The AFL - a national competition? (split thread)

[Bloods05]

I agree with what was said earlier in the thread , I as a Melbourne swans fan am conflicted by the MCG arrangement. On the one hand it is definitely unfair on the rest of the competition outside of Victoria ( assuming a Vic team makes the big dance ). On the other hand , like it or not , Victoria is essentially the home of football. This is the state that has football attendances through the roof week in , week out. Footy season starts and it’s rare that you cannot find someone to chat about the game with. Many People plan their social life around watching the big games over the weekend , it is religion here . You could argue the same for SA and WA but they are more state focused in their interest. They love their AFL teams but other than that many prefer to watch their state league teams as opposed to the other AFL games that don’t involve their respective sides. Every pub, bar , backyard or living room in Melbourne is going to be packed to the rafters on Saturday , as it is every year on GF day . The love of the game here is fanatical , and Melbourne people turn out in force to events. It is the reason touring bands will schedule their @@@@ter slots ( Monday’s , Tuesday’s ) in Melbourne as opposed to other states. They will sell out regardless. Doesn’t matter when or where or what time , if it’s an event , you will get a turn out in Melbourne. The idea of a Aussie rules GF in Sydney is almost laughable. A grand final parade , who would turn up ? NRL attendances are a disgrace in comparison and yet their tv attendances are huge. SA and WA have great AFL attendances but they are two team towns. Would you reschedule the Boxing Day test ? Move the Australian open interstate ? Yes , that wouldn’t impact on fairness I get that , but if you look past that a little it is pretty mad to think of the grand final anywhere other than the G ( and I hope the eagles win to highlight the fact that on this day , it becomes somewhat more of a neutral venue ). I know the Sydney based swans on here are mad footy fans too but you can’t tell me when the SCG sells out it is full of rusted on Aussie rules fans. You can’t tell me anyone in SA now gives a toss about the GF. QLD ? Forget about it. WA obviously are involved but if the eagles weren’t in , I doubt there would be obsessive interest in it like there is , and always is , in Melbourne. I know this is going to be pretty unpopular with a few but it is pretty black and white for me. Can anyone who has attended the GF at the MCG honestly imagine that at any other stadium , in any other state in Australia ? It’s a pilgrimage , the buzz in the air is electric , and regardless of whether it is Sydney v west coast , Geelong v St Kilda , freo v hawthorn , that doesn’t change. Again, it is unfair, but for the sake of a magnificent tradition , in a footy obsessed town , in the biggest and oldest and grandest stadium in the country , I’m comfortable with it. The same way I’m comfortable with the rugby league GF being held in Sydney. Despite it disadvantage the storm.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yep. Said it all.

[Blood Fever]

