Who are the biggest rivals? Are our rivalries unbalanced? What fuels our rivalries?

[sportprof101]

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My Doan, Student Researcher, Northern Kentucky University
Dr. Joe Cobbs, Northern Kentucky University
Dr. David Tyler, University of Massachusetts Amherst

 

[Catsnlakers]

Our rivals are Hawthorn, they’re unbalanced because they’re vermin, & what fuels it is our bitter history that goes back a long time.

 

[sportprof101]

Our rivals are Hawthorn, they’re unbalanced because they’re vermin, & what fuels it is our bitter history that goes back a long time.

Thank you for your comment! Hope you can support us by filling in the survey so that we can learn more about your opinion!

 

[Partridge]

Our rivals are Hawthorn, they’re unbalanced because they’re vermin, & what fuels it is our bitter history that goes back a long time.

Collingwood.

Rivalry goes back much much further, and they’ve played far more big games against each other. More finals against each other than any other club too.

 

[Turbocat]

Rivalries are born from pain. True rivalries are whn both side suffer and although most geelong supports would say haw, when have we inflicted real pain?

Haw & now Rich ..have not felt enough pain from us in big games.

Geelong and colling have played a lot of games , had similar type results that spread the pain..but Colling wood have so many other rivalries..I doubt we would be in the top 5 or 6 on a Pies supporters hate list.

 

[Seeds]

Rivalries are born from pain. True rivalries are whn both side suffer and although most geelong supports would say haw, when have we inflicted real pain?

Haw & now Rich ..have not felt enough pain from us in big games.

Geelong and colling have played a lot of games , had similar type results that spread the pain..but Colling wood have so many other rivalries..I doubt we would be in the top 5 or 6 on a Pies supporters hate list.

The Kennett curse delivered us two premierships during a time hawthorn was also supposed to be fighting for premierships. Hodge, Lewis, Mitchell, Franklin and Roughead were actually at their peak during these years.

 

[Partridge]

Geelong and colling have played a lot of games , had similar type results that spread the pain..but Colling wood have so many other rivalries..I doubt we would be in the top 5 or 6 on a Pies supporters hate list.

That just shows how the same club rivalries were hyped as “big” years after it was really justified.

How many Collingwood finals have involved Richmond, Carlton, or Essendon in the last thirty years? In the last 15 Geelong have played 3 Prelims and 1 Grand Final alone against them.

 

[Drunkcat]

Bendigo but they have left the VFL now

 

[Turbocat]

The Kennett curse delivered us two premierships during a time hawthorn was also supposed to be fighting for premierships. Hodge, Lewis, Mitchell, Franklin and Roughead were actually at their peak during these years.

The Kennett curse got us a few non important wins, and had little , if anything to do with beating StKilda and Collingwood. The 2011 finals were probably my favourite ever, beating Haw , then West Coast, then Collingwood... but really what 'the rivalry' needed was Haw to beat Colling would in the PF, and then us beat them in the GF

 

[Seeds]

The Kennett curse got us a few non important wins, and had little , if anything to do with beating StKilda and Collingwood. The 2011 finals were probably my favourite ever, beating Haw , then West Coast, then Collingwood... but really what 'the rivalry' needed was Haw to beat Colling would in the PF, and then us beat them in the GF

Hawthorn troll taken over your account?

the Kennet curse broke that club for a number of years. They were the second most talented team at the time and were broken. They only won a flag after they finally ended it. And it took everything they had to beat us that day despite us having a number of missing players and no break. One of the great finals of all time that 2013 one.

there was also the elimination final where we beat them too. By less then a kick.

our gf record vs hawthorn is 1-2. from 3 grand finals that’s as even a result you can get.

plus it’s not all about results. Matthew’s belting bruns. us getting the best ablett.

it’s possibly the greatest rivalry in afl history.

 

[Turbocat]

That just shows how the same club rivalries were hyped as “big” years after it was really justified.

How many Collingwood finals have involved Richmond, Carlton, or Essendon in the last thirty years? In the last 15 Geelong have played 3 Prelims and 1 Grand Final alone against them.

