So the first round of the Foxtel Cup is over and the first teams have now been sent back to their respective leagues, able to enjoy their byes for the rest of the year. Of the 16 teams that took part this year, only eight remain. So what have we learnt so far?
I think the biggest thing is the wide gap between the quality of the WAFL, SANFL, VFL and the rest of the country. There were some massive floggings in there, even the AFL-bound GWS team was beaten soundly by the Bullants. There were no upset wins, although no one expected the Thunder to demolish Morningside at a neutral venue.
The surprise package could be the Thunder, bolstered by boom recruit, former Adelaide Crows gun Andrew McLeod. They would appear to be on a different level to the rest of the non-AFL heartland states, which will come as good news to the AFL Northern Territory and its hard working administrators who oversee the Thunders program.
We learnt that the AFL doesn’t like fixturing extra games at the Gabba, no Queensland team played a home game, both were sent to AAMI Stadium despite both being scheduled for the Gabba. All South Australian teams except Port Adelaide played at home, while Claremont travelled to Tasmania. Of the Victorian teams, only the Bullants played in Melbourne.
We’ve learnt that the quarter finals will throw up some oddities in the fixture. Williamstown, who won their round away against Swan Districts, will play away again in Adelaide despite theoretically being the home team, and West Adelaide is already playing at home against Ainslie. In addition, Claremont will play the Bullants at Metricon Stadium on the Gold Coast despite Claremont not playing at home last round – and neither side being from Queensland.
We’ve learnt that of the eight games played, five drew reasonably good ratings compared to the NRLS Toyota Cup, and we should expect this to pick up again next year with some tweaking.
Finally, we’ve learnt that the Cup overall probably needs a few changes before the QLD/NSW/ACT and Tasmanian sides get fed up with being thrashed every year.
Foxtel Cup quarter final fixtures:
QF1. May 28th – NT Thunder versus East Perth Royals (TIO Stadium, Darwin).
QF2. June 4th – Williamstown versus West Adelaide (AAMI Stadium or City Mazda Stadium, Adelaide).
QF3. June 11th – Claremont versus Northern Bullants (Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast).
QF4. June 18th – Port Adelaide versus North Adelaide (Adelaide Oval, Adelaide).
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