Richmond's 7 Consecutive MCG Games

[Greggy]

Old news bud, what's fair in the AFL anyway? Is it fair that GWS were gifted all the young talent from the under 17's and 18's?

 

[tugga]

What is the footballing difference between a home MCG game and an away MCG game?

Shock horror. We play away games at the MCG against fellow MCG co tennants.
7 in a row to end the season was ridiculous yes, but only because the front half of the season was ridiculous.

 

[BRAB]

From rounds 3 to 16, we played as many games at Marvel Stadium as we did af the MCG...

Big roadtrip that.

 

[BRAB]

Shock horror. We play away games at the MCG against fellow MCG co tennants.
7 in a row to end the season was ridiculous yes, but only because the front half of the season was ridiculous.

You didn't really answer the question so I'm going to guess the answer is no difference.

You guys have actually proven you can play away so just own that you have heaps of games at home. Richmond clearly the best team this year and it was only injuries that made it look close.

 

[Senor M]

Fixed. A single away game against the side that finished 7th last year more than makes up for the fixture.

Richmond supporters shouldn't need to be correcting your rant--- if you are going to make an argument, at least make it accurate so it appears well thought through rather than just an uninformed rant from the west.

 

[Cotchins Hair Piece]

Thread started by an Eagles supporter, far out.

 

[captain blood 17]

AHAHAHAHA, that poll result.

 

[Drakescoffeecake]

Of course it's unfair. The AFL will never be a fair competition when you consider that an 8th placed Victorian team could play the grand final at their home ground against a non Victorian team that finished 1st.

 

[Sterge]

You didn't really answer the question so I'm going to guess the answer is no difference.

You guys have actually proven you can play away so just own that you have heaps of games at home. Richmond clearly the best team this year and it was only injuries that made it look close.

the difference that interstate sides refuse to admit is that they get a genuine advantage at home to offset the travel.

Half our mcg games are neutral because both teams play there so there is no real advantage to say playing Collingwood at the g. Compared to brisbane playing anyone at the gabba.

 

[captain blood 17]

fu** this is a load of dross

We didn't get a proper home game until round 12 go make a thread about that.

Afl fixturing has always been s**t, you know what would have happened if we got more home games earlier in the season when we had half a team out with injuries we would have won even more games.

No one gave a s**t when we were outside the 8 at the bye and looking like missing finals but now it's a big deal.

You know it Sterge. Maybe the OP should be more concerned with an overweight ruckman and players wanting out of WCE?

 

[BlueandGoldforever]

Seriously that’s all their supporters do on here, biggest sooks and sore losers in the history of the world

Coming from a ST Kilda supporter that is just laughable.

 

[Barry_Badrinath]

Richmond had home ground advantage in 2 games up to round 15. One of those games was against Geelong.

 

[BRAB]

the difference that interstate sides refuse to admit is that they get a genuine advantage at home to offset the travel.

Half our mcg games are neutral because both teams play there so there is no real advantage to say playing Collingwood at the g. Compared to brisbane playing anyone at the gabba.

I'd happily travel 5 times a year even if it did dilute the home ground advantage. Particularly so if it meant we could play regularly at the ground the grand final is played at.

That's the comp though so it's not worth complaining about and again Richmond are clearly the best team, so it's not a big deal. Don't know why we always get lines like "Home MCG games" trotted out though as if that makes a difference.

 

[tugga]

You didn't really answer the question so I'm going to guess the answer is no difference.

You guys have actually proven you can play away so just own that you have heaps of games at home. Richmond clearly the best team this year and it was only injuries that made it look close.

I have no problem with what you say.
I have a problem with the OP. This was done to death weeks and weeks ago.
In those last 7 games at the G we played Collingwood, Giants, WCE and Brisbane. Hardly a leg up anyway.
When MCG co tennants play each other, there are always going to be fixture anomolies.
I would have preferred a more even spread than backending 7 in a row at the end.

 

[RUNVS]

There is a reason West Coast and Fremantle have a lot fewer 300 game players than other clubs and that reason is because travelling takes its toll on the body. Doing it once in a blue moon is fine but every second week does make things harder.

 

[Sterge]

I'd happily travel 5 times a year even if it did dilute the home ground advantage. Particularly so if it meant we could play regularly at the ground the grand final is played at.

That's the comp though so it's not worth complaining about and again Richmond are clearly the best team, so it's not a big deal. Don't know why we always get lines like "Home MCG games" trotted out though as if that makes a difference.

