But what if we were just better on the day?
You were better on the day. There is no question.
Its when you look at trends over time that you see a concerning pattern. 0-5 for interstate clubs in last 5 years.
When Sydney won it in 2012 they had COLA.
WCE and Adelaide won it within 7 years of joining the comp benefitting from some concessions and exclusive access to some talent etc. Brisbane had a list that was just unbelievably good, which in the age of equalisation is hard to build, particularly now with players chasing media and sponsorship endorsements which are most lucrative in Victoria. Im not 100% on whether Brisbane had any concessions or anything like that but they did get to cherry pick from 2 lists and as alluded above, the list was better than any team save perhaps the 13-15 Hawks in the AFL era.
Port, Syd and WCE 04-06 all won against fellow Interstate.
So when you look at the last 5 years, 2007 etc you actually struggle to find an interstate team that has won the whole thing that either wasnt an expansion team with a whole host of concessions or Sydney with COLA.
Rational people who have concerns about the MCG arrangement dont see it as cheapening Richmond or any other teams flag. Richmond played the best and won a very deserved flag. There are irrational flogs who might use it to have a crack at the Tigers, thats just BF. Best ignore them.
But there are inherent inequalities in playing the GF at the MCG. That's not Richmonds fault. It is, and ever will be, their flag. Ive felt a lot better about us losing last year watching how terrific Richmond have been this year because it means we lost to a truly quality team- at the time it felt like we let one get away and that 9/10 times we would win that game. Thats not true at all. Richmond are a great side.
What ive always found odd is that we totally accept home ground advantage as a thing in the regular season and first 3 weeks of the finals and then the AFL tries to say the MCG suddenly becomes neutral on GF day.
If we all step back, put club bias aside, there aren't a lot of arguments that actually justify the MCG deal outside of stadium capacity which has everything to do with money and nothing to do with fairness.
Hope that makes sense.