Opinion What unpopular AFL opinions do you have? - Part 2

[Demon13304]

The rules at the moment clearly advantage two groups of teams (Big Vic clubs, and NSW and QLD sides) and to a lesser extent small Vic clubs.

This is the wrong thread for it, but feel free to give me any advantages SA and WA clubs have.

QLD even out produces WA for talent now

Okay I will, as I truly believe every club has advantages and disadvantages. Maybe some more than others, but WA/SA get a bit of both.

Despite your comment of Queensland out producing WA for talent, overall that's not entirely true, yes they did this year and maybe any other occasional year, overall WA has the second most players of any state bar Victoria. Queensland has about 40-50 players in the AFL, and WA has about 130. SA has about 115. NSW/ACT have about 60.

So WA still has a significant amount of players in the league. When there's a "go home factor", WA clubs have a 50/50 chance of getting said player, compared to the 1/10 chance that Victorian clubs get. Victoria isn't a singular club/entity - when a big name player like Jeremy Cameron goes home, it's doesn't advantage my club or the 9 other Vic clubs in general.
This is how Freo gets players like Hogan, Luke Jackson, Judd Mcvee, Shai Bolton etc. all within a few off seasons. My club hasn't got a big name Vic player come home since Lever on 2017. With roughly 65 WA players per WA clubs to go home to, it's the best "go home" advantage in the whole league.

WA/SA clubs now also have 11 true home ground advantage games - more than the other 14 clubs in the league.

They also get the advantage of being in AFL states with only 2 clubs - meaning they get a massive piece of the pie with a lot of supporters and $$. In terms of membership/$$, this is how West Coast remain arguably the biggest club in the whole league , with Freo, Adelaide and Port (slightly less so, but still a big club) being well supported.

Yes, I get the whole MCG thing (funnily enough the Dees won a flag without it lol), and I get that Travelling 3-4 more times than the other clubs is a disadvantage. But you asked for advantages and I think I've given some genuine ones.

Sorry about the wall of text. To fit in with the thread, my unpopular opinion is that the WA/SA clubs aren't as hard done by as some think they are - they have advantages and disadvantages like any other club.

 

[sabso]

Correction

Just be glad your hungry jacks outlet of a club is propped up by the afl and big oil instead of having to answer to its members.

 

[go_the_dockers]

Okay I will, as I truly believe every club has advantages and disadvantages. Maybe some more than others, but WA/SA get a bit of both.

Despite your comment of Queensland out producing WA for talent, overall that's not entirely true, yes they did this year and maybe any other occasional year, overall WA has the second most players of any state bar Victoria. Queensland has about 40-50 players in the AFL, and WA has about 130. SA has about 115. NSW/ACT have about 60.

So WA still has a significant amount of players in the league. When there's a "go home factor", WA clubs have a 50/50 chance of getting said player, compared to the 1/10 chance that Victorian clubs get. Victoria isn't a singular club/entity - when a big name player like Jeremy Cameron goes home, it's doesn't advantage my club or the 9 other Vic clubs in general.
This is how Freo gets players like Hogan, Luke Jackson, Judd Mcvee, Shai Bolton etc. all within a few off seasons. My club hasn't got a big name Vic player come home since Lever on 2017. With roughly 65 WA players per WA clubs to go home to, it's the best "go home" advantage in the whole league.

WA/SA clubs now also have 11 true home ground advantage games - more than the other 14 clubs in the league.

They also get the advantage of being in AFL states with only 2 clubs - meaning they get a massive piece of the pie with a lot of supporters and $$. In terms of membership/$$, this is how West Coast remain arguably the biggest club in the whole league , with Freo, Adelaide and Port (slightly less so, but still a big club) being well supported.

Yes, I get the whole MCG thing (funnily enough the Dees won a flag without it lol), and I get that Travelling 3-4 more times than the other clubs is a disadvantage. But you asked for advantages and I think I've given some genuine ones.

Sorry about the wall of text. To fit in with the thread, my unpopular opinion is that the WA/SA clubs aren't as hard done by as some think they are - they have advantages and disadvantages like any other club.

I did say big Vic clubs

5 years ago, WA was along way ahead of QLD but it is catching up very quickly. In 5 more years, it will catch up.



As you can see when it comes to top 18 picks over the last 5 years, the break down is even and I would say QLD would have more top 5 picks than WA at least.

	QLD	WA	SA
2025​	5​	1​	3​
2024​	1​	1​	1​
2023​	2​	2​	0​
2022​	2​	2​	2​
2021​	0​	3​	3​
	10​	9​	9​

 

[Purple Suit]

Just be glad your hungry jacks outlet of a club is propped up by the afl and big oil instead of having to answer to its members.

That’s a bit harsh, calling us Hungry Jacks when that’s WC’s major sponsor. You’ve still got pokies propping up your club and just changed to a Chinese car manufacturer as your major sponsor.