True, but both Ess and Rich have big block buster games against them.Add Carlton which certainly fits in your description, perhaps we might be 4, but it would not surprise me if some Pies supporters had another team or two in front of us.

 

[Turbocat]

Hawthorn troll taken over your account?

I enjoyed every win against them, I enjoyed their discomfort for a while but in the end, all the wins got cancelled out by that 2013 PF loss.

 

[Turbocat]

Hawthorn troll taken over your account?

the Kennet curse broke that club for a number of years. They were the second most talented team at the time and were broken. They only won a flag after they finally ended it. And it took everything they had to beat us that day despite us having a number of missing players and no break. One of the great finals of all time that 2013 one.

there was also the elimination final where we beat them too. By less then a kick.

our gf record vs hawthorn is 1-2. from 3 grand finals that’s as even a result you can get.

plus it’s not all about results. Matthew’s belting bruns. us getting the best ablett.

it’s possibly the greatest rivalry in afl history.

Interesting question. WC and Syd two close GF's with both winning one... would theirs be more that ours? Not sure but I maintain a balance of results is important... and we have never beaten them in a GF in the AFL era

 

[you pick one]

That just shows how the same club rivalries were hyped as “big” years after it was really justified.

How many Collingwood finals have involved Richmond, Carlton, or Essendon in the last thirty years? In the last 15 Geelong have played 3 Prelims and 1 Grand Final alone against them.

It's tribal ties and the number of flags per team that keeps those perceived rivalries alive today.

 

[Seeds]

Interesting question. WC and Syd two close GF's with both winning one... would theirs be more that ours? Not sure but I maintain a balance of results is important... and we have never beaten them in a GF in the AFL era

the WC and Sydney rivalry really only prevailed over one era and then disappeared again. Hawthorn and geelongs has ebbed and flowed but it’s been going for nearly half a century now.

 

[Turbocat]

It's tribal ties and the number of flags per team that keeps those perceived rivalries alive today.

The old tribes certainly play. a key role, and the success they had against each other

It shows a very average success rate we have had. We had a chance to somewhat correct, and now..we are back to being very average. How many flags do Rich have... 13 and considering how long we have been in the comp. 9 flags in 123 years seems but far from the number we should have imo.

 

[Partridge]

True, but both Ess and Rich have big block buster games against them.Add Carlton which certainly fits in your description, perhaps we might be 4, but it would not surprise me if some Pies supporters had another team or two in front of us.

Collingwood haven’t played Carlton in a final since 1988.
Collingwood have played Richmond in one final since 1980.
Collingwood haven’t played Essendon in a final since 1990.

We’ve played six finals against them since 2007.

In reality, a lot of Collingwood’s “blockbusters” are anything but that.

 

[Catsnlakers]

I enjoyed every win against them, I enjoyed their discomfort for a while but in the end, all the wins got cancelled out by that 2013 PF loss.

Don’t forget we beat them in a very important game in the 2016 QF......If they win that, they very might well of won 4 in a row & equaled AFL history.

 

[Catsnlakers]

Collingwood.

Rivalry goes back much much further, and they’ve played far more big games against each other. More finals against each other than any other club too.

This is a valid argument, & finals wise you’re correct, the Pies & us have the most finals history out of the entire league, but since Hawthorn become relevant ( 1961 onwards ) we do have a long history with them also, starting off with us handing them their first ever Grand Final loss in 1963....Another major thing in our rivalry with Hawthorn is famous H&A games that live in folklore, such as 1985 with the Bruns/Matthew’s incident, the 1989 shootout when Derm injured Yeates testicle, the 09 Bartel Point & of course the 2012 Hawkins goal....You can definitely mount an argument either way so I respect your view.

 

[Boxhead_31]

Collingwood haven’t played Carlton in a final since 1988.
Collingwood have played Richmond in one final since 1980.
Collingwood haven’t played Essendon in a final since 1990.

We’ve played six finals against them since 2007.

