4 hours ago, 58er said:

Sorry M'Lord I am glad you are not my bean counter!

Making money out of Freo Suns Port Even zGiants is not happening then 35,000 plus is necessary for Saints Bullies, 40,/50,000 for Swans if they are back in town and the Blockbusters vs Pies Tigers and Blues need 60,000 to 80,000 for a large  haul of funds.

This is  assuming we are in the mix for Finals, And no bad weather days! 

Thats  an average of about 40,000 each game over 10 games.

Nowhere near enough I would think even with this half glass full appraisal.

I am bullish about our turnaround but we have been delivered a right royal kick in the behind with this  home  draw and Money losing Mums Day vs Port to mop up!!

In 2018 we averaged 40,695 to our 11 home games. And that included Alice Springs (6,989) and Darwin (8,689).

Because we were playing well we got big crowds to ANZAC Eve (77,071) and Queen's Birthday (83,518), as well as the Sydney game late (51,424) and GWS in the final round (37,285). Both Sydney and GWS were Sunday 3.20pm games as well.

Sure, I'd prefer it if we had home games against Hawthorn and Essendon, and I'd like it if we had West Coast, Adelaide or Brisbane in our interstate quota instead of GC, GWS and Fremantle, but 2018 shows that if we play well the crowds will come.

1 hour ago, Elwood 3184 said:

Champion Data has ranked the AFL teams’ fixtures from to the hardest to the softest - 

WHO HAS THE HARDEST 2020 AFL FIXTURE? CHAMPION DATA RANKS ALL 18 TEAMS

1 West Coast 
2 Hawthorn 
3 Gold Coast 
4 Essendon 
5 GWS 
6 Carlton 
7 Richmond 
8 North Melbourne 
9 Geelong 
10 St Kilda 
11 Collingwood 
12 Western Bulldogs 
13 Brisbane Lions 
14 Port Adelaide 
15 Adelaide Crows 
16 Melbourne 
17 Sydney Swans 
18 Fremantle

How do last year’s premiers (who played most of their games in the last half of 2019 on the MCG) end up with the 7th toughest draw?

For anyone who says the draw doesn't matter, of the same version for the 2019 draw, only 3 of the top 8 listed as having the hardest draw made the finals. West Coast, Collingwood and Essendon, and we know the 2 of them bombed out early. Interestinly the 2 teams that were assessed as having the softest draw in 2019 didn't get close to finals - St Kilda and Adelaide, but Brissy who had the 3rd easiest draw came flying back in.

Using a similar logic to last year, you'd think Brisbane, the Dogs, Collingwood and Geelong should be a very good chance to make finals, plus Richmond should be a certainty as well, leaving around 3 or 4 spots swinging.

 

5 hours ago, 58er said:

Why is it close to sellouts each home game then D 17 ?

Sorry jealousy is a curse If I was a Cats fan I would be in heaven with 9 home games etc.

Guarantees them into the 8 each year also!

Good question.  When teams like GC and Brisbane play there its never a sellout.  And given the capacity is still only 35K,  where are all those fans.  It should be full. Expensive seats are sold out, but not GA. The 2019 Kardinia Park attendances were as follwos against teams noted below:

Melb`27K

GWS

 

Don't get me wrong I love the idea of an old fashioned suburban - type team and Geelong is the last of those so good luck to them.  Just pointing out how it works down here.

Club survives on having some of the largest return poker machines venues, which are really bad news in Geelong also, however I think they have seen the light on that.

Just now, Demon17 said:

Good question.  When teams like GC and Brisbane play there its never a sellout.  And given the capacity is still only 35K,  where are all those fans.  It should be full. Expensive seats are sold out, but not GA. The 2019 Kardinia Park attendances were as follwos against teams noted below:

Melb`27K

GWS  28K

Eagles   28K

Dogs   31K

Swans  29K

Crows  28K

Saints  24K

North  21K

 

Don't get me wrong I love the idea of an old fashioned suburban - type team and Geelong is the last of those so good luck to them.  Just pointing out how it works down here.

