Listening to SEN this morning, I was staggered by some of the arguments from presenter Kevin Bartlett on the Laws of the Game committee, making me question if age is starting to get the better of him.
Arguments included:
“They don’t play quality opposition down there.”
“It should be in Melbourne.”
“They only play teams like GWS and Gold Coast down there.”
“The highest attendance they have got there this year is 31,000 at a 34,000 capacity stadium.”
“They don’t play teams like Collingwood, Hawthorn or Carlton down there.”
Many of these points, to be, sounded like the ramblings of a mad man. If teams such as Sydney and Fremantle are not quality opposition, then I don’t know who is.
31,000 out of 34,000 isn’t too bad an attendance either, I believe. Given the fact that Simonds Stadium is approximately one-third of the MCG’s size, how many times has the MCG got over 93,000 people this year?
Is it also Geelong’s fault that the AFL prefers to schedule their home games against large Melbourne clubs in Melbourne?
The AFL now suggests it’s likely a Geelong V Fremantle qualifying final would be played at Simonds Stadium, which is sure to annoy Fremantle supporters for reasons other than President Steve Harris’s claim that it would stop 10,000 people from attending the game.
This is despite the AFL crowd modelling predicting a crowd of only 30,000-34,000 should the game be hosted at the Etihad Stadium, which, it should be mentioned, is Geelong’s third home ground behind Simonds and the MCG.
A more likely reason for Harris’ comments is the fact that Fremantle’s winning record under Ross Lyon at the Etihad is extremely good, while Ross Lyon’s winning record at the Etihad in his whole coaching career is also extremely good.
If the MCG is unavailable, as it appears is likely, why make the likely second place Geelong play their home final at the Etihad just to suit Fremantle, when it is likely to limit at most a few hundred spectators from going?
Given that this is also very possibly the only opportunity Geelong will have to host a final in the years to come, I say bring it on.
Of course, if Sydney beat Hawthorn and Geelong beat Brisbane, or Fremantle beat St. Kilda and Geelong loses to Brisbane, this entire article will be nothing more than a “what if” for Geelong fans to ponder for years to come.
peter rollins
Guest
Well done Freos, best result of the year. The bullies finally got bullied. What a wonderful day.
Throbbing
Guest
Can we play at Simmonds Stadium every week?
peter rollins
Guest
Ross should rest 15 players this week and start his finals campaign the following week. Two can play at this game. (Carlton supporter)
the ashman
Guest
I suspect Geelong secretly applied some pressure to have the game shifted from Melbourne all of a sudden. The poor Cats had a collective dose of the Ryan Crowleys, in other words they had already given up on beating Freo at Etihad.
auusianni
Guest
How would they have addressed this if Simonds wasn't upgraded??? Oh dear they would have have to put up with Ethiad or G! Poor Geelong - Bring it on Any Place Any Time Any One - Go Docks we're travelling over and only just got on a flight - there must be quite a lot coming over
Andrew A
Guest
The AFL will make more money with a Simonds Stadium final with 30,000 compared to 45,000 at Etihad or MCG. They need the money to help pay for Paul Roos coaching salary at Melbourne.
Balthazar
Guest
No it's not being ticketed fairly if the papers todayare correct in saying 4000 tickets are allocated to Freo. It doesn't matter whether it is harder to travel from Perth. The question is: are Freo fans who want to travel being given the opportunity? And Vlad saying that only 1000 Freo fans travelled over lasy year made me choke. I travel interstate for Freo games. Leaving aside Patersons, I have never seen as low as 1000 fans at the SCG, ANZ or any Melbourne ground, and that's for home and away games.
Jack Smith
Roar Guru
Agree. but again refer to Connor's point. He is right all the way. No way they would hold a final at Skoda in a years. ANZ can hold x3.5 more...I can imagine a Swans v Giants finals match..ah glorious. Imagine Brisbane v GCS too. Simply awesome...
Jack Smith
Roar Guru
Freo are whinging are bit, its not a great frame if mind to have. THE ACTUAL REASON SIMONDS IS BEING CHOSEN IS = 4 finals in Melbourne. If there were two, maybe even three, then finals would be at MCG and Etihad respectively. Thing is it is too hard for them to get both grounds clean in time between the two. So...they'll host it at Simonds. I thin the cleaning of the ground MAINLY applies to Etihad.
