Do Geelong have the best home ground advantage in the AFL?

[Timmy from Thomastown]

Possibly. Still I imagine he'd take being an overrated premiership coach over the alternative of being an underrated non-premiership coach.

Yes and that’s why he’s still in charge. He loves being a premiership coach and doesn’t give a rats that he’s overrated. Geelong were an awesome side in 2011. And they make finals most years since. May it continue. If you meet Geelong in a final you can be pretty confident you will advance to the next round.

 

[Corn Cobbers]

Yes and that’s why he’s still in charge. He loves being a premiership coach and doesn’t give a rats that he’s overrated. Geelong were an awesome side in 2011. And they make finals most years since. May it continue. If you meet Geelong in a final you can be pretty confident you will advance to the next round.

Unless it's a semi, they've won their last 4 semi finals. Semi final specialists!

 

[Whiskers]

Yes and that’s why he’s still in charge. He loves being a premiership coach and doesn’t give a rats that he’s overrated. Geelong were an awesome side in 2011. And they make finals most years since. May it continue. If you meet Geelong in a final you can be pretty confident you will advance to the next round.

Unless you’re Brisbane.
Didn’t we also beat you by 10 goals when we finally got to meet at a neutral venue?

 

[Back One Out]

It’s what’s called a poorly disguised whinge. This topic has been done to death and yet posters like you regurgitate the same line as though it’s something new.

I've seen plenty of discussion about the relative ground dimensions and crowd capacities of various AFL venues. But I've never seen anyone on here point out the yearly 3 game imbalance between Geelong's home games at K.P. and their actual disadvantaged away games (interstate).

I've never seen anyone theorise that Geelong's poor finals record is because they're always a couple of spots higher on the ladder than other teams of similar strength due to their fixture advantage. People always blame Chris Scott's coaching or Geelong's over-reliance on superstars who don't show up. Never the possibility that maybe they aren't a true top 4 team.

So it's hardly a case of me "regurgitating" posts if (a) I haven't seen those posts; or (b) those posts don't even exist. These theories are my own. If they happen to appear elsewhere, then I'm glad other people share the same view because it validates my argument.



Secondly, as I've said twice already, I'm not "whinging". One of the certainties of any AFL season is that Geelong will play 9 at home, 6 interstate and 7 on neutral turf. (Or something VERY similar to that mix.) It's been a part of the tapestry of our game for the past 30 odd years that Geelong is the only 1 of 10 Victorian teams with their own home ground. This means they receive a built-in fixture advantage every season. So good luck to them. For me to "whinge" about that would be like whinging that Queensland has sunnier weather than Melbourne. It just is. Doesn't mean I lose any sleep. Just shrug and accept that as reality.


It's easier for you to falsely portray me as "whinging" than to focus on the actual point I made. The truth is unpalatable. You clutch at straws because you don't want to admit Geelong's win-loss record is always inflated and their team is always overrated as a result. It's only natural that you prefer to live in your fool's paradise and pretend that Geelong are premiership contenders whenever they stumble into 3rd or 4th place on the ladder. Me, I just laugh every September when the Cats crash out and I see you throwing a tanty.


Anyway, it appears to me that you're the one who is whinging. I'm here for the discussion about whether Geelong has the best home ground advantage in the AFL. If you don't like the discussion; if you think the topic has been "done to death" and you're sick of hearing about it, then why don't you do everyone else a favour and piss off? Nobody is forcing you to post here. There's plenty of other threads for you to browse.

 

[STPer18]

Imagine selling out to Colonial Stadium.

 

[Partridge]

Anyway, it appears to me that you're the one who is whinging. I'm here for the discussion about whether Geelong has the best home ground advantage in the AFL. If you don't like the discussion; if you think the topic has been "done to death" and you're sick of hearing about it, then why don't you do everyone else a favour and piss off? Nobody is forcing you to post here. There's plenty of other threads for you to browse.

You're getting a flavour of the Geelong board now when topics like this come up.

 

[Noidnadroj]

This is lazy commentary.
When we had the best team playing in Melbourne in September mattered not. We won.

