter Thursday night game and no visit to Ballarat this coming season.
 

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