Should geelong be allowed to play all home finals at geelong in 2020?

[telsor]

How is it fair when certain clubs play at that venue much more often than others?

How is it fair when a certain Victorian club with the most members, at the 'home final' of another Victorian club which is located outside Melbourne, is able to fill 90% of the seating?

Because both groups of fans had equal access.

That Geelong fans didn't take it up isn't the fault of anyone other than themselves.

 

[telsor]

I think it isequality and fairness. You finish above someone else you have earnt the fair right to play at your home ground

No, you earn the right to play in your home state.

 

[HaroLad]

Because both groups of fans had equal access.

Equal access?

I don't think travelling from Geelong or other parts of Victoria on a workday is 'equal access' to Richmond supporters in inner Eastern Metropolitan Melbourne.

 

[Grin]

How is it fair when certain clubs play at that venue much more often than others?

How is it fair when a certain Victorian club with the most members, at the 'home final' of another Victorian club which is located outside Melbourne, is able to fill 90% of the seating?

It's all just so unfair. The AFL only grant you the biggest home ground advantage in the AFL, most of the advantages of being a Vic club and a non Vic club, significantly better compensation for free agents etc. etc. I just don't know how you live with the injustice of it all.

I'd be calling Neil Mitchell, emailing the club and cancelling you membership, and alerting the International Court of Human Rights. Heads must role for atrocity, this crime against humanity.

 

[telsor]

Equal access?

I don't think travelling from Geelong or other parts of Victoria on a workday is 'equal access' to Richmond supporters in inner Eastern Metropolitan Melbourne.

They had equal access to buy tickets.

As for getting to the ground on matchday, Geelong is no further away than other outer suburbs.

 

[blue harvest]

Equal access?

I don't think travelling from Geelong or other parts of Victoria on a workday is 'equal access' to Richmond supporters in inner Eastern Metropolitan Melbourne.

Cats got good support at their other Friday night finals over the last decade or so, they chose not to come to that Richmond final.

 

[Grin]

Equal access?

I don't think travelling from Geelong or other parts of Victoria on a workday is 'equal access' to Richmond supporters in inner Eastern Metropolitan Melbourne.

Most supporters don't live in Richmond. I live in South Australia. The mate who I go to the footy with when I come to Melbourne lives in Belgrave.

 

[Yojimbo]

I have no problem with their monopoly based "Home Games Program" against the poorer drawing teams, but finals are finals and
should be played on the best venues. Finals also involve the better teams, Geelong lost their only home final to Fremantle for
those with short memories.

When I played junior football the league almost always used a neutral venue for finals, I played on many grounds I had never even
seen or previously been to, but we were not playing for the big bucks !

 

[TheKITC]

All Victorian clubs play their finals at the MCG. Always have with rare exception. It's fair and it won't change. Anyway, you can't have finals played at a sausage shaped ground that's not even up to C grade amateur standard. The only reason Geelong is allowed to play there at all is because it gives them enormous advantages both on and off the field and almost guarantees them a regular place in the finals, without which, the club would quickly fold.
A solution could be to relocate Geelong to the docklands, then the teams that call that stadium home could lobby for home finals. But that can't happen because, without it's home ground, Geelong is easily the weakest Victorian club, probably too weak to survive in the medium term.

This is blatent bs on so many levels.

If you think the Vic clubs have always played finals at the G with only rare exceptions, you must have been born in the mid nineties...

Also attempting to troll one of the most successful, well run and professional clubs of the modern era with that kind of crap is just sad. Even hate filled Hawthorn supporters would at least acknowledge Geelong in this way.

 

[Elmer_Judd]

As long as Carlton are allowed to play finals at Ikon Park as well

 

[Yojimbo]

As long as Carlton are allowed to play finals at Ikon Park as well

Using Carlton and Finals in the same sentence is very creative and gives hope to all mankind.

 

[Hamingja]

Based on pre season and round 1 they would want to have had a big isolation pre season because they won't make finals based on the garbage they've dished up so far this year.

 

[Pomsta]

Of course they should be able to. However, if they want to be a "small" team then they should be playing all their away games against Victorian teams at Docklands or Tassie.

