Does this undermine the integrity of the competition? Yes.
Richmond finished last year on top of the table with 18 wins. Their fixture as the reigning premier then looked unfair enough, but at least their games at the MCG weren't bunched together like this year. And yet, somehow, as the "best team" of 2018, they were somehow given 7 games in a row at the MCG to finish the season, and nothing is being made of it. If they didn't have such a dickride in terms of fixturing, they would not be in the Grand Final.
I made a thread earlier in the year before the run of games started, and it was promptly closed for some reason. According to Richmond fans, 7 consecutive games at their home ground was fair, because:
* They played 5 games outside of their state in the first 16 games.
* They had to walk across the road to Etihad to play 2 games.
* Games against co-tenants are the exact same as an away game, except they're still at their home ground, in their home state.
In reality, if we readjust the metrics to classify away games as those played outside your home state (as is the case for half th league), their fixture looks like this:
* 5 away games within 23 rounds, with one one those against a club who won 3 games for the year.
* 17 games in their home state, with 14 at their home ground.
So, the majority of their games were played in their home state, at their home ground.
This is the case for other MCG tenants, however. It's how the AFL usually fixtures. Collingwood once had 8 consecutive games at the MCG roughly a decade ago, though they didn't finish on top of the ladder the season before.
Given how Richmond went last year, why wasn't their fixture more punctuated with travel and non MCG games? How come they got 7 consecutive games at their home ground to compensate for their "increased travel" in the first half of the season? How is any of this fair for the rest of the competition?
What's more, for their interstate games, they played against sides that finished 17th (Gold Coast), 12th (Adelaide), 10th (Port Adelaide, 14th (Fremantle) and 7th (GWS) in the previous season - only a single top 8 side. In their MCG run, they played teams that finished 2nd (West Coast), 5th (Melbourne), 7th (GWS), and 3rd (Collingwood). They didn't play a single top 4 side away, and the majority of the toughest matches came in the 7 game run.
How did the AFL allow this fixture to eventuate in the first place?
Richmond finished last year on top of the table with 18 wins. Their fixture as the reigning premier then looked unfair enough, but at least their games at the MCG weren't bunched together like this year. And yet, somehow, as the "best team" of 2018, they were somehow given 7 games in a row at the MCG to finish the season, and nothing is being made of it. If they didn't have such a dickride in terms of fixturing, they would not be in the Grand Final.
I made a thread earlier in the year before the run of games started, and it was promptly closed for some reason. According to Richmond fans, 7 consecutive games at their home ground was fair, because:
* They played 5 games outside of their state in the first 16 games.
* They had to walk across the road to Etihad to play 2 games.
* Games against co-tenants are the exact same as an away game, except they're still at their home ground, in their home state.
In reality, if we readjust the metrics to classify away games as those played outside your home state (as is the case for half th league), their fixture looks like this:
* 5 away games within 23 rounds, with one one those against a club who won 3 games for the year.
* 17 games in their home state, with 14 at their home ground.
So, the majority of their games were played in their home state, at their home ground.
This is the case for other MCG tenants, however. It's how the AFL usually fixtures. Collingwood once had 8 consecutive games at the MCG roughly a decade ago, though they didn't finish on top of the ladder the season before.
Given how Richmond went last year, why wasn't their fixture more punctuated with travel and non MCG games? How come they got 7 consecutive games at their home ground to compensate for their "increased travel" in the first half of the season? How is any of this fair for the rest of the competition?
What's more, for their interstate games, they played against sides that finished 17th (Gold Coast), 12th (Adelaide), 10th (Port Adelaide, 14th (Fremantle) and 7th (GWS) in the previous season - only a single top 8 side. In their MCG run, they played teams that finished 2nd (West Coast), 5th (Melbourne), 7th (GWS), and 3rd (Collingwood). They didn't play a single top 4 side away, and the majority of the toughest matches came in the 7 game run.
How did the AFL allow this fixture to eventuate in the first place?
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