I couldn't care less about revenue.
Yeah I guess there's gotta be something mental in it.
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The club'll still get most of the their money anyway cause you've already paid for your seat and membership.
I'd be demanding reimbursement of some sort.
A non prelim against an interstate side would be at KP imo. Prelims or a final against a Melbourne side have the 0% chance of being at KP.
Exactly. That's why it won't be moved. Not just people like you but sponsors, sighnage, caterers etc. Would be a massive shitfight
If i remember correctly that was because all of the finals that week (finals week 1, 4 games) were in Victoria. The only other solution was a double header at the MCG on the Saturday, which was unlikely.
Fair enough. So in 2013 when we hosted Freo at KP but then had a home semi against Port at the MCG - what was the distinction there? Was it down to there being potentially more Port fans than Freo fans the previous week, or that it was a semi?
You'd think there would be minimum two interstate finals in week 1 this year (GWS QF then Adelaide, WCE or PA QF/EF) so by that logic I guess it would seem unlikely.
Is our advantage at geelong compared to away any different from other clubs home vs away advantage? Need to figure that out first before teying to explain it.With us recently having played and won 3 games on the trot at home I was wanting to get other peoples thoughts on our home ground, and why we are so good there. Is it mental, physical, learned or all of the above.
I have my theories and thoughts which I will give now, but I am interested it what others think as well, I could be overthinking it, I could be over simplifying it
The Shape of the ground is extremely unique no doubt, and we know how to play the ground very very well, as you can see from the photo here
the Moorobool St side has no width at all and is almost squared off, especially when teams are kicking out for the river end we tend to force them down this tight wing, there is less room and we are able to cover off the area and pick the ball off almost at will, you also find that teams when under pressure have a lot of kicks that go out on the full with the normal width available to them simply not there.
We set up and normally have a man or 2 in the middle of the ground and on the Brownlow Stand side wing, the moment we get the ball we fire it inboard and attempt to hit the goal face from front on.
Now if a random fan like me can see what we do, then surely the opposition know what is going to happen as well, yet again and again we see the same things unfold.
So IMO there must be more to it...
I think there is a huge mental aspect as well that we benefit from, to start with other teams know it won't be easy... they walk into the ground knowing they are up against it and that we play the ground well, we have an amazing record here etc etc. Now the trolls will crap on about home town umpiring, every single home team experiences this so it is not worth discussing, umpires are human, they can say they don't.. but they get influenced by the crowd (the exact same way they do in SA, WA and large Pies games)
We have the lions share of support which is to be expected, but i think the simple fact that it is familiar is important as anything else. I have often felt we can overachieve at home, and had a theory that the simple fact that the players are relaxed and comfortable mentally makes a huge difference.
The Younger players are playing somewhere that they are at every day, and with an adoring crowd... there is less nerves there you assume as it is easier for them to treat it as less of an event than say a big game at the G with a rabid Pies game or trip to the West.
I also believe the older players benefit from this, as they start to drop away slowly it is easier for things to impact them that may not have previously, a short trip to the ground instead of an hour in the car, being with the kids longer at home, knowing they can go get a coffee on the way from their favourite place etc etc all help them (IMO) be more relaxed and at ease, and happier... this can then be reflected in how they play.
The older guys also benefit from the ground shape as they have to cover less ground, the younger players as potential mistakes in positioning are easier to cover and may have less impact.
I have left out the stars/middle age bracket as they are likely comfortable in their skins enough that it doesn't impact them negatively being away, but they still also would just walk in feeling better about themselves.
Or perhaps it is just simply one of those things that is the sum of all parts and can't really be explained
and helped by the fact we have had a very good football side for the majority of the last 10 years?
Regardless I am interested on the thoughts of others and the deeper and better thinkers than myself on the topic
Much ado about nothing in the end. AFL knocked it on the head whilst no one at Channel Seven will call out Maclure for making it up and morons like Darcy and Watson on Talking Footy will continue to fellate him as "the best news breaker in the game" or similar.
Yep, and on the radio -and exactly what I thought. Walk you bludger.
To be fair I thought we traditionally requested playing Pies and Hawks at the G. So we lose a few games that way. Not sure if we still ask for that with the new stand etc-do you know?
I think the blueprint was 9 at KP and 2 at the MCG with the Hawks and Collingwood being those two. I can see us playing the Hawks at KP in the next 5 years ... their supporter base is notoriously fickle and likely to drop significantly soon given their impending gloom.
Yep, agree we will definitely play them down at the cattery sooner rather than later. And won't that be sweet. The Hawk fans who sat behind us at the 2014 final- wow-never seen anything like it. So I have some vengeance to reap!
Maybe so. Personally I don't think an extra 16,000 is worth moving our home games following redevelopments, but the AFL is a fickle mistress.
He complains about something every time he has been down there.
