Unfair fixtures for Top 4 contenders

[ElDiablo14 5,000]

Just heard on the radio that the Cats are playing both North and West Coast twice! 4 easy wins there for the geriatric cats.

Do we know if there is any other team from last year's top 4 with such and advantage?

I understand West Coast was competitive last year, but why do you give 2 games against the wooden spoon to any of the top 4?

[tiers 2,842]

Gives them a false sense of their ability. Finals will be different.

[Demonstone 22,643]

Back in 2021 when the fixture was ... err, fixed ... West Coast were a team that had just finished ninth.

Nobody knew back then that they would be the dumpster fire that has eventuated in 2022.

This, of course, does not explain why Geelong get to play North Melbourne twice.

[BoBo 2,941]

Any top 4 team playing North twice this year is ludicrous.

 

Edited May 10, 2022 by BoBo

[buck_nekkid 5,880]

Hope for those games to be upsets!

[ElDiablo14 5,000]

2 minutes ago, Demonstone said:

Back in 2021 when the fixture was ... err, fixed ... West Coast were a team that had just finished ninth.

Nobody knew back then that they would be the dumpster fire that has eventuated in 2022.

This, of course, does not explain why Geelong get to play North Melbourne twice.

That's understandable but surely the AFL can see how a team is trending. After 2018 the Weagles have spireled down the ladder. But again I do agree that West Coast finished 9th so a borderline finals team based on that performance.

[Lucifers Hero 39,976]

57 minutes ago, ElDiablo14 said:

Just heard on the radio that the Cats are playing both North and West Coast twice! 4 easy wins there for the geriatric cats.

Do we know if there is any other team from last year's top 4 with such and advantage?

I understand West Coast was competitive last year, but why do you give 2 games against the wooden spoon to any of the top 4?

Well, 2 of last year's top 4 are virtually out of the race.  The 4th was the mighty dees.

 

That 4 teams have fallen out of last year's top 8 has created a heap of anomalies in the draw.  It has made ours harder, Geelong's easier and given the Blues a dream run.

Tigers haven't done too badly either.  Games they have for the rest of the season:  Port x 2, Hawks x 2, Bombers, x 2, Eagles x1, North x 1, GCS x 1.  On that they could easily sneak into top 4.

 

But, it is what it is.  The first few weeks of he finals will sort it out.

Edited May 10, 2022 by Lucifers Hero

[Sydee 4,450]

Of all of the top 4 contenders Geelong concern me least - if they make it - not phased

I'm more concerned about the prospect of either Freo or Brisbane away come finals

I know we seem to play well away now but at the pointy end I'd like the Dees playing big finals at the MCG in front of all their fans

For this reason its important for us to just keep racking up the wins and be top at the end of the season 

[WheeloRatings 1,163]

Here are the number of matches each team plays against each other based on last year's final ladder position.

Geelong, Adelaide and Gold Coast are the three teams to play both West Coast and North Melbourne twice this year but I don't think the AFL can really base the fixture on how they think certain teams will perform.

[Bring-Back-Powell 14,863]

1 hour ago, ElDiablo14 said:

Just heard on the radio that the Cats are playing both North and West Coast twice! 4 easy wins there for the geriatric cats.

Do we know if there is any other team from last year's top 4 with such and advantage?

I understand West Coast was competitive last year, but why do you give 2 games against the wooden spoon to any of the top 4?

Yes that's a soft fixture for Geelong but if there was ever a year where we were going to get a tough fixture it's after a flag.  

[ElDiablo14 5,000]

Just now, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Yes that's a soft fixture for Geelong but if there was ever a year where we were going to get a tough fixture it's after a flag.  

I get that and I am all for it as it should be.

However I still think it is unfair and nonsensical to give two games against last year's wooden Spooner to any team finishing top 4, I would go as far as to say that none of the top 8 should get that "benefit". 

 

[BDA 22,759]

Playing poor teams to make finals is a false economy. You want to be battle hardened through tough fixtures. Beating up on the Eagles and North won't improve the Cats chances of winning a flag one iota

[deelusions from afar 1,810]

I kinda love it - it gets Geelong thinking they're a chance again - but there's no way they will be able to knock off two of Dees, Freo and Bris in finals.  It means they get worse picks which means a longer rebuild when the cliff finally arrives.  

[jnrmac 20,109]

Its a similar argument to those that say the Dees 'haven't played anyone yet'

You have to base games on last years ladder position as best you can then fit in the showdowns, derbys, marquee matches etc.

Basing an argument on this years ladder position is plain silly as no one could predict it. Port Giants Ess and Bulldogs have all underperformed dramatically and very few would have predicted all four of those events.

