Every year we hear the same gripes about Collingwood not travelling enough when the AFL fixture is announced. Well, with the 2012 AFL regular season draw to be revealed on Friday morning, there’s already some of the familiar grumblings.
The AFL has deliberately leaked parts of their draw for 2012 ahead of the official announcement, including news that the Pies won’t be required to make the long trip to Perth at all during next year’s regular season.
However, what has been overlooked in all this is that Collingwood will actually make five inter-state trips next year.
Indeed, as the AFL becomes more of a national competition with the introduction of Gold Coast and GWS, clubs will need to get used to travelling interstate. As a West Australian, it’s a topic which has long been close to me (pardon the pun).
The fact that West Coast and Fremantle have had to make 10 interstate trips per season in comparison to some clubs who’ve previously only made three, has often seemed incredibly unfair. Ex-Dockers coach Mark Harvey was one who voiced his dissatisfaction with the situation in the past, although his grievances were mostly ignored as there’s no simple solution to the discrepancy.
While the AFL say publicly their number one aim with the fixture is ‘fairness’, they unashamedly admit that ‘maximising crowds’ plays a huge influence and as a result the AFL will always want to schedule the big-drawing Victorian clubs predominantly in Melbourne.
The likes of Collingwood, Carlton or Essendon will never be sent to trial games in Darwin, Tasmania, Canberra or Cairns for this very reason, hence the majority of their fixtures will be in their home state. In 2011, the Pies and Blues made only four interstate trips (Collingwood’s first in Round 14), while the Bombers made five.
However, there is a strong argument that for the AFL’s fixture to actually meet the supposed top criteria of ‘fairness’, then all clubs should be required to have five interstate trips per season. That would be a non-negotiable.
And with 10 non-Victorian clubs in the AFL in 2012, that makes a lot of sense.
Of course, there’s sure to be several other talking points of the 2012 AFL draw, including who faces expected easybeats GWS and Gold Coast twice, thrice or even four times.
According to those who’ve been privy to a glance at the fixtures, Adelaide are the lucky side who get four cracks at the newboys, which should result in 16 points.
On the topic of GWS, there’s also the discussion about the AFL’s newest franchise opening the 2012 season with a stand-alone fixture – up against the NRL’s opening round – where they would face city rivals Sydney Swans.
I’ve previously stated I don’t think the idea is a sound one, but all will be revealed when the AFL makes public the draw on Friday.
NeeDeep
Roar Pro
The big thing to consider in all of this, is where are the interstate trips to? Collingwood haven't played twice in Perth in the one year, since 2002 - from memory! Yet last year, was the first time in recent years that I can remember, where I haven't had the opportunity to watch St. Kilda live in action, twice! North Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs are also teams that nearly every year make the trip West, twice. Collingwood hopping on a plane to zip up to Sydney for a 14 day holiday, mid-season, or popping over to Adelaide on a 45 minute flight, twice a year is a pretty poor match up for 2 trips to Perth, by those other clubs, nearly every year. The interstate teams new the conditions when they applied for their licenses and that included the travel requirements. So, no real issue there and if the AFL continues to push for a fairer fixture, then they have to cop what they get at the minute and be patient. Eventually the AFL will get out to 20 teams. In the menatime, they should settle on 3 six team divisions and you will play everyone once, plus the other 5 teams in your own division, a second time. That way if you play Fremantle or Brisbane at home this year, you play them away next year - end of argument. The teams in your division you play home and away in the one year. Splitting the competition into the 3 divisions is where some thought needs to go into it. Do you put West Coast and Freo in the same division to ensure 2 derbies and reduce their travel? The 2 Adelaide teams - the same? Do you then throw them in with West Coast & Freo and which 2 Melbourne teams go into that division and have a truckload of travel to contend with? Do we separate those teams and only have 1 Showdown / Derby a year? Can we put Collingwood, Carlton, Essendon into one division and who goes in with them? Anyway, worth some thought?
DanielS
Guest
all you need to read in my post is the stuff about no team playing Against both GWS and GC twice this season. I do agree that Gold Coast are going to put up a fight next season. how ever they are still going to have some big margins. They proved one thing, the side did not have any endurance last year, and i still predict it to remain a problem. My last sentence is just to remind ben, that the Crows are also going to play Port, a team that was lucky to not of won the spoon last year, twice any way, they are the AFL will most likley not give them 6 games against the worst 3 teams
stabpass
Guest
This post made me laugh, well actually it was the guys name !, and i have only had 3 beers.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Lazza You are misreading why the millionaires are coming in to buy EPL clubs. They foresee a future where the bigger EPL clubs will mimic what the likes of Real, Barca, Juve and the Milan clubs already do - take the bulk of the TV money and leave dregs for the rest.
Timmuh
Roar Guru
When the AFL live up to their promise and charter a flight to Tasmania (never seems to happen for Freo) the extra time in the plane is minimal; almost made up for with less time on the bus once on the ground. Not ensuring direct flights are available to any game is a complete dereliction of duty on behalf of the AFL. Its not like the league is at immediate risk of running at a loss.
lazza you fool
Guest
so man u man city and chelse play each other 30 times...? who cares what the epl draw is i can already tell you who will win 10years prior to the season that seems fair to me
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Cal you have my vote for that last suggestion.