Now we don't have the best team we lose in Melbourne because of our home ground.
Nonsense. We lose finals away from Geelong because we are no longer the best, or even 2nd best.

Doesn't mean I don't want Geelong finals in the future, I do. We deserve the same as every other team. 11 home games at our home game (unless we choose to sell games as some others do) and finals at home.

I did some stats last year in relation to this. I can’t find the exact post, but in summary it showed Geelong’s winning % in H&A against teams they played in all finals was around 65%. Their win/loss in finals against those same teams was 30%. I then took out KP games and it didn’t change much … it was 62% H&A v 30% finals.

So the narrative of ‘our team is not good enough and that’s why our finals record is sub-standard’ is not supported by the data.


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

 

[Sttew]

You're getting a flavour of the Geelong board now when topics like this come up.

Topics like this? I though your beefs were Chris Scott, Chris Scott and Chris Scott?

 

[STPer18]

So the narrative of ‘our team is not good enough and that’s why our finals record is sub-standard’ is not supported by the data.

Post it again then, would love to see it. Just from recent years, last year we beat Port at Adelaide Oval in the H&A and lost to them in the first final, 2019 we beat Collingwood at the MCG in the H&A and lost to them in the first final. 2018 we beat Melbourne at the MCG in the H&A and lost to them in the first final. There's no Kardinia advantage there, we're just bundling it come finals time, regardless of venue.

 

[Falcon3518]

I did some stats last year in relation to this. I can’t find the exact post, but in summary it showed Geelong’s winning % in H&A against teams they played in all finals was around 65%. Their win/loss in finals against those same teams was 30%. I then took out KP games and it didn’t change much … it was 62% H&A v 30% finals.

So the narrative of ‘our team is not good enough and that’s why our finals record is sub-standard’ is not supported by the data.


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

Your overthink it, it’s pretty simple really for the following reasons:

- you guys train on GMHBA MCG tenants don’t. Bigger home ground advantage

- You tailored your game plan to suit the ground. Eg. Skinner home grounds suit a taller forward line which you have and enables you to do plays such as the Hawkins one on the wing you do all the time. Skinnier dimensions of GMHBA makes his set shots on less on an angle compared to the MCG

-Teams rarely play there. I think some of them have gone as low as 2 times in a decade or something. This doesn’t happen at the MCG, teams regularly play there and are used to it. Thus bigger home ground advantage.

- as you don’t share your home ground with anybody else ALL home games are pure home ground advantages. MCG tentants have to share so games between them are neutral. Eg. Pies v Tigers. Nobody has the home ground advantage. Thus another bigger home ground advantage for you.

As you can see it’s obvious you have the biggest. It not a coincidence that you guys are always asking for finals at GMHBA, you know how big of an advantage you have there.

 

[Art Vandelay_]

Post it again then, would love to see it. Just from recent years, last year we beat Port at Adelaide Oval in the H&A and lost to them in the first final, 2019 we beat Collingwood at the MCG in the H&A and lost to them in the first final. 2018 we beat Melbourne at the MCG in the H&A and lost to them in the first final. There's no Kardinia advantage there, we're just bundling it come finals time, regardless of venue.

How long until we’re not home ground disadvantaged by only getting 9/22 games at home. Woe is us.

 

[Shadow89]

Just my 2 cents:

Always amazes me with these threads that people just gloss over the fact that GC, GWS, Sydney and Brisbane all have their own home grounds even though their opposing interstate teams are within an hour of them - but no-one bats an eyelid.

Sydney make finals nearly every year and don't share their ground...where's the outrage over that? Such an odd topic to constantly bring up in thread after thread.

As has been pointed out ad nauseum, our away record is the best in the AFL over the past 15 years or so. As the song goes 'at home or far away.' As has also been pointed out, we suck come finals because our players can't handle the heat anymore. Our only consistent finals player is Selwood, and he's just about finished too. Rohan shits his pants, Hawkins shits his pants, Danger shits his pants, Blicavs shits his pants, our coach shits his pants and his gameplan shits its pants...the list just goes on and on.

I'm sure this will mean nothing to those who start 6 million threads and bitch and moan constantly about Geelong, but maybe when we eventually fall down (likely to be this year the way things are going), then people will stop caring again.