 

[Sparkle]

Unlike any other Victorian club, Geelong has retained it's urban home ground even though Geelong is basically a suburb of Melbourne these days.

That's a fair way to go to what you consider an 'outer suburb' of Melbourne. Does that mean that the suburbs around Geelong are outer-outer suburbs?

And if Geelong was really considered to be an outer suburb of Melbourne, we'd have Metro trains into Flinders Street, not V/Line's into Southern Cross

When it comes to finals, it's not just the capacity, it's the very unusual shape of the ground. I'm surprised any professional football is allowed to be played there at all, much less finals. You just wonder what was going through their heads when they came up with and approved that lopsided design. Really incompetent stuff.

We were forced to move from Corio Oval to Kardinia Park when the former was occupied by US Troops during World War II. After the club came out of recess and the war concluded it was decided to stay at Kardinia Park rather than move back. As far as I know, no-one complained about the shape of the ground at all

One of the complaints I've heard from a couple Geelong supporters is that because of the poor capacity, it's hard to get in to see a couple of games a year. You've got to have an expensive membership with reserved seats, meaning watching Geelong live at home is very much restricted to it's wealthiest supporters. Don't know how true that is.

Not true. There's now plenty of GA seats and standing room available, and plenty of reserved seats avaliable (at a number of different price points) for single matches and the season

Another complaint I heard (this was with regards to their home game against Richmond in 2017) was that they only sell single seats to visitors, so a mate of mine who wanted to take his young kids was told they'd be separated. I think Geelong needs to take a much more mature approach to this sort of thing if their demand for more games at Kardinia are to be taken seriously. Although I haven't heard of it happening with the smaller clubs that play there. Given Richmond has been the only big club to play there with any frequency this century, perhaps it was a specific tactic to limit numbers and maximise HGA.

Not true. For pretty much every match in Geelong there's plenty of seats (GA and reserved) and standing room for the general public (home fans, away fans and neutral), to go along with the bays reserved for opposition members and the opposition cheer squad. I took this screenshot for a similar thread a couple of weeks before our match against St Kilda last year. Plenty of seats available, and if St Kilda fans wanted to buy them, they were more than welcome

It was an extraordinary circumstance when the Richmond bandwagon got all up in arms about deciding they wanted to go to the game in Geelong in 2017 and the game sold out well in advance. Don't remember much complaining about a lack of tickets in the 2000's and early 2010's (when the ground was smaller)

They had equal access to buy tickets.

I'd argue a number of reasons why there wasn't equal access. For one, after the Richmond fans swamped into their allocation, they were advised to type 'CATS', therefore using up our allocation. There's every chance there was Geelong fans in the queue who missed out because Richmond fans typed 'CATS' and took up more than their fair share

As for getting to the ground on matchday, Geelong is no further away than other outer suburbs.

GMHBA Stadium to the MCG is over an hour, plus the extra time for finding a car park and traffic (especially on a Friday night).



These outer suburbs of Melbourne all have travel times of under an hour, and the access to public transport is much better (Metro trains run far more often through the suburbs than V/Line does out to Geelong)

 

[Speck]

Absolutely they should, and the same should go for Marvel tenants.

 

[HaroLad]

View attachment 887562

That's a fair way to go to what you consider an 'outer suburb' of Melbourne. Does that mean that the suburbs around Geelong are outer-outer suburbs?

And if Geelong was really considered to be an outer suburb of Melbourne, we'd have Metro trains into Flinders Street, not V/Line's into Southern Cross



We were forced to move from Corio Oval to Kardinia Park when the former was occupied by US Troops during World War II. After the club came out of recess and the war concluded it was decided to stay at Kardinia Park rather than move back. As far as I know, no-one complained about the shape of the ground at all



Not true. There's now plenty of GA seats and standing room available, and plenty of reserved seats avaliable (at a number of different price points) for single matches and the season



Not true. For pretty much every match in Geelong there's plenty of seats (GA and reserved) and standing room for the general public (home fans, away fans and neutral), to go along with the bays reserved for opposition members and the opposition cheer squad. I took this screenshot for a similar thread a couple of weeks before our match against St Kilda last year. Plenty of seats available, and if St Kilda fans wanted to buy them, they were more than welcome