Benchwarmer
Guest
"And with 10 non-Victorian clubs in the AFL in 2012, that makes a lot of sense." What? Is this a mis-calculation or typing error. Last I heard there is only 8 non-victorian clubs.
me, I like football
Guest
I have previously done the maths for this and 5 interstate games for Vic clubs is the magic number no more no less . This is not including games where a club has sold home games interstate 8 (non Vic clubs) x 11 (home games) = 88 (games played outside Victoria) 88 (games played outside Victoria) - 8 (derbies) = 80 (games played outside Victoria against interstate sides) 80 (games played outside Victoria against interstate sides) / 16 (interstate sides) = 5 (interstate games per a Victorian club).
Cal
Guest
Collingwood could be forced to play on the moon and people would still whine about them. There is not, and never has been any genuine substance to any of the complaints about Collingwood's draw. If we were to use the judgement of complainers as a guide to fixturing, Collingwood would start with -20 points and not be allowed to field more than 12 players.
stabpass
Guest
I agree with a equitable draw, i dont think anyone doesn't, i just cannot see it happening. BTW, i know a little bit about ice hockey and Canadians getting naturalised quickly, there are ways and means around everything, one rule leads to another, and the bigger your league becomes, the more complex your rules become.
Lucan
Guest
Player fatigue can be addressed by list management, and smarter game plans. Remember there was a time we played with no bench, then a single substitute, before a 2 player interchage system came in. Money talks to the MCC, we've had back-to-back October Grand Finals which the MCC happily pocketed large wads of cash from. The AFL has even floated a third Melbourne stadium at E-Gate for the smaller drawing matches, which it would own exclusively and operate.
Lazza
Guest
What if you have 4 or 5 strong teams in one season? Playing most of the top 8 sides twice and the bottom 8 only once is going to be a serious disadvantage. What about the make up of the final 8? If you got an unlucky draw and miss out on the finals then coaches, players get sacked. Is that fair?
Lucan
Guest
Keeping the discussion to the draw/fixture, these leagues do what was asked. In recent years the NBL has gone as are far as implementing a cap on the quality of players in each squad, beyond the $$ cap. Even in the AIHL current semi-pro format there is a cap on the number of imports permitted. When the NBL was huge in the '90's they had a cap on the number of imports also. Caps and fair draws needn't be mutually exclusive. The AFL could silence a heap of knockers by addressing the fixture issue.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Why? Because the AFL deal with the MCG goes till 2038; about one third of all AFL games are played there; and cricket has the lease on it from 1 Oct till the 3rd week in March. There would be similar leasing deals with the SCG and the Gabba. And, most importantly - players are glad of it because they can't physically play any more games. How many marathons do marathon runners run per annum? And in truth, the fans probably prefer it as well. That's the cycle of life in Australia.
stabpass
Guest
A fair and equitable draw, does not mean a fair and equitable comp, in fact a inequitable draw may be benificial in creating a equal comp. And a fair and equitable draw, without a salary cap means diddly squat.
Lucan
Guest
Why do we so readily accept the AFL only has 27 weeks to fit the season? This is the biggest and richest sport in the land. By the time the next rights comes around they may have even greater pull with venue availability.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
People - it's very simple: The AFL has 27 weeks to play around with a full season. It spreads 22 rounds over 23 weeks, and has 4 weeks of finals - there are no other free weekends, and in any event, the players are quite adamant that 26 games is the maximum that they will play, and they need a minimum of 6 days recovery between games. So talk of 17 rounds, or 34 rounds, or even 25 rounds, are pointless discussions. Also, worrying about what soccer and baseball does is just as pointless. I mean fair dinkum people, in baseball you can play two games in one evening - a bit of a difference don't you think?? But here's the killer point, you can look carefully at last year, analyse it to the nth degree, and it's very clear that the two best teams made the grand final, regardless of the draw - did not impact things one iota - the case is way, way overstated.
Lazza
Guest
Ian, that's why UEFA have brought in their 'Financial Fair Play" rules starting next season. If you make a huge loss you'll be banned from playing in the European Cup competitions. All those American, Arab and Russian billionaires are buying EPL clubs because they can see the huge potential in Global brands like EPL clubs. The coming overseas TV rights are expected to be worth more than the domestic UK rights for the first time and are growing larger with each round.
stabpass
Guest
If you are referring to Lazza's comment " A fair and equitable draw and a fair and equitable league. Everyone operates by the same rules, that’s fair". Then i would again ask the question, show me a league that operates like this, many comps may have fair and equitable draws, but do they all operate under the same salary cap, do they have a draft, do they have the same size list, rules etc, if not it becomes a free for all, and money wins out. I dont think you can compare the Australian ice hockey/baseball league to the AFL, and if those leagues were quite big, what rules do you think they would have in place about foreign players, salary caps etc.