Matt G
Guest
I was saying that they werent prejudiced against specifically fremantle they just acknowledged that a fremantle game would draw less numbers and the game could fit at simonds stadium.Fremantle has a lot of members but not a huge number that can travel for a final. (simply because of the distance from Perth to Victoria) Whereas travelling from Sydney- Melbourne is easier and there are more Sydney supporters in Victoria so there would be more people at a Sydney/Geelong game than a Fremantle/Geelong game (IN VICTORIA NOT IN PERTH) And yes the travel arrangements are difficult for freo supporters but it would be the exact same for Geelong supoorters going the other way, Geelong earned that advantage. And the game IS being ticketed fairly, Fremantle members have the same access as Geelong members. Also its not geelongs fault it plays at three home grounds and this can be seen as a disadvantage because they dont really have any specific home ground. Im sure were it up to geelong they would play all games at simonds the afl just wants max crowds at big games in victoria. And fremantle oval isnt even a proper venue it is the same as other wafl ovals that have a grandstand and a couple of extra seats and its NOT an AFL venue. If fremantle want to develop it like geelong has done with simonds then that is their call. And the game last year had about 10000 MCC members with a finals series ticket not Geelong/Freo supporters which is different this year. Also geelong has said its happy to play at etihad and i personally think they should be able to play at the MCG considering they finished second on the ladder but understand that its not possible with the numbers expected at the other games. And finally, a home ground advantage is only slight, when a team plays well their home ground is a fortress (West Coast last year, Fremantle this year, Geelong this year), but when they play badly it doesnt really matter (West Coast this year), so Simonds Stadium being a fortress is only because Geelong have been a great team and when they start to be less successful the ground will just be another ground in the scheme of things. PS I am a Geelong supporter living in Perth
Connor
Roar Rookie
That's exactly what I was going to say, until I saw that you'd got in first :)
Connor
Guest
several hundred dollars? From etihad, which is right next to southern cross station, they can get a $15 dollar return ticket from southern cross to Geelong. Thats not "several hundred dollars".
Connor
Guest
no, its the home of football and australian cricket
Price Grey
Guest
At the risk of bringing some sanity to this rag I bring the following point: freo doesnt care we we play or who we play but when eyebrows makes a decision that singles out a specific team for his treatment all clubs should start worrying. He has gone on the record as confirming a Simmonds Stadium match for Geelong will occur as long as it was Fremantle playing - not Sydney.....not Hawthorne...not anyone else - just good old Fremantle. With that kind of bias I wonder which feral umpires will be chosen to officiate?
Paul Young (Adelaide)
Guest
Demetriou mischievously claims that the game would only have attracted between 28,000 and 30,000 yet last the same two teams attracted 45,000 to a final at the MCGin 2012. Fremantle's memberships are up, their crowds are up and they have attracted good crowds in Melbourne. So it is reasonable to expect a crowd in excess of 40,000 for this match. Simons is a boutique stadium designed for 30,000 (max) Geelong home & away games where 90% of the crowd are Geelong membership holders. It doesn't have an adequate ticketing system for finals ticket allocation & the catering system struggles even when there's 25,000 there. AFL members would have swelled the crowd had it been held at Etihad - a purpose built ground for the AFL. Geelong based AFL members now have to vie with the other 30,000 Geelong members plus another 10,000 Fremantle supporters. The ground will be sold out within a few hours preventing thousands from attending. The other major issue is the total disregard for Freo supporters who not only have travel arrangements to Melbourne but now have to organise travel to Geelong probably adding several hundred dollars to the trip. Many are going to miss out because the allocation will be insufficient. Just sees an unnecessary impost on Femante fans when there is an alternative based in the Melbourne CBD. Etihad is a world class stadium with a capacity of 50,000 that would have comfortably seated every fan that wanted to attend the game. It is a farcical decision to leave Etihad vacant during the first week of finals.
peter rollins
Guest
The Geelong Rubbernecks have done it again, always looking for an advantage. Dont think this was the AFLs doing, behind the scenes Geelong would have made the first move.
Dave
Guest
The AFL's priorities (according to their own charter) is to provide a home STATE not ground advantage and to allow maximum attendance - which clearly would have happened at Etihad. AFL saw an opportunity to give Etihad a political kick and took it. Hopefully it pisses down on Sat, the crowd gets drenched and Freo win. If Freo lose I look forward to watching them at Freo oval next week. Bloody joke.
Fractured
Guest
It is considered the home of football by Victorians...
reader
Guest
Well said Balthazar. Freo do not care where they play and in fact the size of simonds probably suits freo better. However, you cannot have Geelong play at simonds only against a handful of sides. Supporters want a fair competition. Freo plays its home finals at Patersons because that is it's home ground for all teams. Geelong apparently has 3 home grounds depending on the opposition. You'd think a clash between two top four sides held in victoria would be at the MCG. The AFL should have worked this out earlier so that that could happen. What happens if one day hawthorn, Richmond, collingwood and Carlton have home finals. Andy D and his pals are paid well enough to work it out.
Ronaldo
Guest
GWS and the Suns would play there too.