Draw is out....

[anniswan]

I like it, I think that Tony Morwood and Miles B-H have done a great job to get 6 games in Melbourne, and have been considerate enough to make sure that none of them are while I am overseas.

[penga]

Originally posted by Bart
10 28-May-05 St. Kilda Telstra Dome Saturday Night
11 4-Jun-05 Carlton Telstra Dome Saturday Aft.

injury time

[Wil]

I did think that it would be better to host St. Kilda at the SCG for the first round match but I like we have a couple of "soft" matches before testing ourselves in Brisbane.

The run between the 9th of July and 13th of August will be crucial for us, I think. How we go that month will be the difference for home finals.

If we can start strong (even though we never do) our first loss may come at the Subiaco in week 6. We will see how recruiting/drafting goes.

[liz]

And we almost certainly get to play the Lions at least once without Jon Brown in the team!

[Red]

Tony Morwell was just on SEN saying that because of the late Melbourne showing, they're looking at including entry to a couple of Sydney games on the Melbourne-based membership.

If that happens, i'll be <i>really</i> happy with the outcome of this draw.

[penga]

15-7 could be quite achievable

[Charlie]

Rob, you'd expect them to get a good draw. The AFL will never, ever, get the chicken and egg thing when it comes to blockbuster clubs and blockbuster matches.

Just looking at our home matches, here's some rough estimates on crowds:
Hawthorn - 27,000 (mild hype about new season offset by lowly opponent.)

Adelaide - 25,000 (anticipating a slow start, perhaps 1-2 before
this game, coupled with fact that Adelaide fans have further to travel than Hawthorn fans.)

Melbourne - 32,000 (about right for an ANZAC match, considering that Melbourne should still be seen as a reasonably strong opponent at that stage, even if the odd year curse hits again.)

Essendon - 51,000 (first game at Stadium Australia, should be some hype against a team that's strong in Sydney. Swans should be at least 3-3 at this stage, maybe better, so there should be some expectation of a good match. Right time to get Essendon; they look like crashing back a bit next year but the hype should still be on by round seven.)

Port Adelaide - 33,000 (premiership side should excite some interest, and hopefully a few wins early in the season will start to build some early buzz about the Swans.)

Bulldogs - 23,000 (lowly team, quite reasonable expectation of a loss the week before. Will this game be included in memberships this year?)

Fremantle - 29,000 (long way for opposing fans, but I'd expect the Swans to be around the 6-5 or 7-4 mark at this stage and some interest should be building. Fremantle pulled a reasonably strong crowd in 2003 when both teams were going well; wouldn't be surprised if a similar thing happened this time.)

Collingwood - 65,000 (obviously the biggest game of the season. I expect Collingwood to be more competitive next year, possibly back in finals contention. Strong travelling side as always, should be enough to get over the 60k mark.)

Geelong - 36,000 (the Cats are back to being a strong club, and they have pulled strong crowds at the SCG in the past. Expect this to be one of the biggest games of the year for the SCG)

West Coast - 30,000 (reckon the Eagles will be around the top six mark next year, and I'd be expected the Swans to be on around 10-11 wins by round 17. Offset by the long travel factor, though. Slightly more than Fremantle on the strength of more fans.)

Brisbane - 45,000 (big game this one. The hype will be well and truly on if the team can come back from it's double road-trip with at least one win, and Brisbane will be around the mark again. This game will go a long way towards shaping the top four if the Swans meet expectations.)

Kangaroos - 33,000 (last game of the year in Sydney, against the old enemy and a team that should be better than they were this year.)

So, if by some freak of nature I happen to be around the mark, that would be 429,000/12 = average crowd of about 35,750. We'd be happy with that, wouldn't we?

[Mike_B]

The draw looks pretty good to me, as already pointed out, only 1 trip to each of Perth and Adelaide which can't be a bad thing.

Originally posted by Charlie
Is there a clash in round 19 that dictates that the Essendon game has to be at Docklands? Moving that to the MCG would probably be desirable for both teams, but if it can't happen, so be it. Two games at the MCG is probably more than some teams will get.

It's strange on this one - The Dogs play the Eagles at the G that afternoon....the only suggestion I have is that looking at the draw....through the middle of the year and into early August, they have very few night games at the G (Friday nights seem to be the only ones), possibly because of weather -related concerns...so play the day games at the G, night games at the Dome?

[Damien]

Originally posted by Mike_B
The draw looks pretty good to me, as already pointed out, only 1 trip to each of Perth and Adelaide which can't be a bad thing.



It's strange on this one - The Dogs play the Eagles at the G that afternoon....the only suggestion I have is that looking at the draw....through the middle of the year and into early August, they have very few night games at the G (Friday nights seem to be the only ones), possibly because of weather -related concerns...so play the day games at the G, night games at the Dome?

Thought it was to simply add to the punishment the AFL are going to deliver to the MCG until a new finals plan is worked out?

My understanding is that the lowest drawing games plus MCG size blockbusters are the only ones that will go to the MCG under the current "fight".

While Colonial is rewarded for waving their rights to finals.

[Charlie]

Originally posted by Red
Tony Morwell was just on SEN saying that because of the late Melbourne showing, they're looking at including entry to a couple of Sydney games on the Melbourne-based membership.

If that happens, i'll be <i>really</i> happy with the outcome of this draw.

Yes! Now this is the sort of thing that needs to happen when your product is less value than you'd like it to be! Find things that soften the blow!

If this happens - well done Tony Morwood.

[Triple B]

Another good thing I noted was we don't play an early start Sunday game on Mothers Day.

This was a regular occurance for many years and always took 5K+ off the crowd.

We can all enjoy the Essendon match at Homebush on the night before and celebrate the victory with Mum the next day

[Jeffers1984]

Originally posted by SimonH
I am absolutely rapt to see us playing a home game agin' Port. Leaving aside our lousy Adelaide record (except one special game, I know), I am hugely looking forward to seeing us have a crack at the princes of darkness on our home soil. It's been a long time since we've hosted them, if memory serves.

Yep its best that we totally forget what happend last time port played us at the SCG!

[Triple B]

Yep its best that we totally forget what happend last time port played us at the SCG!

Correct!!

I mean, has Poulton kicked a goal since???

And BBBB copped 5 weeks to boot!!

[Bart]

Round 1 is Easter Sunday, so no excuse for the Melbourne folk wanting to head up

[swansrock4eva]

Brisbane trip!!!
I'm now officially happy!

Overall the draw looks pretty good - will be interesting to see how our venues shape up next yr (SCG vs TS) - the loss of some night games at the SCG would be a bit of a wake-up call hopefully.