Broken
Brownlow Medallist
- Joined
- Apr 19, 2003
- Posts
- 22,226
- Reaction score
- 46,954
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- AFL Club
- Tasmania
- Other Teams
- Fitzroy, LA Chargers
The Admin-go-round has loaded up again with a new warm body and the promise of making the Sweet FA better place.
But, as in every other go-round the chance to start the season off right has been missed. Going back to the introduction of the 12 teams in Season 18, the scheduling of Round 1 has been, at best, lazy. We have too many first rounds of stale matchups along with an imbalance of home and away games being distributed among the teams.
On the latter point, the latest (re)Admin has introduced a home team advantage for tied finals games. It's evident that league HQ places a premium on a home team, so why are some teams being punished by playing so many away games in the first round, while others never seem to hit the road?
The team who should be most aggrieved here should be the Mount Buller Demons. Between seasons 18 and 33 they hosted 4 games in Round 1, while they've been the away side an incredible 12 times. Even this season they are again once more on the road.
With the Demons struggling for members, Round 1 is a crucial time to get supporters in the Snow Dome gates to boost those memberships, but, league HQ continues to deny the Demons the chance to get their supporters fired up from the get go. It's no surprise to see the Demons supporters often heading for the ski slopes.... Wait..... That analogy didn't go well. **** it.
Other clubs, such as the Roys and Wonders have had their supporter struggles too and one can't help but think that is related to the slow momentum to the season as they've only hosted 6 home games in Round 1 between seasons 18 and 33. And, yet again, both teams are on the road in Round 1 this season.
On the other side of the coin the Swamprats have been the home team 11 times during that period, which has really helped them secure a supporter base in Sin City. If they'd played as many road games as the Demons I suspect the 'rats would have moved back to Alberton. Lo and behold they're the home team again this season.
As for matchups, there's been 16 seasons during that period of time so, surely, every team would have a chance to have opened the season against the other? Not in the Sweet FA.
Excluding the Old Fellas, the other 12 teams have not faced at least one of the other teams in Round 1.
During that time the Dragons and Roys have faced off in Round 1 four times, which included three seasons in a row. Yet the Dragons have never opened against the Bombers and Gumbies. While the Roys have never opened against the Warriors, Furies or Bears.
We've had a number of teams who have opened the season against each other three times (Bombers-Gumbies, Warriors-Furies, Dragons-Wonders, Phoenix-Bears, Furies-Bears, Furies-Demons, Royals-Swamprats, Gumbies-Wonders, Roys-Swamprats) and even this season we're seeing overlaps with the Dragons-Wonders going around a 4th time.
Apart from the new expansion matchup, the only fresh Round 1 matchup this season is the Demons-Swamprats.
C'mon (not so) new faces at SFAHQ, let's share the load, even up the imbalance and open Season 35 with some fresh season openers.
But, as in every other go-round the chance to start the season off right has been missed. Going back to the introduction of the 12 teams in Season 18, the scheduling of Round 1 has been, at best, lazy. We have too many first rounds of stale matchups along with an imbalance of home and away games being distributed among the teams.
On the latter point, the latest (re)Admin has introduced a home team advantage for tied finals games. It's evident that league HQ places a premium on a home team, so why are some teams being punished by playing so many away games in the first round, while others never seem to hit the road?
The team who should be most aggrieved here should be the Mount Buller Demons. Between seasons 18 and 33 they hosted 4 games in Round 1, while they've been the away side an incredible 12 times. Even this season they are again once more on the road.
With the Demons struggling for members, Round 1 is a crucial time to get supporters in the Snow Dome gates to boost those memberships, but, league HQ continues to deny the Demons the chance to get their supporters fired up from the get go. It's no surprise to see the Demons supporters often heading for the ski slopes.... Wait..... That analogy didn't go well. **** it.
Other clubs, such as the Roys and Wonders have had their supporter struggles too and one can't help but think that is related to the slow momentum to the season as they've only hosted 6 home games in Round 1 between seasons 18 and 33. And, yet again, both teams are on the road in Round 1 this season.
On the other side of the coin the Swamprats have been the home team 11 times during that period, which has really helped them secure a supporter base in Sin City. If they'd played as many road games as the Demons I suspect the 'rats would have moved back to Alberton. Lo and behold they're the home team again this season.
As for matchups, there's been 16 seasons during that period of time so, surely, every team would have a chance to have opened the season against the other? Not in the Sweet FA.
Excluding the Old Fellas, the other 12 teams have not faced at least one of the other teams in Round 1.
During that time the Dragons and Roys have faced off in Round 1 four times, which included three seasons in a row. Yet the Dragons have never opened against the Bombers and Gumbies. While the Roys have never opened against the Warriors, Furies or Bears.
We've had a number of teams who have opened the season against each other three times (Bombers-Gumbies, Warriors-Furies, Dragons-Wonders, Phoenix-Bears, Furies-Bears, Furies-Demons, Royals-Swamprats, Gumbies-Wonders, Roys-Swamprats) and even this season we're seeing overlaps with the Dragons-Wonders going around a 4th time.
Apart from the new expansion matchup, the only fresh Round 1 matchup this season is the Demons-Swamprats.
C'mon (not so) new faces at SFAHQ, let's share the load, even up the imbalance and open Season 35 with some fresh season openers.