Club survives on having some of the largest return poker machines venues, which are really bad news in Geelong also, however I think they have seen the light on that.

Good question.  When teams like GC and Brisbane play there its never a sellout.  And given the capacity is still only 35K,  where are all those fans.  It should be full. Expensive seats are sold out, but not GA. The 2019 Kardinia Park attendances were as follows against teams noted below:

Melb`27K

GWS  28K

Eagles   28K

Dogs   31K

Swans  29K

Crows  28K

Saints  24K

North  21K

OFFICIAL capacity:  36,000

Don't get me wrong I love the idea of an old fashioned suburban - type team and Geelong is the last of those so good luck to them.  Just pointing out how it works down here and internally the club should be asking whats wrong with our supporters?

In terms of local fan participation, these numbers are a disgrace after the huge spend at the grounbd

Club survives on having some of the largest return poker machines venues, which are really bad news in Geelong also, however I think 

Some say our draw is not great commercially but I never really get caught up in that. Sure maybe our draw could be better but that is our lot at the moment and winning is the answer to everything.

Win and they will come. How many more people will come to our first home game in R2 if we happen to upset the Eagles R1? How many more if we are in the top 4 when the Anzac Day eve and Queens Birthday games roll around?

Just win and everything works out

 

On 10/29/2019 at 5:49 PM, Sir Why You Little said:

Agreed. 5 months to start planning. 
Win this one and the confidence grows. 
get them fit and angry....

Plan no. 1......

Wear boots with stops that minimise slipping over at Optus.   Find out what WCE players wear on their feet, and do the same.

I'm not sure what part of "national competition" it is that people don't get. There are 17 other teams in the competition, 8 interstate, 8 Melbourne + Geelong. We play 11 away games, so it reasonable to assume that 5 or 6 will be interstate each year. Our 7th interstate game is our own doing, so can hardly complain about that. If the Geelong game is tiring out the players then there really is no hope for them.

Conversely we play 10 home games in Melbourne, so assume that roughly 5 will be against interstate teams each year. We've had home games against both Richmond and Collingwood in consecutive years so can hardly complain about not getting Essendon and Hawthorn as well. 

It seems as though some people don't want to play the interstate teams away due to the travel factor AND don't want to play them home due to the poor crowds. Short of going back to an amateur, Victorian-only competition, I'd love to hear how this can be avoided.

7 hours ago, 58er said:

Sorry M'Lord I am glad you are not my bean counter!

Making money out of Freo Suns Port Even zGiants is not happening then 35,000 plus is necessary for Saints Bullies, 40,/50,000 for Swans if they are back in town and the Blockbusters vs Pies Tigers and Blues need 60,000 to 80,000 for a large  haul of funds.

This is  assuming we are in the mix for Finals, And no bad weather days! 

Thats  an average of about 40,000 each game over 10 games.

Nowhere near enough I would think even with this half glass full appraisal.

I am bullish about our turnaround but we have been delivered a right royal kick in the behind with this  home  draw and Money losing Mums Day vs Port to mop up!!

And if we had a better draw from a financial perspective you'd be complaining it's much harder from a competitive perspective

Some people will just complain no matter what

 

It's time we stopped relying on opposition supporters to boost crowd numbers. We had over 50k members in 2019 and had a predominantly Melbourne crowd to both MCG finals in 2018 (90k plus). We have the supporters to make money off any games it's up to us to show up and support the team

Edited November 1, 20195 yr by Dr. Gonzo

18 hours ago, Demonland said:

A prediction analyst thinks we’ll finish 13th. 

 

Clarkson will clearly do wonders with Frosty

11 hours ago, RalphiusMaximus said:

This fixture is a shocker.  SO  many media "analysts" are saying it's a good draw because we play side who were weak this year twice.  So what?  They start out by exhausting our side with a trip to Perth to play in the hottest part of the day, then a six day break and back to play the runner's up from last season meaning we are pretty well guaranteed to start off 0-2 and bottom of the ladder. 

