We dont play Freo till round 20 and carlton till 21 LOL WTF , how do you screw up a draw like this!?????????

I will never be satisfied until every club plays each other twice

Collingwood has 8 friday night matches!

I don't mind Schwab's comments, in combination with what he said at the B+F he's basically put it back on the football department, and declared what we all know, that you can't be successful off the field until you perform on it.

Basically for 2009 our ridiculously bad performance in 08 meant we had no bargaining power. How can we ask for more friday nights when our last friday night game we barely scored to half time and it was one of the worst games of the season, how can we ask for marquee saturday afternoon fixtures when no one turns up to our games because we're playing like crap? It'd be nice to be in a position where we know 40k will turn up no matter what, but that's not our situation at the moment. The Melbourne bandwagon that we've all seen won't stay hitched to the club until we are successful.

If the AFL says they are going to reward on-field performance with better fixtures, and on the last two years it appears that is the case, then the rewards will come off the field after we earn them on the field. At the very least we're in a position to say look, we've played finals footy, got x number to a game, we're a team on the way up, and you screwed us when we were down, you owe us this.

In any case, if we played 10 friday nights, it's not going to help our corporate dollar that much when we lose 9 of those games, plus it's going to be embarassing in front of the biggest TV audience of the week.

We need to win on the field before we're going to win off it, the two go hand in hand, as Schwab has said.

So much for the AFL working closely with a new Board that they have confidence in.

The Kremlin theory is sort of like treating someone with malnutrition by putting them on a starvation diet.

As for Schwabbie - he's in Vlad's office, bent over the desk, his pants around his ankles and Vlad is assuming the position behind him. Is Schwabbie going to "stick it up Demetriou and the AFL" which seems to be a popular theory amongst our people? Or is it the reverse?

We should not be grateful for QB, and I don't care what political games we are playing, we should not say we are grateful for it as if it's some huge favour. We should bloody well get QB because it is Melb v Coll's day. We got a good crowd last year and we continue to draw a big crowd to the game that has been Melb v Coll for many years.

Ha. Who are you kidding? I mean apart from yourself, f_cking oath we should be greatful for the QB game. Melbourne and Collingwood's day? Since when, it's not like it's a 50 year tradition, it's only been going for about a decade and should they choose to they could just give it to a team. And don't give me any crap about it being our idea, i dont even know if it was, but North pioneered friday night footy and now the AFL gives them jack for it now.

Your head is fairly & squarely in the head of the gift horse or in some other dark, damp place

As much as they try to pretend it does, tradition means very little to the AFL as a business, we should thank our lucky stars that the AFL doesn't give that game to 2 teams who could get 80,000+ every year without fail, because that makes the best business sense.

On our draw in general, what did everyone expect? That we'd have the worse year anyone's had in a long time and go from 15 sunday games to 5? The club went to the AFL with a wish list, we were never going to get everything, i'm sure every club has a wish list and i very much doubt that anyone gets everything they want.

It's a work in progress, obviously we've not been very strong on the issue previously and we've copped lots of sundays, to get a significant amount less it'll be working on it with the AFL over a few seasons, better on field results and stronger crowds will speed this up.

I'm reasonably satisfied with what we got as it's an improvement on last year, which is reasonably all we could've expected

Collingwood has 8 friday night matches!

How does Collingwood, which played once against Geelong this year, get to play them once again next year and how do they also get to play Hawthorn once as well?

By my reckoning they get a gift this year of about 16 premiership points and at least $3m added value in sponsorships, gate takings etc. as a result of the programme.

Move over Dick Turpin - highway robbery has just moved into the 21st century.

Nice to see the afl listens.

@ first glance that looks like crap, Demitrihou must be trying to kill the DEES off.

I'll look at it again tomorrow when my eyes aren't so sore.

You Brighton fairies will complain abouy anything.

This is the best draw the MFC have had in a long, long time.

Our last 5 games are in Melbourne, which I cant believe.

Usually we are sent off to Perth or AAMI in Round 21 or 22.

Great draw.

Club by club analysis

MELBOURNE

The good: Thirteen games at the MCG, including all 10 Victorian home matches. Retain the Queen's Birthday fixture against Collingwood, the year's big money-spinner.

The bad: Beggars can't be choosers, but 13 Sunday fixtures won't impress as the club fights for people to watch them. Cop top-four sides Geelong and St Kilda twice as well.

Don't miss: The embattled Demons get their chance on Friday night against the Bombers in Round 12.

It was never going to be great (that many Sundays is definitely ordinary and makes corporate sales and events obviously more difficult), but then again as it says here beggers really can't be choosers, and while I can appreciate peoples conecerns (and lets remember that the AFL has never been fair or even handed in its approach to anything) it is what it is, and we are just going to have to make the best of it and hopefully in the years to come we will be able to put ourselves in a better position to wield a greater bargaining power.

