I’m an Adelaide Crows fan and I’m pissed off. For the fourth year in a row, a non-Victorian team has been robbed of winning the premiership by the AFL’s biased insistence on playing every grand final at the MCG.
The last four grand finals in a row have all seen interstate teams who finished higher on the ladder forced to play what should have been their home grand final at the MCG for no reason other than the AFL’s continued commitment to giving Victorian sides a leg up wherever possible.
It has resulted in four consecutive grand final losses for non-Vic sides, despite all of them going in as favourites of the day. Coincidence? My fat arse it is.
Sydney in 2014, West Coast in 2015 and now my Crows have all been beaten badly on the big stage because they clearly weren’t able to maintain their intensity and gameplan when moving to a ground they almost never get the chance to play at.
(AAP Image/Julian Smith)
In the case of all three sides they won two finals at home to make it through to the grand final and in doing so built up a comfortable rhythm of playing at their home ground and winning while doing so.
As the teams that finished higher on the ladder in those years they had a right to maintain that rhythm with another game at home but instead were forced into a break in momentum which badly damaged their form and robbed them of a real chance to win the flag.
You can’t tell me that the Crows wouldn’t have slaughtered the Tigers by ten goals minimum if yesterday’s grand final had been played at Adelaide Oval, where it rightly should’ve been – we already did that earlier this year!
Instead a big Victorian club got spoonfed a premiership gifted three finals in a row at the MCG despite having earned the right to a home ground advantage in only one of them. Pathetic!
The AFL – which is really still just the VFL – may want non-Vic teams in the competition to ensure a nation-wide market to put TV advertising in front of, but it draws the line at us having a fair and equal chance to win the flag.
Perhaps it’s time for a breakaway comp featuring the eight non-Vic sides where the highest qualifier hosts the grand final every year, as the rule always should be. It would be a higher quality competition than the one left behind.
That way the VFL can be guaranteed a Victorian winner every single year, and won’t they just be over the moon with that?
Mike
Guest
It is a known fact that Victorian umpires are very biased or one sided whenever interstate teams play in Melbourne and they don't like SA teams. And most Victorians including their football teams don't like South Australians either, it is a jealous rival attitude and mentality that has been going on for many years. The AFL hierarchy are also biased as the AFL HQ is base in Melbourne.
Roger Gambitt
Roar Rookie
Those supporters will have to urge their teams to do better the next year.
Roger Gambitt
Roar Rookie
+1
Roger Gambitt
Roar Rookie
Change will only happen if the interstate teams can break away and form their own league. They are big enought to survive and Melbourne teams will faulter financially.
Itchyba11s
Guest
Let's make sure Victorian teams play their finals in Tinmbukbloodytu. This whinging has to bloodywell stop. Build stadium big enough or stop whinging. Until do, this is nothing more than whinging. Ever heard of the term 'whinging pom'? Anyone who done any whinging about his no right to call anyone a whinger. This is common bloody sense. Build a ground big enough. Did the interstate whingers whinge about the competition not being called the AFL to give themselves an excuse to whinge? Sounds like the whingers whinged to give themselves excuses to whinge, while denying they are whingers.
Almeister
Guest
Hear hear It really is time we ditched the vfl
Cat
Roar Guru
Fifth, the new Perth stadium will be 60k capacity (with the potential to be upgraded to 70k at some future date if demand and money is there).
Cat
Roar Guru
First and most important, never, ever, ever, ever going to be able to manage the logistics of a GF with a weeks notice. Not going to happen. Location MUST be determined at the beginning of the season at the latest. Second, what makes you think every ground doesn't have members that would take seats away? They do. Third, from my understanding (someone correct me if I am wrong), the northern end of AO will remain as it is because the scoreboard is heritage listed. The end cannot be rebuilt, or it would have been when the rest was done. Fourth, ANZ stadium in Sydney is going full-time rectangle AFAIK; therefore will not be able to host AFL once complete.
Viv
Guest
After the AFL's contract with the MCG comes to an end in 2036, the GF should then be played in the home city of the higher ranked PF winning team (this year that would have been Adelaide), The caveat being that a minimum 70,000 seat stadium be available for the purpose. Perth stadium will be 70K by 2016, as would Adelaide Oval if it meant the opportunity for hosting a GF - it would just need a new northern stand to match the southern stand. Sydney has the Olympic stadium (maybe) so that would just leave Brisbane with a small ground. Brisbane (and maybe Sydney teams) should then have the choice of playing the GF at Perth, Adelaide or MCG. While the MCG hosts 100K, 30K of them are MCC parasites who really have no place being at an AFL GF - it's really only a 70K stadium for footy.
King Bob
Guest
It isn't the home of Aussie Rules. The MCG is a cricket ground and is designed for cricket and athletics. It is a circle not an oval. Its dimensions are substantially different to all other AFL ovals. It should be marked out in a similar manner to other grounds so there isn't such a deviation. Ben you're right the AFL is a joke. They run the competition as an amateur sport and manipulate the results with their scheduling, rules and MRP. Most fans want a fair Australian game. They want the game to grow and become greater than the VFL. This means GF at the highest team home ground whether this is Geelong, Perth, Sydney etc. The fans and teams deserve a local GF. The ground size is less important than the fairness of the competition.
Whiskers
Guest
I would be pissed off too if i was an Adelaide supporter. You failed to show up after half time last Saturday at the MCG just as Richmond failed to show up in Adelaide early in the year. You were thoroughly outplayed and the side you played started to hit their straps about 5 weeks ago. I reckon you thought you were a superior team (maybe on paper and across the entire season this is true) but Richmond was clearly the best side in the AFL at the pointy end of the season and their brand of pressure football and commitment to each other prevailed on the day. They probably had a 3 goal start playing at the MCG but that does not excuse the Crows dismal second half regardless of where the game was played. To say the umpires made any difference is just ridiculous nonsense.
Knoxy
Guest
Well... yeah. The league started out as the VFL and then rebranded as the AFL when you guys started joining. It's still the same league.
Fairsuckofthesav
Guest
Fair point.
Fairsuckofthesav
Guest
Here Here!
Fairsuckofthesav
Guest
No just a fair deal. Tigers would probably have still won but it would have been a closer game.
Redb
Roar Guru
so just half the time a Vic team made the GF they won. Where is the advantage? I'd say home ground advantage is a bigger factor in Adelaide than Melbourne.
Brayden Rise
Roar Pro
Surely 363 comments plus is a record for a first time author! Owen you must have touched a sensitive spot here!
Reservoir Animal
Guest
MattyB, were you not around in the 90s? Merger means death. So your proposal leaves Collingwood as the only team in Melbourne, and means roughly 80% of Melburnian football fans defect to to soccer or some other activity. Wonderful.
Chris Mav
Guest
Agreed to some extent. MCG is great for the GF. However the majority of the tickets must go to the higher finishing teams members. Then distribute the rest. Also you can’t tell me the umpires didn’t hand the dogs the GF last year!! The most ridiculous calls in AFL history were made to make sure the dogs won!! Not saying they wouldn’t have won anyway, they very well could have but having the umpires hand them the title as blatant as they did is just not on!!
fairsuckofthesav
Guest
A very good post that you would hope would pull some Victorian fans heads out of the collective sand.