The AFL don’t prop up Freo or WA. We’re the only State that pays for its grass roots footy and the lack of cash is an issue in the system.

 

[Hoops]

State of Origin should just be Vic v the rest. So it is competitive and all players get a chance at representation

 

[Millsie69]

State of Origin should just be Vic v the rest. So it is competitive and all players get a chance at representation

They tried that and only Victorian's had the slightest bit of interest.

At least this format will have two states taking an interest in it.

 

[threenewpadlocks]

WA/SA clubs now also have 11 true home ground advantage games

and I get that Travelling 3-4 more times than the other clubs is a disadvantage.

This is the thin that the non-Victorian fans miss in all this.

The true home ground advantage for these clubs is huge - it's worth over 10 points. Maybe only the best 2-3 players in the league are worth that much. When peak Buddy Franklin was a late out in a couple of the games, the betting line only moved 8 or 9 points.

The advantage gained is mainly through big crowd domination - 50,000 Eagles fans booing umpires influence them, and cheering loudly for their players gives them an extra 1% motivation that goes beyond the dumb analysis of "put the players should be motivated anyway".

There have been studies of soccer crowds which show that identical crowds with and without an athletics stadium around it make a difference in the strength of home ground advantage, and this is shown both in the willingness of referees to give yellow cards to away team (so umpiring bias in AFL) and the home team playing slightly better when the crowd is closer (motivation). And there are statistically significant differences from simply an identical crowd being a few metres closer to the players - they are louder and visually closer, this makes a difference.

Lastly, though this is only more minor than the crowd impact, weather and familiarity play a part. When teams come to Melbourne, they are used to the stadium, the city and its weather, most likely they played there numerous times the previous year and it's not the first time they are playing at Docklands/Marvel for the season. On the other hand, when Melbourne teams travel to another city, they may not have even played there the year before, many players it's the first time they've ever played in that stadium (used to its dimensions, how soft the surface is how, the ball bounces, etc.). Weather plays a part too - a team going up to Brisbane or GC in relatively mild or even warm conditions and with humidity is something that's harder to adjust to or train for when you might only play that fixture once a year, while Brisbane and GC when they move down to Melbourne are not unfamiliar in playing in colder weather, as they do that every second week, and plan/strategise across a whole year for a mixture of conditions, whereas Melbourne teams are largely going to plan for playing in the cold against other Melbourne teams, but their equal preparation for these games cancel each other out.

Hopping on a plane half a dozen times for largely very short trips where half your players are in a business class seat doesn't really cancel this out, maybe offsets it a tiny bit.

Of course, in terms of premiership win probability, fact that the GF is played at the MCG cancels a lot of this out - except for your Docklands tenants (and Melbourne which is in its own little category for not having the MCG finals disadvantages but otherwise having all the other Marvel disadvantages).

For example, while Collingwood has all these disadvantages, it gains the advantages back through crowd size etc. in their away games - they play 5 of their 11 away games at the MCG where they contribute to almost half the crowd in those games (virtually even disadvantage). It's an advantage for those 5 games in and of itself, but it's also an advantage in how it layers on itself - appealing go-home club, finals preparation.

For your 3 Docklands tenants - no MCG games to develop familiarity with the stadium, no big away support in away Melbourne games, and home games against big teams have big away support (e.g. home games against Carlton and Essendon at Docklands are often outnumbered in the crowd, something that never happens in the 11 true home games in Perth/Adelaide).

In terms of advantages tiered, it really goes something like this:

Tier 1: Geelong, Brisbane, Sydney, West Coast, Fremantle, Port Adelaide, Adelaide, Collingwood, Richmond, Hawthorn (strong interstate advantages + what the poster said above in terms of go-home factor + MCG home ground and big club advantages. Brisbane/Sydney don't have go-home, local talent advantages but cancelled out by academy bidding process being broken on top of F/S, giving them huge advantage. Geelong have unique true HGA against other Vic teams)

Tier 2: Carlton, Essendon (big club Melbourne advantage but play some games at Docklands, less MCG familiarity advantage compared to other 3 clubs, weird ticketing at Docklands means some home crowds vs interstate clubs get crowds of less than 35,000 when equivalent big Perth/Adelaide games get 40,000+ crowds)

Tier 3: Melbourne, GWS, Gold Coast (Melbourne MCG advantage but small club disadvantage, sells home games to NT. GWS/GC have academy/interstate/home finals advantages don't have a lot of passionate home support, some of their home games have 50/50 support with away team, lots of players wanting to leave a team with no history over the course of history)

Tier 4: Western Bulldogs, St Kilda, North (every disadvantage other than slightly less travel, sell home games, no advantage in terms of large home crowds bigger than away crowds, hardly any MCG games, sometimes have to host home MCG finals against big Melbourne clubs and have the disadvantage etc.. There's a reason that none of these teams + Carlton or Essendon have finished top 4 on the H&A ladder for 15 years).

