The national game has been up and about for more than 20 years, yet sides who travel still play bad football. I take my hat off to Sydney, they are solid on most of their interstate games.

Today's game in Perth was another predictable outcome. Not being a west coke supporter nor a west Aussie, I tune out of games in Perth these days.....it's too predictable and much the same in Adelaide.

For a national game, coaches and players still can't get the right formula for travelling......bloody strange

Sydney travel most weeks, which would help.

The Filth travel well.

The MFC are the worst at it.

Agree with your post.

The Filth travel well.

they do so much of it !!

they do so much of it !!

Yep. But when they do pack the bags they win.

The national game has been up and about for more than 20 years, yet sides who travel still play bad football. I take my hat off to Sydney, they are solid on most of their interstate games.

Today's game in Perth was another predictable outcome. Not being a west coke supporter nor a west Aussie, I tune out of games in Perth these days.....it's too predictable and much the same in Adelaide.

For a national game, coaches and players still can't get the right formula for travelling......bloody strange

I think you will find Sydneys record at the G in recent years is quite poor. Their only points coming against the MFC in a draw at the start of 2011

In Melbourne's case, it's probably best to travel on the day of the match.

We all saw what happens when they stay overnight in Geelong.....

For a national game, coaches and players still can't get the right formula for travelling......bloody strange

It's not the travel, it's playing away from home. It's an issue in NFL, NBA, etc... you can do all your preparation right but there is nothing you can do to stop the Perth crowd (and the slight bias of umpiring that goes with it)

Kick the first 2-3 and you give yourself a chance...

its a mental game. thats all there is to it - the upstairs factor

(if the two sides are approximately even for talent)

The national game has been up and about for more than 20 years, yet sides who travel still play bad football. I take my hat off to Sydney, they are solid on most of their interstate games.

Today's game in Perth was another predictable outcome. Not being a west coke supporter nor a west Aussie, I tune out of games in Perth these days.....it's too predictable and much the same in Adelaide.

For a national game, coaches and players still can't get the right formula for travelling......bloody strange

In our game it's actually a lot harder as the ground shapes are so different. Every other sport i can think all have the same dimensions.

In our game it's actually a lot harder as the ground shapes are so different. Every other sport i can think all have the same dimensions.

Exactly. It's also why some teams play much better at Etihad than the MCG. Same reason Geelong do so well at home - it's is such a narrow ground that a lot of teams have great difficulty. Subiaco is much longer than most grounds, so it requires teams to carry the footy much more. That's how North lost - because they were unable to get outside West Coast, who run the ball with their top level runners like Embley, Gaff, Shuey, Masten etc, who complement the inside work of Kerr and Priddis. It suits the ground. North do much better in the confines of Etihad.

Exactly. It's also why some teams play much better at Etihad than the MCG. Same reason Geelong do so well at home - it's is such a narrow ground that a lot of teams have great difficulty. Subiaco is much longer than most grounds, so it requires teams to carry the footy much more. That's how North lost - because they were unable to get outside West Coast, who run the ball with their top level runners like Embley, Gaff, Shuey, Masten etc, who complement the inside work of Kerr and Priddis. It suits the ground. North do much better in the confines of Etihad.

Yes - at quarter time Scott was bemoaning the fact that they had 10 inside 50s for no goals. What the stats don't tell you is how far inside the 50 the inside 50s are - a mark or contest at 49.9m is a lot less likely to produce a goal than the same event at 30m. One of the commentators mentioned at the time that the 50-55m area is no-mans land. It'd be interesting to watch in real detail how West Coast and Freo deliver the ball in to their forward 50 compared to the travelling sides, it wouldn't surprise me to see their inside 50s being delivered a lot deeper than their opponents.

The question is - why can't other sides replicate what the home sites do, particularly at Pattersons? I don't know that North's issue was so much a lack of spread but more getting the ball in the wrong spots. Perhaps it's just an inability to rehearse properly due to only playing there twice a year (max).

ah ...hangon mr Nasher.. Your post goes to the root of all evil ( football observationalist -wise) ....statistics. A number tells a very limited story, whilst a picture tells a vast one. So much about football is nuance.

I fear our road trips to the docks. Let's win a game outside of the G before we talk about interstate. (And for the record, the ACT is not a state).

ah ...hangon mr Nasher.. Your post goes to the root of all evil ( football observationalist -wise) ....statistics. A number tells a very limited story, whilst a picture tells a vast one. So much about football is nuance.

...yeah, that's pretty much what I said, isn't it?

Though I'd probably say that if the statistic is telling the wrong story, you're using the wrong statistic, and it may be that there's not yet a statistic sophisticated enough to learn what you need to learn. That's probably a boring story for another thread though.

I fear our road trips to the docks. Let's win a game outside of the G before we talk about interstate. (And for the record, the ACT is not a state).

I wouldn't mind winning a few at the G, for a start.

I fear our road trips to the docks. Let's win a game outside of the G before we talk about interstate. (And for the record, the ACT is not a state).

Eastern seaboard record is ok, it's just anywhere west of Brunton Avenue that we turn into a pumpkin.