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- Sep 1, 2009
- 7,496
- 8,950
- AFL Club
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This is just purely from my observation, anyone can feel free to correct me if they feel I am wrong. Three things I have noticed with the AFL rivalries are;
1) There are very few cases where two teams mutually agree they are each other's biggest rival.
2) Very few rivalries are based on geography.
3) Who fans consider their team's biggest rival is very dependent on their age as well.
All three of these are kind of unique to Australian rules.
Adelaide: Port Adelaide. The two South Australian teams easily have the biggest rivalry in the AFL, as anyone who has ever set foot in South Australia can attest to. If I am in Adelaide in Lions colours and we are versing Port I will get numerous random Crows fans who I have never met in my life wish me luck etc.
Brisbane Lions: Collingwood first, Port Adelaide second. Most Lions fans hate Collingwood the most but I know some hate Port more (I hate them both)! I was way too young when the merger happened but we had to hear from Collingwood fans (and Eddie McGuire) for a very long time about how our premierships were "illegitimate" and "unfair advantages", even though we beat them with two injured players at their home ground in 2002 and fielded a player with a punctured lung and a fourth game player in 2003 and beat them again at their home ground. They even had more total player payments in 2002 than we did. I also remember in 2004 after we lost to Port, Collingwood fans acting like their team just won the flag even though they didn't even get close to making finals. Pies also have the most amount of fans out of the non-Qld teams in Queensland so almost every Lions fan has to deal with a Collingwood fan after a loss. And also Fitzroy and Collingwood are neighbouring suburbs and it was actually the biggest rivalry in the old VFL before 1910. Then there is Port denied us four in a row, but I also know a lot of older Lions fans hate Port because they are the reason why we had to merge. Myself personally having been to an away game against every team in the comp, Port fans are easily the most feral by a country mile.
Carlton: Collingwood first, Essendon second. Almost every Carlton fan I know has those two teams on top of their hate list. Most have Collingwood as their most hated but I know a few who hate Essendon more.
Collingwood: Carlton first. Although I know a few Pies fans around my age or younger who consider them irrelevant these days, but almost every Collingwood fan I've met has them on top of their hate list. Also know a lot of Collingwood fans that still hate us over 2002 and 2003, and the ones over 70 actually still hate the Demons as well. Also a lot of hate for Essendon and Richmond from my observation.
Essendon: Carlton first, Hawthorn second, Collingwood distant third. Almost every Essendon fan I have met seems to have either Carlton or Hawthorn as their most hated team.
Fremantle: West Coast.
Geelong: Hawthorn. In my opinion Geelong v Hawthorn is the biggest AFL rivalry in Victoria at the moment. I also know their fans hated each other's clubs before 2008 as well.
Gold Coast: No idea. Seems like Suns fans most hated team is based on which club they supported before they came in. Would say they don't really have a rival.
GWS: Bulldogs. I know a GWS fan that actually hated the Dogs before the 2016 prelim final and was going on before prelim week that if they were versing any other team he would have just been happy to be in a prelim.
Hawthorn: I'll put Geelong and Essendon equal first, Sydney third and Melbourne a distant fourth. This one is interesting, I have found Hawthorn fans my age consider Geelong their biggest rival and the older ones consider Essendon to be their biggest rival but almost every Hawthorn fan I meet have those two teams as their two most hated then Sydney third. And I know Hawthorn fans still hate Melbourne over the whole merger attempt.
Melbourne: Collingwood. Understandable considering Collingwood stopped them winning 6-in-a-row back in their last golden era.
North Melbourne: Essendon. Every Roos fan I know hates Essendon with a passion, although Essendon fans outside BigFooty are indifferent about North. In my opinion the most one-sided rivalry in the league.
Port Adelaide: Adelaide. The two South Australian teams easily have the biggest rivalry in the AFL, as anyone who has ever set foot in South Australia can attest to. If I am in Adelaide in Lions colours and we are versing the Crows I will get numerous random Port fans who I have never met in my life wish me luck etc. I also know Port fans all have a soft spot for Richmond due to them beating the Crows in the 2017 Grand Final.
Richmond: Carlton first, Collingwood second. Still remember going to the Round 1 2018 game and talking to Richmond fans after the game going on about how good it feels to beat Carlton. They just won the flag and Carlton were a bottom four team the year before. Plus the numerous "We hate Carlton" scarves among their base.
St Kilda: It was South Melbourne before they relocated to Sydney but now it seems like they don't really have a rival. Know a few of them hated Fremantle when Ross Lyon was coaching them.
Sydney: Theirs seems to change every decade. Now it's Hawthorn, in the 2000's it was West Coast, in the 1990's it was North Melbourne and in their South Melbourne days it was St Kilda.
