Finals

[swanwolf]

So it has all come down to this match against the not so Flying Purple People Eaters. Win today and we shall blast our way out of Gethsemane. Lose and we may as well swap Sweet Caroline for Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.
Hey, that ain't such a bad notion in any event!

[707]

Interesting result last night. Given the dogs very poor % they need to beat both Port & Hawks at Docklands to be in the running for 7th or 8th and even then need some other results go their way.

I see Toby Greene is likely to be "facing" the MRP again, if he wasn't an AFL footballer you'd reckon he's the kind of character that would be in and out of jail his whole life. Reckon Mark Riccuitio got rubbed out against us doing the exact same thing in a game in Adelaide many years ago.

[barry]

If Toby Greene gets suspended for that, GWS should lawyer up and take this MRT to the cleaners.

The game is being run by media

[Thunder Shaker]

Richmond have the massive advantage of the MCG. Probably only have to play one away final and meet a non Vic side in the granny. Worthy?. No, but the comp is set up to favour victorians

Richmond's finals form at the MCG hasn't been all that great in the last 30 years. Richmond's wins in bold.

1995 Qualifying Final, MCG: North Melbourne 17.12 (114) d. Richmond 12.12 (84)
1995 Semi Final, MCG: Richmond 12.14 (86) d. Essendon 11.7 (73)
2001 Qualifying Final, MCG: Essendon 17.11 (113) d. Richmond 5.13 (43)
2001 Semi Final, MCG: Richmond 10.7 (67) d. Carlton 7.14 (56)
2013 Elimination Final, MCG: Carlton 18.8 (116) d. Richmond 14.12 (96)
2015 Elimination Final, MCG: North Melbourne 15.15 (105) d. Richmond 14.4 (88)

All were finals against other Victorian teams: Carlton (twice), Essendon (twice) and North Melbourne (twice).

Richmond's other finals in that time, all losses:
1995 Preliminary Final, Waverley Park: Geelong 20.9 (129) d. Richmond 6.4 (40)
2001 Preliminary Final, Gabba: Brisbane Lions 20.16 (136) d. Richmond 10.8 (68)
2014 Elimination Final, Adelaide Oval: Port Adelaide 20.12 (132) d. Richmond 11.9 (75)

These include Richmond's only finals played outside Victoria.

[Thunder Shaker]

Statistically 15 is nothing. Anyone who thinks home ground advantage exist for all H&A and finals but disappears for one day of the year is living with the pixies.

The home ground advantages does diminish with the Grand Final because a large proportion of the Grand Final crowd are not members or supporters of either side. MCC members make up a large proportion of the crowd (many attend every year), and among the rest of the crowd a large proportion are corporate guests or AFL members. All of these are notionally neutral. Only about 30,000 to 40,000 are members of either side, and again, these are generally allocated in proportion to the memberships of the competing clubs which again diminishes the notional home ground advantage.

The home ground advantage that does exist is if there's an underdog in the Grand Final, when the neutrals will tend to support the underdogs.

[Blood Fever]

If Toby Greene gets suspended for that, GWS should lawyer up and take this MRT to the cleaners.

The game is being run by media

Can't think of another player in the comp who would do what Greene did after receiving a handball. Clever in its own way but not really in the spirit of the game and he should suffer consequences so it is stamped out. Face full of stops(cleats) no fun.

[Blood Fever]

The home ground advantages does diminish with the Grand Final because a large proportion of the Grand Final crowd are not members or supporters of either side. MCC members make up a large proportion of the crowd (many attend every year), and among the rest of the crowd a large proportion are corporate guests or AFL members. All of these are notionally neutral. Only about 30,000 to 40,000 are members of either side, and again, these are generally allocated in proportion to the memberships of the competing clubs which again diminishes the notional home ground advantage.

The home ground advantage that does exist is if there's an underdog in the Grand Final, when the neutrals will tend to support the underdogs.

See your point but Melbourne based players don't have to travel and play on a very familiar ground, in some cases having played more than half their games in the season on it. Joke. Ground should be neutral at leat or on home ground of highest ranked team like every other major competition. NBA, MLB, A league etc.