You are correct the fixture is s**t and having 9 teams in Melbourne doesn't help due to teams all playing each other but sharing only 2 grounds.

Unfortunately there is no real way to fix that as it stands currently

 

[BRAB]

You are correct the fixture is s**t and having 9 teams in Melbourne doesn't help due to teams all playing each other but sharing only 2 grounds.

Unfortunately there is no real way to fix that as it stands currently

Yeah there's no way to fix it.

In a way it's a shame as it gives people ammunition to undermine Richmond's achievements after they've had an incredible 3 years.

Potentially could be a Mason Cox masterclass away from a threepeat in a week's time and people are still talking about the draw.

 

[Craze]

No offence to Brisbane, but I think your side was quite a bit off due to the lack of finals experience. It made you a bit easier to beat then the other top 4 sides.



Must be difficult having to play against co tenants, when half the competition have to travel interstate every second week. Must be hard walking across the road to Etihad.

I'm wondering, when the West Coast Eagles joined the VFL in 1987, and were given virtually an entire state to recruit players from, did supporters like you instantly expect that Victorian clubs (which had been around for 100 years) would somehow relinquish their home grounds? At that time, Carlton (Princes Park), Collingwood (Vic Park), Essendon (Windy Hill), Fitzroy (Vic Park), Footscray (Western Oval), Geelong (Kardinia Park) and Hawthorn (Princes Park) all had a legitimate hime ground advantage. Only Richmond, Melbourne and North played home games at the MCG. Within ten years, ground rationalisation happened and now all Victorian clubs play home games at either MCG or Docklands, with Geelong retaining some semblance of home ground advantage. Victorian clubs therefore have zero home ground advantage for 80% of their games. West Coast, as well as the other interstate teams, have continued to enjoy the benefit of home ground advantage every 2nd week (except when they play a local derby), the downside obviously being more travel (because they joined a Victorian football league). I suppose the other option would have been for the WAFL or SANFL to invite Victorian clubs to join. That was never going to happen because the VFL was the superior league with the biggest crowds and best players.

Yes Richmond played 7 games in a row at the MCG to finish the home and away year. Two of those matched were against MCG co-tenants (away games to Collingwood and Melbourne). This was after a fairly tough first half of year in which Richmond travelled interstate to play GWS (Rd 3), Port (Rd 4), Freo (Rd 8), Adelaide (Rd 13) before the bye.

Funny how there were no concerns raised when Richmond was 9th at the bye, having played 5 home MCG games out of 13 weeks. Should Richmond play less home games than the other clubs? Is that what you're suggesting?

Here's another option for the perpetually offended Western Australuan football supporter. Secede, start your own league from scratch, and the Eagles can win the GF every single year and play at home every week. Hell even the GF will be played at your new stadium.

 

[Drakescoffeecake]

Richmond had home ground advantage in 2 games up to round 15. One of those games was against Geelong.

You do realise that "home ground advantage" isn't limited to just the ground right?

 

[Shane Heard]

Get it through your head once and for all.

Richmond, EFC, Pies, Carlton and Geelong bring the big crowds into the G over and over again.

Hawthorn fans turn up too when they are up and about.

They didn’t upgrade the stadium to have those clubs played more games interstate now did they.

It’s not hard to work out you know.

 

[Chuckie357]

Coming from a ST Kilda supporter that is just laughable.

I don’t think I’ve seen too many examples of that on here, on the other hand for the last 2 weeks it’s been “VIC BIAS, cheating Vic’s! Or the VFL” it’s actually laughable how arrogant you guys are after putting a permenant stain on what footy club culture means - that won’t ever be forgotten, I guarantee that in the information package they send into space for the aliens to see talks about 06 culture

 

[Sterge]

There is a reason West Coast and Fremantle have a lot fewer 300 game players than other clubs and that reason is because travelling takes its toll on the body. Doing it once in a blue moon is fine but every second week does make things harder.

Richmond have 4 in over 100 years

Freo for example have 1 in their 25 or so years

On track to be even the travel thing is a myth especially in the modern age. Fact is playing 300 games just isn't that common

 

[Coach_Required]

*Plays a really tiny violin

Why didn't you create this thread when the fixtures were released last year?

On SM-G935F using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Santana]

Obviously it is but the AFL has always been an uneven competition. You don't have to follow it. That's why I stopped going to matches

 

[99cents]

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?

I also had a thread on this topic abruptly closed without explanation.
Protected species--even on bf.