AFL does it again!

[barpen 0]

Screwed again.

http://sportal.com.au/AFL-opinion-display/...heir-toll-51930

When this is taken into consideration, we can be disappointed with the "floating" fixture and the ramifications of playing the top three 5 times with Geelong still to come!

Every right to feel aggrieved.

[Dodgy_Demon 0]

I think we have benefited from this years draw. By playing the top teams more frequently it may have accelerated the development of players and the team.

[John Dee 439]

I just wish that all and sundry would stop referring to it as a draw. If it were a draw that would imply some element of chance; there is none.

It is a fixture.

[rusty_kingswood 0]

I just wish that all and sundry would stop referring to it as a draw. If it were a draw that would imply some element of chance; there is none.

It is a fixture.

Quite right, with th emphasis being on the FIX

[The Emblem 1]

Screwed again.

http://sportal.com.au/AFL-opinion-display/...heir-toll-51930

When this is taken into consideration, we can be disappointed with the "floating" fixture and the ramifications of playing the top three 5 times with Geelong still to come!

Every right to feel aggrieved.

Ahh well, as they say down at Vladland..."That's the Fix of the Fixture"

[diesel 420]

It is a fixture.

FIXED-ure; the art of providing an uneven playing field. To accomodate some and throw crumbs to others esp: Collingwood, Essendon, Sydney as opposed to Melbourne

I have to agree though that it has been a good year for highlighting our dillema and positioning for draft picks/development. Not all is lost!

[Rogue 585]

This 'news' has been done to death, and there are far worse problems in the fixture than having less than 15 games break between the teams you play twice in a season, IMHO.

[Oxxx 0]

The draw always looks harder when the AFL schedules you to play every game against a team that's higher than you on the ladder.

[Yze_Magic 3]

Exacty.

We suck, so of course the draw will seem bad.

Geelong have a great draw , no doubt.

[praha 10,329]

When the league has the mentality of money instead of competition, there is always going to be a wacky draw. The AFL rewards TV ratings and crowds instead of success. Why not just make it a simple draw? One at home, one away, one home, one away, to make it 11 at home, 11 away where you play each team once in the first 15 rounds, and then the teams from rounds 1-7 twice.

Collingwood have made the finals 4-5 times in the past 14 years. Yet, the get rewarded with the most MCG and marquee games. Why not give each club an equal amount? How does giving Collingwood so many "away" games at the MCG fair when teams like Melbourne have to play home games in Canberra. Maybe if we got more Friday night games, more Saturday games, we wouldn't be so badly in debt.

[pitmaster 3,087]

How does giving Collingwood so many "away" games at the MCG fair when teams like Melbourne have to play home games in Canberra. Maybe if we got more Friday night games, more Saturday games, we wouldn't be so badly in debt.

[BAMF 3,809]

The Fixture is bad at the moment, but at the end of the year it will be the same as any normal year.

This year we will play 7 teams twice and the rest once. just like the old fixture.

If we have played all the tough teams twice already, then we will have an easier run home.

Carlton haven't played the tough teams twice, so its more likely they will have a harder run home.

The fixture will never be perfectly even until we play all teams twice. which I personally cant see happening with 16 teams in the comp.

The biggest injustice we should be looking at has been stated by calabreseboy. Collingwood get the blockbusters and the friday night games because they get the biggest crowds. As a result they get the most exposure and recruit fans alot easier than we do because we get little media exposure. The big clubs get bigger and the small clubs get smaller.

I wonder why we have the smallest Aus Kick recruitment? is it because we ALWAYS play on a sunday when kids are off playing sports and doing things with there familys?

[Rogue 585]

This news might be old but it needs to be done to death, Rogue, so the AFL realises for the credibility of the comp that they have to scrap this fix. They have had hits on this in the age as well so hopefully they get sick of taking the hits and fix it.

Did you read the article in the first post? This thread was created in order to complain about the fact that teams don't play fifteen unique opponents in the first fifteen rounds.