I agree with what was said earlier in the thread , I as a Melbourne swans fan am conflicted by the MCG arrangement. On the one hand it is definitely unfair on the rest of the competition outside of Victoria ( assuming a Vic team makes the big dance ). On the other hand , like it or not , Victoria is essentially the home of football. This is the state that has football attendances through the roof week in , week out. Footy season starts and it’s rare that you cannot find someone to chat about the game with. Many People plan their social life around watching the big games over the weekend , it is religion here . You could argue the same for SA and WA but they are more state focused in their interest. They love their AFL teams but other than that many prefer to watch their state league teams as opposed to the other AFL games that don’t involve their respective sides. Every pub, bar , backyard or living room in Melbourne is going to be packed to the rafters on Saturday , as it is every year on GF day . The love of the game here is fanatical , and Melbourne people turn out in force to events. It is the reason touring bands will schedule their @@@@ter slots ( Monday’s , Tuesday’s ) in Melbourne as opposed to other states. They will sell out regardless. Doesn’t matter when or where or what time , if it’s an event , you will get a turn out in Melbourne. The idea of a Aussie rules GF in Sydney is almost laughable. A grand final parade , who would turn up ? NRL attendances are a disgrace in comparison and yet their tv attendances are huge. SA and WA have great AFL attendances but they are two team towns. Would you reschedule the Boxing Day test ? Move the Australian open interstate ? Yes , that wouldn’t impact on fairness I get that , but if you look past that a little it is pretty mad to think of the grand final anywhere other than the G ( and I hope the eagles win to highlight the fact that on this day , it becomes somewhat more of a neutral venue ). I know the Sydney based swans on here are mad footy fans too but you can’t tell me when the SCG sells out it is full of rusted on Aussie rules fans. You can’t tell me anyone in SA now gives a toss about the GF. QLD ? Forget about it. WA obviously are involved but if the eagles weren’t in , I doubt there would be obsessive interest in it like there is , and always is , in Melbourne. I know this is going to be pretty unpopular with a few but it is pretty black and white for me. Can anyone who has attended the GF at the MCG honestly imagine that at any other stadium , in any other state in Australia ? It’s a pilgrimage , the buzz in the air is electric , and regardless of whether it is Sydney v west coast , Geelong v St Kilda , freo v hawthorn , that doesn’t change. Again, it is unfair, but for the sake of a magnificent tradition , in a footy obsessed town , in the biggest and oldest and grandest stadium in the country , I’m comfortable with it. The same way I’m comfortable with the rugby league GF being held in Sydney. Despite it disadvantage the storm.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

GF would have been huge in Adelaide last year and Perth this year rewarding the highest ranked team. Richmond were hailed as heroes but could easily have lost in Adelaide. Same thing happened to Eagles in 2015 after beating Hawks in Perth in QF. Could happen again this year with Eagles v Pies. Disgracefully unfair for a national comp whichever way you slice it. Can't be smoothed over. Minuscule mention of it in Melbourne this week. Joke.

[Melbourne_Blood]

GF would have been huge in Adelaide last year and Perth this year rewarding the highest ranked team. Richmond were hailed as heroes but could easily have lost in Adelaide. Same thing happened to Eagles in 2015 after beating Hawks in Perth in QF. Could happen again this year with Eagles v Pies. Disgracefully unfair for a national comp whichever way you slice it. Can't be smoothed over. Minuscule mention of it in Melbourne this week. Joke.

Huge as in exactly half of what it would have been at the G, and factor in corporates then exactly half again of actual fans getting a ticket. Not a great result I wouldn’t have thought.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Blood Fever]

Huge as in exactly half of what it would have been at the G, and factor in corporates then exactly half again of actual fans getting a ticket. Not a great result I wouldn’t have thought.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Integrity of the actual match is what is paramount I would have thought.

[Melbourne_Blood]

Integrity of the actual match is what is paramount I would have thought.

So there have been 10 non Vic teams win the flag in the past 20 years , would you argue all the losers from non Vic teams in that time would have won had the game been played outside of Vic ( assuming that it was their right to a home grand final for finishing higher , and then again assuming it wasn’t against a higher ranking non Vic team, who would then assume hosing rights ?)

[CureTheSane]

I live in Melbourne and here's what I think.
The AFL being a 'Victorian sport' is rubbish.
Regardless of the state of the AFL being a national competition, SA has a thriving competition with the most successful club at that level (Port)
That the VFL were able to make the leap and take the state game nationwide is due to the size of the population only.

It's completely fair that the GF is located in another state.
Whether WC should have it this year because they finished slightly higher on the ladder is much less relevant than two interstate teams playing in a third state.
To be fair, there should be some other way of defining which state the GF is played in. Perhaps the highest average winning margin in the finals?
This is however less relevant to me as I really don't like the finals structure much.
I'm loath to state at this time of year as it can be seen as reactionary to the Swans being booted out of the finals, but I really think there should be a playoff system.
This whole "play 22 rounds and then lose the next game and you're out" will hold the game back as we move forward, much like 20/20 will kill off one dayers and then tests.
The AFL needs to keep the excitement pumping, and I'm not necessarily putting forward suggestions, or a model for that, just sayin'

[barry]

So Collingwood are hot TAB favourite over west coast who have played two finals for two wins, one of them against... Collingwood.
Neutral venue my arse.

