Our Draw

[Strangled Cat]

Amazing isn't it - you'd have wanted to play Freo & West Coast again at home if you have to play them away. In a sense North are the only top 8 team we were "lucky" to play once.

This is the issue that I have. I don't mind playing Collingwood and Hawthron twice, in fact I think we deserve to play each other twice as a reward for being successful. Big drawing crowds, MCG, Friday night - who woudln't want that? A Sunday afternoon snooze fest against GWS or GC doesn't interest me in the slightest. But playing both Freo AND West Coast in Perth in the same year without them coming here isn't right IMO. We haven't played Port at AAMI in a long time, but wherever we play them we'd beat them so it doesn't matter. Complications of shuffling aside, I think we should have at least played our 1 game against Port at AAMI whilst one of our games against the Perth teams should have been at Geelong. Having lost to both teams by 4 and 5 points almost certainly says that if we'd played either or both in Geelong we would have won.

 

[manboob]

It'll work in our favour come the finals.

 

[romeoh]

We deserve a tough draw just like shit teams deserve the best kids, right?

They don't deserve them but I think they should get quite a few of them. The evenness is one of the successes of our comp and too many uneven contests (like we have seen this year) are really boring. If the game is decided by quarter time, as so many this year have been, its not interesting. Besides, we have not been disadvantaged by this system so what is the problem really?

 

[Footy Smarts]

lol

Yes you are

No I'm not. I was careful to point out that this clearly wasn't deliberate by the AFL. Nobody would've picked that Sydney and Adelaide would've done as well as they have. Mot would've picked Melbourne, Carlton and Essendon to do better than they did. It just happens that the 2 surpirse packets we happened to play twice and the 3 disappointing teams we only played once which made our draw a lot harder than it appeared at the start of the season. The AFL couldn't have organised a draw this tough if they'd tried.

 

[Rellik666]

Until it is a draw, it is never going to be perfect, you have to beat the best teams to win the prize.

Geelong request certain games don't forget to get money and tv coverage. And you can never predict how a team is going to perform before the season starts. I would suggest that Hawthorn's draw has been almost as difficult, admittedly without quite so much travel if you discount Tas as not really travel.

I don't like the "fixture" but until it changes there is no point winging about it.

 

[Strangled Cat]

They don't deserve them but I think they should get quite a few of them. The evenness is one of the successes of our comp and too many uneven contests (like we have seen this year) are really boring. If the game is decided by quarter time, as so many this year have been, its not interesting. Besides, we have not been disadvantaged by this system so what is the problem really?

I take exception to the word deserve when used in the context of good teams deserve to be effectively handicapped whilst poor performing clubs deserve the best kids. I wouldn't change the system as it is for the most part, as it ensures equalisation and a strong healthy competition where every team can get up there if they play their card right.

Some clubs like us defy the system which was put in place to ensure no team could ever be as good as say Hawthorn of the 80's. Win the flag this year and I say we are as good as them, with a lot of promise and upside, just look at our VFL team as an example of this.

Good teams deserve to win flags, and as a result get to pick last in the draft. Poor performing teams don't deserve anything, but recieve the best draft picks to ensure their survival. Mediocrity does NOT deserve to be rewarded, but it is for the benefit of the competition as a whole.

 

[romeoh]

I take exception to the word deserve when used in the context of good teams deserve to be effectively handicapped whilst poor performing clubs deserve the best kids. I wouldn't change the system as it is for the most part, as it ensures equalisation and a strong healthy competition where every team can get up there if they play their card right.

Some clubs like us defy the system which was put in place to ensure no team could ever be as good as say Hawthorn of the 80's. Win the flag this year and I say we are as good as them, with a lot of promise and upside, just look at our VFL team as an example of this.

Good teams deserve to win flags, and as a result get to pick last in the draft. Poor performing teams don't deserve anything, but recieve the best draft picks to ensure their survival. Mediocrity does NOT deserve to be rewarded, but it is for the benefit of the competition as a whole.

Yep I reckon we are in agreement here.

 

[catswhiskers]

The AFL have stumbled on a another way to promote equalisation. We will see the top sides playing bottom sides less (than a draw would allow) for a fair while now i reckon.

 

[dazbroncos]

its been harder for sure...

But imagine the inner **** you all glow we will ALL have in early October if we can pull it off.....

Failing that, its a bloody good excuse and we'll get GWS and GC twice next year surely.....

Go Catters

 

[Farmer2Goggin]

Apologies if this has been raised before but David King ( settle people !! ) raised an alternative points system recently. The concept was that you only got 2 points for a win against the sides you play twice , thereby negating to a certain extent the gimmie games - instead of 8 points for 2 wins you only get 4.
Personally I think this has merit , particularly when there is such a gulf between the top and bottom sides.

 

[SJ]

Apologies if this has been raised before but David King ( settle people !! ) raised an alternative points system recently. The concept was that you only got 2 points for a win against the sides you play twice , thereby negating to a certain extent the gimmie games - instead of 8 points for 2 wins you only get 4.
Personally I think this has merit , particularly when there is such a gulf between the top and bottom sides.

This doesn't work as it would make some games worth two and some worth four points. Our game against West Coast a few weeks ago would have been worth double the Hawthorn match. Would we have taken a different approach? Maybe.

 

[vinum coupe]

We deserve a tough draw just like shit teams deserve the best kids, right?

Last year was a far harder draw.

 

[TheWoodenSlug]

Apologies if this has been raised before but David King ( settle people !! ) raised an alternative points system recently. The concept was that you only got 2 points for a win against the sides you play twice , thereby negating to a certain extent the gimmie games - instead of 8 points for 2 wins you only get 4.
Personally I think this has merit , particularly when there is such a gulf between the top and bottom sides.

Collingwood would be happy with that! The ladder (top 8) up to this round would be:

Hawthorn - 56
Collingwood - 52
Sydney - 50
Adelaide - 48
West Coast - 48
Geelong - 46
North Melbourne - 42
Fremantle - 40

Not a terrible idea though, as SJ mentioned, it makes certain games worth more than others, and under this system our two wins against Hawthorn would have been worth as much as our one win against GWS.

 

[Farmer2Goggin]

This doesn't work as it would make some games worth two and some worth four points. Our game against West Coast a few weeks ago would have been worth double the Hawthorn match. Would we have taken a different approach? Maybe.

No system is perfect when you have such an imbalance in the draw in terms of who you play and such a gap in ability between the sides at the top and bottom. In a perfect world you would play each team an equal amount of times , one home and one away.
I think the Crows and Roos play three of GWS, GC, Demons and Port twice which is basically 24 points automatically - that's just too much advantage when you need 52 - 56 points to play finals this season. Whilst the 2 point for duplicated games makes it tough if you beat the Hawks/Pies twice I think the converse outweighs this ( and you still get the % boost). Worth exploring anyway - I think the adjusted ladder presented on this basis by King seemed to make more sense even though places only changed slightly.
Edit - woops , thanks Wooden Slug !!