It was an extraordinary circumstance when the Richmond bandwagon got all up in arms about deciding they wanted to go to the game in Geelong in 2017 and the game sold out well in advance. Don't remember much complaining about a lack of tickets in the 2000's and early 2010's (when the ground was smaller)



I'd argue a number of reasons why there wasn't equal access. For one, after the Richmond fans swamped into their allocation, they were advised to type 'CATS', therefore using up our allocation. There's every chance there was Geelong fans in the queue who missed out because Richmond fans typed 'CATS' and took up more than their fair share



GMHBA Stadium to the MCG is over an hour, plus the extra time for finding a car park and traffic (especially on a Friday night).

View attachment 887577

These outer suburbs of Melbourne all have travel times of under an hour, and the access to public transport is much better (Metro trains run far more often through the suburbs than V/Line does out to Geelong)

View attachment 887578

View attachment 887581

View attachment 887582

There’s no need for all the maps mate.

Nobody seriously considers Geelong a suburb of Melbourne.

 

[Sparkle]

There’s no need for all the maps mate.

Nobody seriously considers Geelong a suburb of Melbourne.

Fair call, probably could've done with just one

 

[Senor M]

View attachment 887562

That's a fair way to go to what you consider an 'outer suburb' of Melbourne. Does that mean that the suburbs around Geelong are outer-outer suburbs?

And if Geelong was really considered to be an outer suburb of Melbourne, we'd have Metro trains into Flinders Street, not V/Line's into Southern Cross



We were forced to move from Corio Oval to Kardinia Park when the former was occupied by US Troops during World War II. After the club came out of recess and the war concluded it was decided to stay at Kardinia Park rather than move back. As far as I know, no-one complained about the shape of the ground at all



Not true. There's now plenty of GA seats and standing room available, and plenty of reserved seats avaliable (at a number of different price points) for single matches and the season



Not true. For pretty much every match in Geelong there's plenty of seats (GA and reserved) and standing room for the general public (home fans, away fans and neutral), to go along with the bays reserved for opposition members and the opposition cheer squad. I took this screenshot for a similar thread a couple of weeks before our match against St Kilda last year. Plenty of seats available, and if St Kilda fans wanted to buy them, they were more than welcome

It was an extraordinary circumstance when the Richmond bandwagon got all up in arms about deciding they wanted to go to the game in Geelong in 2017 and the game sold out well in advance. Don't remember much complaining about a lack of tickets in the 2000's and early 2010's (when the ground was smaller)



I'd argue a number of reasons why there wasn't equal access. For one, after the Richmond fans swamped into their allocation, they were advised to type 'CATS', therefore using up our allocation. There's every chance there was Geelong fans in the queue who missed out because Richmond fans typed 'CATS' and took up more than their fair share



GMHBA Stadium to the MCG is over an hour, plus the extra time for finding a car park and traffic (especially on a Friday night).

View attachment 887577

These outer suburbs of Melbourne all have travel times of under an hour, and the access to public transport is much better (Metro trains run far more often through the suburbs than V/Line does out to Geelong)

View attachment 887578

View attachment 887581

View attachment 887582

Good use of Google maps to demonstrate something--- but there's absolutely no traffic taken into consideration there. There's no way any of Sunbury, Diamond Creek or Dandenong take that long on a Thursday or Friday evening.

...and despite the V-Line/Metro difference I'd prefer to be coming in from Geelong on a V-Line than Cranbourne or Pakenham on a Metro to a game, even having to change at Southern Cross.

(and this is coming from someone who quite enjoyed going down to Geelong for the 2017 Richmond Vs Geelong H&A game-- I typically try to get down to Kardinia Park once a year to catch up with a Cats following friend who lives down that way)

But I do feel that Cats fans regularly cry victim about how 'hard' it is to make it to games.

 

[Sparkle]

Good use of Google maps to demonstrate something--- but there's absolutely no traffic taken into consideration there. There's no way any of Sunbury, Diamond Creek or Dandenong take that long on a Thursday or Friday evening.