[barry]

Huge as in exactly half of what it would have been at the G, and factor in corporates then exactly half again of actual fans getting a ticket. Not a great result I wouldn’t have thought.

A grand final in Perth would be massive this week. Probably better than Melbourne because of the novelty of only rarely happening. Same with adelaide.
Slight risk with Melbourne and Sydney but small price for the rare chance it would happen. It would grow the game massively if it happened. A Swans V GWS grand final seriously would be bigger if hosted in Sydney than Melbourne.

[Melbourne_Blood]

A grand final in Perth would be massive this week. Probably better than Melbourne because of the novelty of only rarely happening. Same with adelaide.
Slight risk with Melbourne and Sydney but small price for the rare chance it would happen. It would grow the game massively if it happened. A Swans V GWS grand final seriously would be bigger if hosted in Sydney than Melbourne.

I’ve made my points , all I can say is that I disagree barry. You can try to bring octoberfest to other countries but until you go to Munich, it isn’t the same


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Blood Fever]

So there have been 10 non Vic teams win the flag in the past 20 years , would you argue all the losers from non Vic teams in that time would have won had the game been played outside of Vic ( assuming that it was their right to a home grand final for finishing higher , and then again assuming it wasn’t against a higher ranking non Vic team, who would then assume hosing rights ?)

Since 2004, three non Victorian teams have won the flag- Port, Swans(2) and Eagles. In three of those four GFs, there were only non Vic teams so in effect they were played on a neutral ground - no problem with that. In 2012 Hawks were ranked higher and played on their home ground - no problem with that - we played out of our skins and they kicked poorly. Similarly, Hawks had home ground v Dockers in 2013 and us (pretty sure) in 2014 - no drama. 2015,2017,2018 non Vic team ranked higher and won their QFs but forced to travel and play on home ground of opposition . 2016 similar for us - not on home ground but in hyped up home city of lower ranked Bulldogs. Not remotely fair whichever way you look at it. Inflexible system based on parochial political considerations by Vic government -2057 FFS! Notional National competition.

[Blood Fever]

A grand final in Perth would be massive this week. Probably better than Melbourne because of the novelty of only rarely happening. Same with adelaide.
Slight risk with Melbourne and Sydney but small price for the rare chance it would happen. It would grow the game massively if it happened. A Swans V GWS grand final seriously would be bigger if hosted in Sydney than Melbourne.

Common sense to do the above but too much for AFL to get over Melbourne insularity and the MCG sacred cow.

[Melbourne_Blood]

Look the sad fact is the grand final is always going to be about the event, and as long as that is the case that event will be at the MCG. In Melbourne where events are the lifeblood of the city , and Melbourne do it better then any other city in the county ( although Adelaide are making a case ) We can whinge until the cows come home , that event is going to be at the MCG. Yes it is unfair , it hasn’t stopped the better team winning before and i can’t recall a GF where this fact has cost the other team the game. You make it to the big dance and you are better on the day or you are not. Yes we lost to the dogs here with some terrible umpiring having an influence but the fact is we had half a side not turn up. Scars from 2014, poor coaching , who knows. If it was held at ANZ , if we played like that we would not have won.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[barry]

I’ve made my points , all I can say is that I disagree barry. You can try to bring octoberfest to other countries but until you go to Munich, it isn’t the same


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Strange analogy.

[Melbourne_Blood]

Strange analogy.

If you don’t get that I can’t help you , you also prefer ANZ stadium ( yuk ) over the SCG so again, can’t help you


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Bloods05]

If you don’t get that I can’t help you , you also prefer ANZ stadium ( yuk ) over the SCG so again, can’t help you


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Barracks for 2 teams too. Each to their own.