Glass half empty. 

R1 even in WA gives us as good a chance as we'll get to beat West Coast and our players will be acclimitised to heat at that time of year.

If there's a 6 day break then this is as good as any time, compared with the 3 6 day breaks in a row in 2018.

We've got GWS at home, better than Canberra or West Sydney.

Win these two and we're off to a flyer and won't see them again until September.

Edited November 1, 20195 yr by Fifty-5

2 hours ago, poita said:

I'm not sure what part of "national competition" it is that people don't get. There are 17 other teams in the competition, 8 interstate, 8 Melbourne + Geelong. We play 11 away games, so it reasonable to assume that 5 or 6 will be interstate each year. Our 7th interstate game is our own doing, so can hardly complain about that. If the Geelong game is tiring out the players then there really is no hope for them.

Conversely we play 10 home games in Melbourne, so assume that roughly 5 will be against interstate teams each year. We've had home games against both Richmond and Collingwood in consecutive years so can hardly complain about not getting Essendon and Hawthorn as well. 

It seems as though some people don't want to play the interstate teams away due to the travel factor AND don't want to play them home due to the poor crowds. Short of going back to an amateur, Victorian-only competition, I'd love to hear how this can be avoided.

 The thing is it's hardly fair to have to play there every year. Should be home away home away. 

Anyone come across a simple one page WORD doc or PDF of just the MFC fixture?  I'm blowed if I can find one this year!

Edited November 1, 20195 yr by Vagg

3 hours ago, Vagg said:

Anyone come across a simple one page WORD doc or PDF of just the MFC fixture?  I'm blowed if I can find one this year!

Closest I have seen

6 hours ago, Fifty-5 said:

Glass half empty. 

R1 even in WA gives us as good a chance as we'll get to beat West Coast and our players will be acclimitised to heat at that time of year.

If there's a 6 day break then this is as good as any time, compared with the 3 6 day breaks in a row in 2018.

We've got GWS at home, better than Canberra or West Sydney.

Win these two and we're off to a flyer and won't see them again until September.

I remember that, completely stuffed us (literally), by the final Sydney match at the at the G (after playing WC in Perth) our players were dead on their feet and had nothing to give.

I also agree agree with how you want to look at round one, do you want it mid-late year when the players don't have much to give or at the start when both team have all the preparation they need. Plus history shows that finals teams from the previous year tend to start slower than non finals teams. We have a good record there and I see it as a crack at us getting our season off to a flyer. It's just the time of the match that sucks.

 

3 hours ago, Clintosaurus said:

Closest I have seen

Thanks, Clint.  The Club one doesn't have dates/times, but, as you say, closest we've seen so far.  Cheers!

15 hours ago, Vagg said:

Anyone come across a simple one page WORD doc or PDF of just the MFC fixture?  I'm blowed if I can find one this year!

Some other sources:

The AFL website with updates as games are played: Demons Fixture

Demons extract from full fixture:  2020 Fixture:

MELBOURNE

Round 1: West Coast at Optus Stadium, Sunday March 22 at 6.20pm (Away)

Round 2: GWS at MCG, Saturday March 28 at 1.45pm (Home)

Round 3: Fremantle at MCG, Sunday April 5 at 1.10pm (Home)

Round 4: St Kilda at Marvel Stadium, Sunday April 12 at 4.40pm (Away)

Round 5: Gold Coast at Metricon Stadium, Saturday April 18 at 1.10pm (Away)

Round 6: Richmond at MCG, Friday April 24 at 7.50pm (Home)

Round 7: Essendon at MCG, Sunday May 3 at 3.20pm (Away)

Round 8: Port Adelaide at MCG, Sunday May 10 at 3.20pm

Round 9: Adelaide at TIO Traeger Park, Sunday May 17 at 3.20pm (Home)