[Markwebbos]

The home ground advantages does diminish with the Grand Final because a large proportion of the Grand Final crowd are not members or supporters of either side. MCC members make up a large proportion of the crowd (many attend every year), and among the rest of the crowd a large proportion are corporate guests or AFL members. All of these are notionally neutral. Only about 30,000 to 40,000 are members of either side, and again, these are generally allocated in proportion to the memberships of the competing clubs which again diminishes the notional home ground advantage.

The home ground advantage that does exist is if there's an underdog in the Grand Final, when the neutrals will tend to support the underdogs.

Last Grand Final the home ground advantage for the Dogs in terms of crowd was enormous, plus not travelling, ground familiarity and biased umpiring. How many goals was all that worth?

[Blood Fever]

Last Grand Final the home ground advantage for the Dogs in terms of crowd was enormous, plus not travelling, ground familiarity and biased umpiring. How many goals was all that worth?

We got hosed by the umpires in 2012 as well but still got over the line.

[Thunder Shaker]

See your point but Melbourne based players don't have to travel and play on a very familiar ground, in some cases having played more than half their games in the season on it. Joke. Ground should be neutral at leat or on home ground of highest ranked team like every other major competition. NBA, MLB, A league etc.

A good idea in principle, but it won't happen. The AFL relies on the huge capacity of the MCG to make a fortune on the day and most alternative venues lack the capacity. The MCG has the contract to host the Grand Final for the next 20 to 30 years and that contract is unlikely to be broken.

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Last Grand Final the home ground advantage for the Dogs in terms of crowd was enormous, plus not travelling, ground familiarity and biased umpiring. How many goals was all that worth?

Enough to give them the win IMO, but it is hard to point to any particular factor and apportion goals.

[Blood Fever]

A good idea in principle, but it won't happen. The AFL relies on the huge capacity of the MCG to make a fortune on the day and most alternative venues lack the capacity. The MCG has the contract to host the Grand Final for the next 20 to 30 years and that contract is unlikely to be broken.

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Enough to give them the win IMO, but it is hard to point to any particular factor and apportion goals.

Know it won't happen TS but still a farce and extremely annoying . Perhaps there should be a weighting give to non vic teams against Melbourne based teams!

[Matty10]

I don't think it is a farce. Having the GF played at the top ranked team's home when their is inequity in the draw would be worse. At least the GF is known entity that you can plan for (coaches, players and supporters alike). The NFL frequently rotates the Super Bowl location, but there is no real science to it (there is the potential for a home side advantage, but it rarely plays out like that).

I would have no problem if the Grand Final moved to a new host location each year, but I am not concerned by the prospect of an MCG one either.

[KTigers]

If the AFL was a bit more serious about growing the game in Sydney, they'd play the GF at ANZ every so often.
I don't think football would collapse in Melbourne as a result. I imagine most Melbournians would pull through.

[barry]

The home ground advantages does diminish with the Grand Final because a large proportion of the Grand Final crowd are not members or supporters of either side. MCC members make up a large proportion of the crowd (many attend every year), and among the rest of the crowd a large proportion are corporate guests or AFL members. All of these are notionally neutral. Only about 30,000 to 40,000 are members of either side, and again, these are generally allocated in proportion to the memberships of the competing clubs which again diminishes the notional home ground advantage.

The home ground advantage that does exist is if there's an underdog in the Grand Final, when the neutrals will tend to support the underdogs.

Crowd makes up a small part of home ground advantage. It's playing on the ground often, being used to the size and conditions, keeping a normal routine, and all sorts of other small things. Travel, especially back to back travel is especially difficult to overcome.

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Last Grand Final the home ground advantage for the Dogs in terms of crowd was enormous, plus not travelling, ground familiarity and biased umpiring. How many goals was all that worth?

Yes, the 7th ranked team got to host the 1st ranked team. In any comp in the world that is crazy.

[707]

I find it remarkable that people are talking up Richmond's premiership chances. To win the premiership, Richmond will need to win 3 finals. They have only won two finals in over 30 years and they haven't won a final since 2001. Their bigger finals win since 1982 was by 13 points, a 1995 semi final against Essendon. Their other finals win was by 11 points in 2001 against Carlton. Their last four finals were all losses, which is the longest streak of finals losses in their history.

Ah Wretchmond, you can rely on them falling over their own shoe laces at critical times, it's why no one takes them seriously.

Got a full side and can't beat a savagely depleted Geelong. Haven't helped our top 4 cause either. Looking very much like 6th unless we can beat Crows next week.