Anyone who buys the “we don’t deserve it” argument buys into the money-grubbing AFL ambition. Provide a fair competition, Dipsticks. That would be logical.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story...5012432,00.html

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story...5012432,00.html

Well there is no good here and that article sums up the utter imbalance, even corruption, of the AFL completely.......

But the unfortunate reality is that this is the world we live in, and we can only do the best we can (even while they do their best to tie our hands and punish us for our horrible form) with what we have, and hope (which is probably utterly useless given who we are dealing with) and push for something better in the future.

That seems to be the best I can do with it !!!

Anyone who buys the “we don’t deserve it” argument buys into the money-grubbing AFL ambition. Provide a fair competition, Dipsticks. That would be logical.

Absolutely correct. The AFL ONLY care about TV ratings and crowd numbers - nothing else. And the acceptance of such a skewed inequitable competition is only marginally less extraordinary.

If gillion McLaughlan joined Adrian Anderson up Vlads bum they still could not get a functioning braincell between them.

What a freaking disgrace.

Absolutely correct. The AFL ONLY care about TV ratings and crowd numbers - nothing else. And the acceptance of such a skewed inequitable competition is only marginally less extraordinary.

My guess is that the AFL needs to kill off one existing club to make way for GC17. In the circumstances of the global monetary crisis and the apathy of the Sydney public, the West Sydney team will never get off the ground so the only way to overcome the problem of a bye is to make one of the clubs a sacrificial lamb.

We have been chosen.

First 11 rounds - Melbourne play 8 times against teams in this years 8, while Hawthorn only play 5 times against final eight side, Geelong 5, collingwood 4, st kilda 4.

Teams like Melbourne need a good start to the year to pull crowds, get confidence up and the like. Don't worry about Sunday's, Saturday's etc - it's the first 11 rounds which set up how a side is going to perform for the year

Fixture - Lol.

How can there be integrity in a competition if a team has to "earn" a good draw? The draw should be f$%king equitable! Saying we have to earn a "good draw" immediately admits that the draw is inequitable.

Mind you, if this was '06 I'd be very happy with the draw in terms of footy arrangement, but my understanding is that the club asked for more exposure and a draw which allowed us to attract new members/sponsors etc. 2 home games in the first 5 weeks against North and the Crows, how does that ven remotely consitute a fair draw? Not to mention the 4 week stint where we play WC then Port at the G, then the Cats at Skilled, then Sydney at Manuka.

Our home average will be pretty good until those three home games, and watch the AFL berate us at the end of it.

Laughable.

Collingwood don't play a Sunday game until Round 8, and that's against the arch nemisis Carlton! After that, they have 3 more.

So do the maths.

Collingwood gets the good days because they pull the crowds, even the AFL say that.

Collingwood get 4 Sunday games.

Therefore, obviously, Sunday games are seen as less favourable to a team that pulls big crowds than a friday or saturday.

Yet the AFL claim there's no difference between crowds on a Sunday to that of a Friday night etc.

"Earn" a good draw, what a crock. I suppose the Hawks should play the bottom 7 twice, Cats bottom 6 twice etc.

Perhaps, the Hawks should have 17 home games because they won 17 last year?

Joke! I didn't see Carlton earn their draw last year... *cough* Chris Judd *cough*

The AFL is a disgrace. No team should have to "earn" a good draw, the league should provide an even competition for its teams.

Carlton, on the other hand, a side that has not distinguished itself in any fashion for eight or nine years, will play on a Sunday on only four occasions in 2009, enjoy six Friday nights and have 16 matches broadcast free-to-air.

Carlton got good fixtures when they were down, too, so why not us? Because 'Carlton have drawing power' we get told.

In fact, hang on, 11th is still 'down', isn't it?

North and the Dogs both got pretty good fixtures for 2009, despite comparable attendences to ours this year. If their crowds match ours when they are finishing top 8 and top 4, what does that say about their drawing power?

'We have to play well to earn them', we are told.

But the AFL isn't planning on killing us just yet.

Their plan is fairly obvious now, based on the evidence that they are announcing an intention to preserve the smaller Vic clubs, while only offering half-arsed support and opportunities to them, with no decisive plan.

The AFL is going to keep a couple of Vic clubs 'sick', not dead for now, so that in a few years time they can be be merged with the new QLD/NSW clubs to add a bit of momentum, provide a 'Fitroy/South Melbourne' style supporter boost and manufacture a 'history' from the carcass of the old club.

When you consider that these new clubs are estimated to cost in the vicinity of $100m each to set on a sustainable path, the mergers might be worth $20m off that total.

It's financially quite appropriate to do so, and the AFL can seem guiltless by talking about the (half-arsed) support they offered the small Vic clubs now. You watch, a month after screwing us with the draft and broadcasts, the AFL will be announcing how much they've helped us get a new sponsor, and declaring a 'rescue package' for us. Then it'll be back to trashing our brand for another year.

