But what gets lost in this argument is, how are all these teams making Grand Finals? They literally beat 14-16 teams to qualify for the decider, and just fall short against genuine powerhouse dynasties of the past decade and a half. The same happened in reverse with Brisbane 01-03. Some teams are just too good when it counts.
The real measure IMO, is how many interstate sides are making finals each year, and that always accurately represents interstate sides, more often that not. In the past 10 years alone you have:
2012 - West Coast, Sydney, Fremantle, Adelaide
2013 - Sydney, Fremantle, Port Adelaide
2014 - Sydney, Fremantle, Port Adelaide
2015 - West Coast, Fremantle, Sydney, Adelaide
2016 - Sydney, West Coast, Adelaide, GWS
2017 - Sydney, Port Adelaide, West Coast, GWS, Adelaide
2018 - West Coast, Sydney, GWS
2019 - Brisbane, GWS, West Coast
2020 - Brisbane, Port Adelaide, West Coast
2021 - Sydney, GWS, Port Adelaide, Brisbane
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This means, that of the Final 8 over the space of a decade (cumulatively 80 spots available in the Top 8 over the last decade), 36 have been taken by interstate sides. This leaves 44 sides from Vic teams. There are 18 teams in the league, and 8 are interstate sides (roughly rounds up to 45%). 36/80 = you guessed it: 45%.
Interstate teams are neither underrepresented or overrepresented when it comes to finals over the past decade. Just because they don't win the bigconsec dance, doesn't mean they don't consistently qualify for finals and Top 4. They simply fail to beat the 'best' teams on the day. Whether that has to do with the MCG as a venue is largely up for debate - and it should be -, but finals series' are never overwhelmingly Vic, despite this perceived notion that Vic teams are overrepresented.
The best example we've had of home ground advantage not meaning that much, is consecutively having two Vic teams reach the big dance in years where the GF has been guaranteed to be played interstate.
There's a lot more at play here than just 'Vic bias.' List build of certain teams, injury concerns, unable to beat the powerhouse teams like Richmond, Hawthorn, Geelong etc. Is what it is, and there are some certain arguments that have merit, but not the self-serving victimhood that this whole thread and its OP are about.
That’s it, literally the only thing that can be argued is that GF shouldn’t always be at MCG, no other cause for complaint whatsoever.