Until then, enjoy!

 

[STPer18]

I'm sure this will mean nothing to those who start 6 million threads and bitch and moan constantly about Geelong, but maybe when we eventually fall down (likely to be this year the way things are going), then people will stop caring again.

Pretty much this. We already got rolled by the Dockers at home this year, and only just squeezed over the line against the Lions. Once we're no longer an above-average team, results like these will become more and more common. Then opposition whingers will see that they got their knickers in a knot over nothing, and that it's no different from Swans in Sydney, Eagles in Perth, Brisbane in Brisbane etc (insert any non-Melbourne team here).

Once the new grandstand is built and there's no longer a reason to deny us 11 home games a year, that's when the real fun will start. And I'll be here savouring it every step of the way.

 

[VicBased]

our away record is the best in the AFL over the past 15 years or so.

I think you will find Sydney hold that distinction.

 

[Shadow89]

I think you will find Sydney hold that distinction.

If you got that from Zero Hanger, that's only for the past 3 and a half seasons (from when it was written). I was talking about over a much longer stretch of time.

 

[Partridge]

Just my 2 cents:

Always amazes me with these threads that people just gloss over the fact that GC, GWS, Sydney and Brisbane all have their own home grounds even though their opposing interstate teams are within an hour of them - but no-one bats an eyelid.

Sydney make finals nearly every year and don't share their ground...where's the outrage over that? Such an odd topic to constantly bring up in thread after thread.

As has been pointed out ad nauseum, our away record is the best in the AFL over the past 15 years or so. As the song goes 'at home or far away.' As has also been pointed out, we suck come finals because our players can't handle the heat anymore. Our only consistent finals player is Selwood, and he's just about finished too. Rohan shits his pants, Hawkins shits his pants, Danger shits his pants, Blicavs shits his pants, our coach shits his pants and his gameplan shits its pants...the list just goes on and on.

I'm sure this will mean nothing to those who start 6 million threads and bitch and moan constantly about Geelong, but maybe when we eventually fall down (likely to be this year the way things are going), then people will stop caring again.

Until then, enjoy!

This is the most pertinent part for sure. There are other factors, but this is the big one.

 

[VicBased]

If you got that from Zero Hanger, that's only for the past 3 and a half seasons (from when it was written). I was talking about over a much longer stretch of time.

Thanks, i stand corrected.

 

[Corn Cobbers]

You're not going to win too many finals with half the side aged over 30, that's a fact.

 

[STPer18]

You're not going to win too many finals with half the side aged over 30, that's a fact.

Maybe not, but that's kind of the point some of us are making. We aren't losing finals because of a mystical Kardinia Park factor, but rather a failure to show up when the whips are cracking.

 

[Falcon3518]

Maybe not, but that's kind of the point some of us are making. We aren't losing finals because of a mystical Kardinia Park factor, but rather a failure to show up when the whips are cracking.

The point is GMHBA is what is getting you to top 4 when you clearly aren’t a top 4 team for a lot of those years as evidenced by your finals record. This isn’t a one off this it’s happened for 10+ years.

 

[STPer18]

The point is GMHBA is what is getting you to top 4 when you clearly aren’t a top 4 team as evidenced by your finals record. This isn’t a one off this it’s happened for 10+ years.

Then your point is wrong. Scroll up a little, three of our most recent finals losses are against teams we beat during the H&A at THEIR home ground. No doubt there's countless others - how does that have anything to do with Kardinia Park?

 

[Corn Cobbers]

The point is GMHBA is what is getting you to top 4 when you clearly aren’t a top 4 team for a lot of those years as evidenced by your finals record. This isn’t a one off this it’s happened for 10+ years.

Yep it's a combination of both. Elite but old players who play well in the comforts of Hawkins Stadium but are cooked and needing a rest by mid-August.

 

[STPer18]

 

[Corn Cobbers]

That's an excellent representation of Scott's September game plan

 

[Partridge]

Topics like this? I though your beefs were Chris Scott, Chris Scott and Chris Scott?

I thought yours were any discussions that don't follow your personal directives. Shouldn't you be telling me what to post again?