 

[SizeMatters]

So you think Gold Coast, coming off the back of a semi final, receiving four first round picks + Petracca + Ugle-Hagan (who is still a very good player if he can get his attitude right) in exchange for Flanders (overrated IMO) and a few role players is perfectly fair? LOL.

I shouldn’t be surprised but it’s hilarious the lengths you lot will go to defending a blatantly rorted league.

It’s called good list management. Something your rabble could learn a thing or two about.

 

[go_the_dockers]

This is the thin that the non-Victorian fans miss in all this.

The true home ground advantage for these clubs is huge - it's worth over 10 points. Maybe only the best 2-3 players in the league are worth that much. When peak Buddy Franklin was a late out in a couple of the games, the betting line only moved 8 or 9 points.

The advantage gained is mainly through big crowd domination - 50,000 Eagles fans booing umpires influence them, and cheering loudly for their players gives them an extra 1% motivation that goes beyond the dumb analysis of "put the players should be motivated anyway".

There have been studies of soccer crowds which show that identical crowds with and without an athletics stadium around it make a difference in the strength of home ground advantage, and this is shown both in the willingness of referees to give yellow cards to away team (so umpiring bias in AFL) and the home team playing slightly better when the crowd is closer (motivation). And there are statistically significant differences from simply an identical crowd being a few metres closer to the players - they are louder and visually closer, this makes a difference.

Lastly, though this is only more minor than the crowd impact, weather and familiarity play a part. When teams come to Melbourne, they are used to the stadium, the city and its weather, most likely they played there numerous times the previous year and it's not the first time they are playing at Docklands/Marvel for the season. On the other hand, when Melbourne teams travel to another city, they may not have even played there the year before, many players it's the first time they've ever played in that stadium (used to its dimensions, how soft the surface is how, the ball bounces, etc.). Weather plays a part too - a team going up to Brisbane or GC in relatively mild or even warm conditions and with humidity is something that's harder to adjust to or train for when you might only play that fixture once a year, while Brisbane and GC when they move down to Melbourne are not unfamiliar in playing in colder weather, as they do that every second week, and plan/strategise across a whole year for a mixture of conditions, whereas Melbourne teams are largely going to plan for playing in the cold against other Melbourne teams, but their equal preparation for these games cancel each other out.

Hopping on a plane half a dozen times for largely very short trips where half your players are in a business class seat doesn't really cancel this out, maybe offsets it a tiny bit.

Of course, in terms of premiership win probability, fact that the GF is played at the MCG cancels a lot of this out - except for your Docklands tenants (and Melbourne which is in its own little category for not having the MCG finals disadvantages but otherwise having all the other Marvel disadvantages).

For example, while Collingwood has all these disadvantages, it gains the advantages back through crowd size etc. in their away games - they play 5 of their 11 away games at the MCG where they contribute to almost half the crowd in those games (virtually even disadvantage). It's an advantage for those 5 games in and of itself, but it's also an advantage in how it layers on itself - appealing go-home club, finals preparation.

For your 3 Docklands tenants - no MCG games to develop familiarity with the stadium, no big away support in away Melbourne games, and home games against big teams have big away support (e.g. home games against Carlton and Essendon at Docklands are often outnumbered in the crowd, something that never happens in the 11 true home games in Perth/Adelaide).

In terms of advantages tiered, it really goes something like this:

Tier 1: Geelong, Brisbane, Sydney, West Coast, Fremantle, Port Adelaide, Adelaide, Collingwood, Richmond, Hawthorn (strong interstate advantages + what the poster said above in terms of go-home factor + MCG home ground and big club advantages. Brisbane/Sydney don't have go-home, local talent advantages but cancelled out by academy bidding process being broken on top of F/S, giving them huge advantage. Geelong have unique true HGA against other Vic teams)

Tier 2: Carlton, Essendon (big club Melbourne advantage but play some games at Docklands, less MCG familiarity advantage compared to other 3 clubs, weird ticketing at Docklands means some home crowds vs interstate clubs get crowds of less than 35,000 when equivalent big Perth/Adelaide games get 40,000+ crowds)

Tier 3: Melbourne, GWS, Gold Coast (Melbourne MCG advantage but small club disadvantage, sells home games to NT. GWS/GC have academy/interstate/home finals advantages don't have a lot of passionate home support, some of their home games have 50/50 support with away team, lots of players wanting to leave a team with no history over the course of history)

Tier 4: Western Bulldogs, St Kilda, North (every disadvantage other than slightly less travel, sell home games, no advantage in terms of large home crowds bigger than away crowds, hardly any MCG games, sometimes have to host home MCG finals against big Melbourne clubs and have the disadvantage etc.. There's a reason that none of these teams + Carlton or Essendon have finished top 4 on the H&A ladder for 15 years).

Grand final winners over the last 25 years suggests something different