Round 10: Western Bulldogs at MCG, Sunday May 24 at 1.10pm (Home)

Round 11: Hawthorn at MCG, Friday May 29 at 7.50pm (Away)

Round 12: Collingwood at MCG, Monday June 8 at 3.20pm (Home)

Round 13: BYE

Round 14: Brisbane at The Gabba, Friday June 19 at 7.50pm (Away)

Round 15: Gold Coast at MCG, Saturday June 27 at 1.45pm (Home)

Round 16: Fremantle at Optus Stadium, Sunday July 5 at 5.20pm (Away)

Round 17: St Kilda at MCG, Saturday July 11 at 1.45pm (Home)

Round 18: Adelaide at Adelaide Oval, Sunday July 19 at 4.40pm (Away)

Round 19: Geelong at GMHBA Stadium, Saturday July 25 at 4.35pm (Away)

Round 20: Sydney at MCG, Sunday August 2 at 3.20pm (Home)

Round 21: Collingwood at MCG, Saturday August 8 at 1.45pm (Away)

Round 22: Carlton at MCG, Saturday August 15 at 1.45pm (Home)

Round 23: North Melbourne at Blundstone Arena, Date and Time TBC (Away)

 

Just copy and paste it into a Word or Excel document if you want a paper copy.

Edited November 1, 20195 yr by Lucifer's Hero

6 hours ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

Just copy and paste it into a Word or Excel document if you want a paper copy.

You're a champion, LH!  I was psyching myself up to do the hard yards like what you've done.  You saved me!  Many thanks!

23 minutes ago, Vagg said:

You're a champion, LH!  I was psyching myself up to do the hard yards like what you've done.  You saved me!  Many thanks!

No worries but I didn't type it all!  I 'copy' and 'paste' that section from the website to DL.

Happy to help.

Play 17 rounds so each team vs once then.....

Top 8 sides vs each other

Bottom 8 sides vs each other 

This way teams would play both home/away

This will stop teams with an easier draw playing finals.

Only an extra 2 games

Not the worst suggestion I've heard, but I reckon the AFL would face a lot of opposition from other sports (esp. cricket) if they attempted to extend the season by another two weeks.

Fixture is always going to be compromised, unless we go with 17 games H & A.

Would the Broadcasters agree to that who knows. If you put in the 3 week rolling bye it extends it a little.

My preference if they continue with teams having to play 22 games is to get rid of interstate teams and the big Victorian 6 always having to play each other twice.

The fixture should be based totally as they say it should with the groups of 6 as they finished the previous season.

That way you know what every team has to face the next season in advance and you don't get a case of top sides always playing 2 games against a poor performing traditional rival over an extended period.

The fixture would be

Round 1 to 17/18 - Play each team once with a rolling bye or just have one week off for every side at round 9 or 10.

You can't play a team a second time until you have played every team once 

Round 18/19 to 23 - you play each team in your group of six( as determined by the previous season ladder) a second time 

IMO each team goes in knowing what the season holds for them and they can plan accordingly.

The notion of playing the last 5 rounds based on ladder position for the season you're in doesn't allow for teams outside the top 6 to go on a run to make top 4 or a side sitting 13/14th to make a 5 week run to play finals

 

2 hours ago, Demonsone said:

Play 17 rounds so each team vs once then.....

Top 8 sides vs each other

Bottom 8 sides vs each other 

This way teams would play both home/away

This will stop teams with an easier draw playing finals.

Only an extra 2 games

Only One priblem

there are 18 teams NOT 16!!!

The Fixture is all about Maximising The TV Audience. That is why they will not go to 17 Rounds. 
the Broadcasters have paid $ Billions, they want to pull that money back and make a profit. 

1 hour ago, 58er said:

Only One priblem

there are 18 teams NOT 16!!!

Play each other once= 17 games

Top 8 vs other to 8 sides =7 games

Bottom 8 vs other bottom 8 = 7 games