Im not sure which is the more predicatble; a comtemptably skewed royal screwing via Vlad and Co or the requisite venting towards it. It was always going to happen. It is as some suggest part of a 'greater plan' by his Empircial Self to force restructuring accoring to his vision.

Falsehood #1 That this is a fair and equitably administered game. Its not

Falsehood #2 That the AFL really wants the MFc to succeed ahead of any plans for expansion. They dont

I confess I hate going to Sunday games. For one I cant often and two, its just not the same. So again it will be only half a dozen games for me in 09...at least I get to go to the Saints/ Melbourne game ( annual father daughter ear bashing) at a decent venue.

We simply have to take out of this what we can. We can continue to whinge about everything..or we can actually play decent competitive footy and get on with it.

What is..IS...Sh!t stinks and so be it. Lets get some decent drafts..lets get firing as a team and lets just get on with it and forget about the cr@p. Its not going to change the umpires decision..at least not for 09.

Well one Sunday game definitely in the diary..is Nth come opening round, I prefer the slightly earlier start if a Sunday....see ya there

Lets get on with it......the footy that is

So we should bend over and take it Bub?

I think it would be wrong of a club's supporters not to stand up when their club gets screwed over.

Even if we play well this year, less than half of our games will be shown on free-to-air! How can we generate new sponsors if we have little-no exposure.

Maybe foxtel could become our major sponsor...pfft

I hate this whole, "getting a better fixture because you pull better crowds". What an utter disgrace. This league is going to be like the Premier League in the UK in 10 years, with only 4-5 major teams and everyone else just making up the numbers.

Why not be like the American leagues and distribute TV appearances based on performance? If you have the worst record, you only get 2-3 national games. Make the playoffs and you get 15-30. Collingwood didn't make the finals for 2 years in a row from 04-05, yet still got a miracle draw. They always do. Their record doesn't mean anything. They could finish 10th, average crowds of 60k a game and get 7 Friday night games, 9 Saturday games, 3 Saturday night and 3 Sunday. We'll finish 5th, average 35k-40k, and get 1 Friday night with 8-10 Sunday matches.

The only way to have an even draw is to have a 30 round season, each team plays each other twice, one away and one home, and there are 2-3 breaks inbetween. Eliminate the pre-season cup and introduce Exhibition games, where each team plays 2-3 games of 2 35 minute halves. Seriously, the way the fixtures is done is stoneage and unfair. The AFL is making matters worse for low drawing clubs. Rewarding clubs with high attendances and not performance is only going to create an even more lobsided competition.

Don't be fooled into thinking the league is rewarding/punishing onfield performance. It should have no implications on the draw. Only on the TV appearances. Everyone should have an evenly distributed draw.

So much for the AFL working closely with a new Board that they have confidence in.

The Kremlin theory is sort of like treating someone with malnutrition by putting them on a starvation diet.

As for Schwabbie - he's in Vlad's office, bent over the desk, his pants around his ankles and Vlad is assuming the position behind him. Is Schwabbie going to "stick it up Demetriou and the AFL" which seems to be a popular theory amongst our people? Or is it the reverse?

Its not really a matter of anyone "sticking it up anyone" as we all know.

Cameron Schwab will need more than 24 days and the Board like wise will need more than a few months to turn around the MFC from being $5m in debt and holding the wooden spoon.

Commercially we would all agree the draw is a horror. Football wise it is OK.

We are the bottom side and have been treated accordingly. As we improve we will have grounds for demanding better.

As someone else posted, why give a friday night game to a team who doesn't score in the first half of a friday night game and has no supporters attending.

We must attend games, raise membership again and hope the on field performance improves.

Its not really a matter of anyone "sticking it up anyone" as we all know.

Cameron Schwab will need more than 24 days and the Board like wise will need more than a few months to turn around the MFC from being $5m in debt and holding the wooden spoon.

Commercially we would all agree the draw is a horror. Football wise it is OK.

We are the bottom side and have been treated accordingly. As we improve we will have grounds for demanding better.

As someone else posted, why give a friday night game to a team who doesn't score in the first half of a friday night game and has no supporters attending.

We must attend games, raise membership again and hope the on field performance improves.

There is also the fact the AFL might think they are actually doing us a favour - giving us a good football wise draw, so that we can get the results, and then in turn, get the numbers to games and the corporate sponsorship.

If they did it the other way around - ie. good corporate wise, but giving us a mission twice as hard on-field - then I think it would not matter how many saturday & fri night games we have, no one wants to watch a hideously lop-sided game. Let alone sponsor the losing team.

Given all the variables thrown around these days, i think its hard to accommodate both aspects.

Especially when we've made it hard for ourselves by letting the AFL give us all sunday matches in the past & now wanting to change.

It'll take time, but we'll get there.