To be fair the maps don't consider the traffic from Geelong either, coming over the Westgate and through Southbank is often stop-start, bumper-to-bumper. I'd say that they even themselves out because the city traffic would be similar

...and despite the V-Line/Metro difference I'd prefer to be coming in from Geelong on a V-Line than Cranbourne or Pakenham on a Metro to a game, even having to change at Southern Cross.

The thing with V/Line though is that they don't come often enough to just head to the train station (Southern Cross, Flinders, Jolimont, Richmond) after the match and know that a train won't be too far away (I think it's usually 10-15 minutes between trains through the city). For a match at the MCG, unless you sprint back to Richmond Station as soon as the siren goes and time your run through Flinders Street well you can be stuck waiting 40+ minutes for a train at night (I've been on the good and bad side of timing a run to Southern Cross)

Most of the V/Line's aren't designed to have people crammed in standing either (which is pretty much always the case after a Geelong game), the seats are laid out in a design where everyone is sitting, the Metro's tend to have poles and hand hooks to hold onto and lean on to aide in the comfort of standing passengers

But I do feel that Cats fans regularly cry victim about how 'hard' it is to make it to games.

I will cop that, I know I've said on and off BigFooty before about the struggle to make it to the MCG for a Friday night game (which I discussed in a similar thread to this one)

 

[Craze]

Geelong won’t play finals this year is my prediction.

Yes they should be able to play home finals at GMHBA. And Richmond at Punt Road. And Collingwood at Lexus Centre. And Saints at Moorabbin. And Dogs at Whitten. And Hawks at Waverley. And Carlton at Optus. Etc.

 

[BBC1967]

Only reason we play games at the mcg is becausw we are forced to by the AFL.

No.Because if Richmond play there no ticket for me and 98000 other members if they want a ticket.

 

[STPer18]

To be fair the maps don't consider the traffic from Geelong either, coming over the Westgate and through Southbank is often stop-start, bumper-to-bumper. I'd say that they even themselves out because the city traffic would be similar



The thing with V/Line though is that they don't come often enough to just head to the train station (Southern Cross, Flinders, Jolimont, Richmond) after the match and know that a train won't be too far away (I think it's usually 10-15 minutes between trains through the city). For a match at the MCG, unless you sprint back to Richmond Station as soon as the siren goes and time your run through Flinders Street well you can be stuck waiting 40+ minutes for a train at night (I've been on the good and bad side of timing a run to Southern Cross)

Most of the V/Line's aren't designed to have people crammed in standing either (which is pretty much always the case after a Geelong game), the seats are laid out in a design where everyone is sitting, the Metro's tend to have poles and hand hooks to hold onto and lean on to aide in the comfort of standing passengers



I will cop that, I know I've said on and off BigFooty before about the struggle to make it to the MCG for a Friday night game (which I discussed in a similar thread to this one)

Missing a V/Line train by a whisker is hands down one of the worst feelings in the world.

 

[Sparkle]

Missing a V/Line train by a whisker is hands down one of the worst feelings in the world.

100% agree. The passenger lounge is nice and warm and has those massage chairs, but I was shattered one time I just missed the train after a weeknight cricket match and had to hang around the station for 45 minutes

 

[Grin]

This is blatent bs on so many levels.

If you think the Vic clubs have always played finals at the G with only rare exceptions, you must have been born in the mid nineties...

I hadn’t realised that the VFL only started regularly scheduling finals at the G in the mid 90’s.
Odd, because my memory is completely different.

 

[blue harvest]

The thing with V/Line though is that they don't come often enough to just head to the train station (Southern Cross, Flinders, Jolimont, Richmond) after the match and know that a train won't be too far away (I think it's usually 10-15 minutes between trains through the city). For a match at the MCG, unless you sprint back to Richmond Station as soon as the siren goes and time your run through Flinders Street well you can be stuck waiting 40+ minutes for a train at night (I've been on the good and bad side of timing a run to Southern Cross)

There are normally well scheduled extra VLine trains after a Cats game in Melbourne, especially finals, it's not a 40+ min wait.