West Coast: Fremantle.
Western Bulldogs: GWS.
1) There are very few cases where two teams mutually agree they are each other's biggest rival.
2) Very few rivalries are based on geography.
3) Who fans consider their team's biggest rival is very dependent on their age as well.
All three of these are kind of unique to Australian rules.
Adelaide: Port Adelaide. The two South Australian teams easily have the biggest rivalry in the AFL, as anyone who has ever set foot in South Australia can attest to. If I am in Adelaide in Lions colours and we are versing Port I will get numerous random Crows fans who I have never met in my life wish me luck etc.
Brisbane Lions: Collingwood first, Port Adelaide second. Most Lions fans hate Collingwood the most but I know some hate Port more (I hate them both)! I was way too young when the merger happened but we had to hear from Collingwood fans (and Eddie McGuire) for a very long time about how our premierships were "illegitimate" and "unfair advantages", even though we beat them with two injured players at their home ground in 2002 and fielded a player with a punctured lung and a fourth game player in 2003 and beat them again at their home ground. They even had more total player payments in 2002 than we did. I also remember in 2004 after we lost to Port, Collingwood fans acting like their team just won the flag even though they didn't even get close to making finals. Pies also have the most amount of fans out of the non-Qld teams in Queensland so almost every Lions fan has to deal with a Collingwood fan after a loss. And also Fitzroy and Collingwood are neighbouring suburbs and it was actually the biggest rivalry in the old VFL before 1910. Then there is Port denied us four in a row, but I also know a lot of older Lions fans hate Port because they are the reason why we had to merge. Myself personally having been to an away game against every team in the comp, Port fans are easily the most feral by a country mile.
Carlton: Collingwood first, Essendon second. Almost every Carlton fan I know has those two teams on top of their hate list. Most have Collingwood as their most hated but I know a few who hate Essendon more.
Collingwood: Carlton first. Although I know a few Pies fans around my age or younger who consider them irrelevant these days, but almost every Collingwood fan I've met has them on top of their hate list. Also know a lot of Collingwood fans that still hate us over 2002 and 2003, and the ones over 70 actually still hate the Demons as well. Also a lot of hate for Essendon and Richmond from my observation.
Essendon: Carlton first, Hawthorn second, Collingwood distant third. Almost every Essendon fan I have met seems to have either Carlton or Hawthorn as their most hated team.
Fremantle: West Coast.
Geelong: Hawthorn. In my opinion Geelong v Hawthorn is the biggest AFL rivalry in Victoria at the moment. I also know their fans hated each other's clubs before 2008 as well.
Gold Coast: No idea. Seems like Suns fans most hated team is based on which club they supported before they came in. Would say they don't really have a rival.
GWS: Bulldogs. I know a GWS fan that actually hated the Dogs before the 2016 prelim final and was going on before prelim week that if they were versing any other team he would have just been happy to be in a prelim.
Hawthorn: I'll put Geelong and Essendon equal first, Sydney third and Melbourne a distant fourth. This one is interesting, I have found Hawthorn fans my age consider Geelong their biggest rival and the older ones consider Essendon to be their biggest rival but almost every Hawthorn fan I meet have those two teams as their two most hated then Sydney third. And I know Hawthorn fans still hate Melbourne over the whole merger attempt.
Melbourne: Collingwood. Understandable considering Collingwood stopped them winning 6-in-a-row back in their last golden era.
North Melbourne: Essendon. Every Roos fan I know hates Essendon with a passion, although Essendon fans outside BigFooty are indifferent about North. In my opinion the most one-sided rivalry in the league.
Port Adelaide: Adelaide. The two South Australian teams easily have the biggest rivalry in the AFL, as anyone who has ever set foot in South Australia can attest to. If I am in Adelaide in Lions colours and we are versing the Crows I will get numerous random Port fans who I have never met in my life wish me luck etc. I also know Port fans all have a soft spot for Richmond due to them beating the Crows in the 2017 Grand Final.
Richmond: Carlton first, Collingwood second. Still remember going to the Round 1 2018 game and talking to Richmond fans after the game going on about how good it feels to beat Carlton. They just won the flag and Carlton were a bottom four team the year before. Plus the numerous "We hate Carlton" scarves among their base.
St Kilda: It was South Melbourne before they relocated to Sydney but now it seems like they don't really have a rival. Know a few of them hated Fremantle when Ross Lyon was coaching them.
Sydney: Theirs seems to change every decade. Now it's Hawthorn, in the 2000's it was West Coast, in the 1990's it was North Melbourne and in their South Melbourne days it was St Kilda.
West Coast: Fremantle.
Western Bulldogs: GWS.