In reality, a lot of Collingwood’s “blockbusters” are anything but that.

But Big Four!!!!

 

[Biggy_Boy]

Don’t forget we beat them in a very important game in the 2016 QF......If they win that, they very might well of won 4 in a row & equaled AFL history.

I don't think there was much chance of that happening. By the 2016 finals series that side was no longer what it had been. A bit reminiscent of Geelong 2014. A weak top 4 side that you didn't expect much from in finals, and the straight sets exit proved that to be the case.

 

[Turbocat]

Collingwood haven’t played Carlton in a final since 1988.
Collingwood have played Richmond in one final since 1980.
Collingwood haven’t played Essendon in a final since 1990.

We’ve played six finals against them since 2007.

In reality, a lot of Collingwood’s “blockbusters” are anything but that.

Cant dispute that, only that I doubt Collingwood see us as a main rival. That we end up looking like SA against Vic , or NZ V Aust. I suspect it means more to us than them. I have only come accross rare example of Collingwood supports that hated Geelong with a passion ... and core to that was they were collingwood supporters who lived in Geelong. That are drowned in a tidal wave of Geelong Media stories . and hate us due to that. I doubt the vast majority of Melb based Colling wood supporters would name us in the top 3 clubs that they ar rvials with.

Your points are logical, but I suspect the idea of rivalry is more about emotion.

The closest I saw to that type of emotion was the 2010 final... and us following it up with 2011. That 2010 final , the toothless were feral, my daughter moved Collingwood to the top of of her hate list after that game. 6 year old kids giving us the finger as we made oiur way out of the ground. The Cooollllliwoooodd drone. ... and I can remember the pay back in that 2011 game ...

 

[Turbocat]

Don’t forget we beat them in a very important game in the 2016 QF......If they win that, they very might well of won 4 in a row & equaled AFL history.

Is that the game where Smith missed after the siren? Another final example of a recent finals wins...

 

[Partridge]

Cant dispute that, only that I doubt Collingwood see us as a main rival. That we end up looking like SA against Vic , or NZ V Aust. I suspect it means more to us than them. I have only come accross rare example of Collingwood supports that hated Geelong with a passion ... and core to that was they were collingwood supporters who lived in Geelong. That are drowned in a tidal wave of Geelong Media stories . and hate us due to that. I doubt the vast majority of Melb based Colling wood supporters would name us in the top 3 clubs that they ar rvials with.

Your points are logical, but I suspect the idea of rivalry is more about emotion.

The closest I saw to that type of emotion was the 2010 final... and us following it up with 2011. That 2010 final , the toothless were feral, my daughter moved Collingwood to the top of of her hate list after that game. 6 year old kids giving us the finger as we made oiur way out of the ground. The Cooollllliwoooodd drone. ... and I can remember the pay back in that 2011 game ...

For sure. I've said this before, but so much of the footy culture now remains influenced by the presentation of the game in the 1970s and 1980s. It was the first generation that had colour replays of games - up to three games you had commentary with, and all the media people now grew up then.

But if you asked the question how many times have Collingwood faced Richmond, Essendon, Carlton, and Melbourne combined in finals since 1990, I doubt many people would guess the answer to be one.

Emotionally, really any of Collingwood's "big" rivalries have been dormant for so long now. Richmond has briefly flickered back to life, but with 3 flags in 4 years compared to 0 we know who has won that timeframe. The other two major ones in Carlton and Essendon are even more dormant. If not for Anzac Day - a completely manufactured and artificial "tradition" to begin with - would casual fans even care about those matches? I know I don't.

 

[Catsnlakers]

I don't think there was much chance of that happening. By the 2016 finals series that side was no longer what it had been. A bit reminiscent of Geelong 2014. A weak top 4 side that you didn't expect much from in finals, and the straight sets exit proved that to be the case.

You could well be right, but they had beaten the Swans the previous time they had played that season......It’s something we’ll never know, what I do know is they won a lot of lose matches like us in 2014, but we also won a lot of close matches in 09 & 11 also.......4 wins in each of the years by under a goal during the season.