- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
With the first week of the finals approaching those at AFL house have some important decisions to make. As the ladder currently stands (or without Essendon) all four matches of week one will be played in Victoria, more specifically Melbourne.
Presently Hawthorn, Geelong, Collingwood and one Essendon or Richmond will ‘host’ finals as a reward for their first, second, fifth or sixth place finish.
Four games in Melbourne is something the AFL doesn’t want. The MCG, while capable of hosting four games will only host three, leaving Etihad to host the final match.
Of the hosts Hawthorn, Collingwood and Richmond call the MCG home, while Geelong split their Melbourne home games.
The Essendon situation will become clearer, most likely tomorrow but its unlikely James Hird’s men will be required for finals this September.
This creates one big dilemma in assessing the finals draw. Fairness and finishing position tells us that the lowest ‘home’ team will be Richmond, and they will play a low drawing non Victorian club, Port Adelaide.
Good luck selling that to the 60,000 member of the Yellow and Black faithful that after 13 years of live without finals football they will play at Etihad.
This simply won’t happen.
The other options, Hawthorn and Collingwood are not an option to play at Etihad. Both teams are drawcards to the AFL and will attract big crowds to the home of football.
Both clubs have access to big membership bases, and call the MCG home. Both will be cash cows for the AFL, and they will be hoping both clubs go deep into September.
That leaves Geelong, the power club of the last seven years. Even though the club have played arguably the best football ever produced by a group of players in the modern era they don’t attract the same numbers as the other clubs.
The game on the weekend against last season’s premiers Sydney attracted 28,459 which is an attractive figure, but not the type of numbers the AFL are looking for.
This year the club will again play Fremantle in the finals, a fixture that only attracted less than 45,000 fans. This will concern the league, especially when a Richmond fixture can attract more than 60,000 fans.
So what’s the solution? The accountants at AFL house would say to play Geelong v Fremantle at Etihad and allow Hawthorn, Collingwood and Richmond to play at the MCG. Geelong play the occasional game at Etihad, they seem the perfect fit.
Here comes the curve ball, why not play at Kardinia Park, Simonds Stadium?
The stadium now has the capability to host twilight and night matches and is a jewel in the Geelong crown. The stadium renovations may not be fully complete, but what the club currently has is more that viable to be a finals venue.
Geelong will finish second on the ladder, and deserve a home final, but this won’t happen.
Fairness and integrity are hardly strong suits of the AFL.
Each year we (the fans) deal with a lopsided fixture built around blockbuster and derby matches.
We all know Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon will play each other twice, its worth too much to the AFL not to do this. Fairness would be a full home and away fixture where all teams play each other twice, something that won’t happen.
The Essendon saga had also left its mark on the league and will do for many years to come.
The tanking fiasco at Melbourne, handing down a $500,000 fine without a guilty verdict was just a stark reminder about who runs the game.
The AFL will choose who plays finals matches where and when and fairness of the finishing place won’t come into play.
Geelong will be forced to play Fremantle at a virtual neutral venue, Etihad stadium because this is what is good for the AFL and will attract the most fans in week one.
If this was a fair playing field Geelong would be playing Fremantle at Simonds Stadium, the league toughest road trip; but we know fair isn’t on the AFL’s agenda.
Who’s in your ultimate team? Pick the best team and compete with other fans for daily prizes on Draftstars. For the best odds on the game try out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Think. Is this a bet you really want to place? Set a deposit limit.