I hardly feel that this needs to be scrapped in order for the credibility of the comp to be restored/saved. In fact, I think it's a diversion from the real flaws in the draft.

I'd happily play the same seven teams twice each in the first two rounds if we could get a relatively fair fixture.

[beelzebub 22,282]

Does anyone actually take into conderation the nature of the game. Its easy to say a draw is crook or whatever "AFTER" some teams do well. If they didnt and things turned out differently then the take on the draw ( fisture) would be markedly different. You can only play the opposition that presents on the day.

Sometimes it might work for you..sometimes it migh not. More the point..are we ( MFC ) going to be able to change it any time soon ? I doubt it

If you're any good..it doesnt matter

[Rogue 585]

If you're any good..it doesnt matter

Exactly what I think about the issue this thread relates to.

The other stuff matters, though.

[deanox 8,770]

How does giving Collingwood so many "away" games at the MCG fair when teams like Melbourne have to play home games in Canberra. Maybe if we got more Friday night games, more Saturday games, we wouldn't be so badly in debt.

The thing people tend to forget about those Colingwood "away" games at the G is that under the deal they cut with the MCC, Colingwood has the Jolimont end social club for its exclusive use WHENEVER they play the G which normally goes to the home team - so financially they are big winners.

This news might be old but it needs to be done to death, Rogue, so the AFL realises for the credibility of the comp that they have to scrap this fix. They have had hits on this in the age as well so hopefully they get sick of taking the hits and fix it.

our social club is at the punt road end every home game, not just when we play collingwood...

[CarnTheDees 52]

Collingwood gets so many away games at the 'G because every Melbourne team requests a home match against Collingwood to boost their gate takings.

The whole point of the competitive balance fund is not to prop up financially struggling clubs but to compensate clubs for the inequities of a draw based around money and not fairness. Hence because we play more of the smaller crowd-pulling teams and less 'prime time' TV matches, the AFL compensates us financially. Of course the compensation doesn't go nearly far enough, and by continually screwing us it means that it will be harder for us to grow financially, so they'll have to keep compensating us...

Until there comes a day when every club is making bucket loads of money, the draw will always be corrupted such that each blockbuster is played twice and Collingwood rarely travels. We need to realise that and move on.

[Rogue 585]

I'd argue the opposite - it's important to raise the real issues with the fixture in order to push for more equality and provide justification for the CBF.

What do you suggest we do when the CBF is removed - Adelaide are leading the charge on this atm, aren't they? - and we're still getting screwed by the fixture?

[Guest fatty]

The whole point of the competitive balance fund is not to prop up financially struggling clubs but to compensate clubs for the inequities of a draw based around money and not fairness. Hence because we play more of the smaller crowd-pulling teams and less 'prime time' TV matches, the AFL compensates us financially. Of course the compensation doesn't go nearly far enough, and by continually screwing us it means that it will be harder for us to grow financially, so they'll have to keep compensating us...

The AFL also rewards clubs financially for pulling big crowds to matches. The biggest crowd-pullers get the best time-slots and therefore the biggest windfalls; the cycle perpetuates.

This is a downward spiral as far as the MFC is concerned. The AFL allocates us with low-exposure time-slots because traditionally we don't pull big crowds. But we can't pull big crowds given the fixturing thus making it impossible to attract a larger market. There's other factors at play, but we currently require financial support from the AFL due to the system they have created. The AFL acknowledges this but at the same time threatens to withdraw the funds and even our marquis game for the year if we don't sort ourselves out.

In the current environment, it is impossible for us to support ourselves and even to survive unless we start winning big.

I'm sick of being a 2nd rate club that has to operate according to the parameters provided by a biased and corrupt system which favours other clubs in the pursuit of dollars. The AFL should have a responsibility to form its business objectives based on providing a fair and equitable competition.

As Rogue points out, this is the case that should be put forward by all the clubs.

Will it happen? Of course not.