 

and I don't even bother with the fixture now. We can beat anyone anywhere.

Edited May 10, 2022 by jnrmac

[layzie 33,865]

It's not ideal but what can you do? It is a reasonable point you make though.

No-one wants the easy road to a top 4 spot, I’d much rather be battle hardened and I think this Melbourne team relishes being battle hardened too. 

[WheeloRatings 1,163]

For what it's worth, here are the average ladder positions for each team's opponents this year, based on (a) last year's ladder position and (b) this year's projected ladder positions from https://squiggle.com.au/ladder/

Of course, ladder position isn't an authoritative ranking of team strength as teams may finish higher because they have an easier fixture and lower because of a harder fixture.

[Pates 9,660]

We’ve supposedly been given an easy fixture up to this point, it’s something I noticed some interstate fans complain about, but I bet you most if given our fixture preseason would’ve said it’s a tricky draw. It’s hard to know these things in advance and it’s one of the biggest issues with the AFL fixturing process. It’s never even, and in some years it’s downright cheating by the AFL. Best example is certain *cough* “big teams” never travel down the highway to KP. 

It’s BS, either every home game is there, or each team gets sent there on a rotational basis. 

[ElDiablo14 5,000]

4 minutes ago, Pates said:

We’ve supposedly been given an easy fixture up to this point, it’s something I noticed some interstate fans complain about, but I bet you most if given our fixture preseason would’ve said it’s a tricky draw. It’s hard to know these things in advance and it’s one of the biggest issues with the AFL fixturing process. It’s never even, and in some years it’s downright cheating by the AFL. Best example is certain *cough* “big teams” never travel down the highway to KP. 

It’s BS, either every home game is there, or each team gets sent there on a rotational basis. 

We haven't beaten anyone above us since Round 1 last year! 😂

It's not our fault that we stay top of the ladder.

Surely there are some obscure things behind these BS fixtures,or the AFL is just inept.

[Jaded No More 68,966]

There is no point playing easy teams and making finals. If you can't beat top sides, you won't go far in September.

Last year we beat everyone in the top 8. I rather play hard games and test ourselves and our game plan against the best sides heading into finals. What do Geelong get from playing North and West Coast other than a false sense of achievement? 

[sue 9,107]

58 minutes ago, BDA said:

Playing poor teams to make finals is a false economy. You want to be battle hardened through tough fixtures. Beating up on the Eagles and North won't improve the Cats chances of winning a flag one iota

I like the sentiment, but it is simply untrue.   If the Cats finish in the top 4 etc rather than 5 to 8 on the basis of either extra wins or percentage it clearly improves their chances of winning a flag.   There are no guarantees in the finals.

[Jaded No More 68,966]

2 minutes ago, sue said:

I like the sentiment, but it is simply untrue.   If the Cats finish in the top 4 etc rather than 5 to 8 on the basis of either extra wins or percentage it clearly improves their chances of winning a flag.   There are no guarantees in the finals.

I've seen the Cats in finals over the past 5 years. The only thing that will improve their chance of wining a flag is a day out where Cameron and Hawkins combine for 10 goals or more.

Their midfield and backline is not winning grand finals. 

[Ted Lasso 19,521]

Personally i am not a fan of the fixture structure as is, my preference would be to shorten games, and play every team once at home and away. so 36 games total plus finals. 

this seems to be the only way to make the season completely fair on every team. 

the capacity to sign free agents should be present until 7 rounds before finals, as should in season trading. 

we're a little bit behind the times compared to other major sports globally and while i understand the pull towards tradition, i personally think that this would make the competition more fair. a team like Carlton could really load up in season seeing that they're performing better than expected. 

or a team that has multiple injuries in one position could sign a player in season to mitigate that

[praha 11,240]

I'd much rather play top 8 teams twice tbh. Playing Geelong and Bulldogs twice last year, with games against both deep in the season, definitely helped get us ready for finals. 

[BAMF 4,358]

3 minutes ago, Dwight Schrute said:

Personally i am not a fan of the fixture structure as is, my preference would be to shorten games, and play every team once at home and away. so 36 games total plus finals. 

this seems to be the only way to make the season completely fair on every team. 

Even that's not fair as you wouldnt play every team on there home ground and vice versa.

[BAMF 4,358]

1 minute ago, praha said:

I'd much rather play top 8 teams twice tbh. Playing Geelong and Bulldogs twice last year, with games against both deep in the season, definitely helped get us ready for finals. 

Indeed. I'm not really looking forward to the game this week. If you told me we get the 4 points and no injuries I would be a happy man. 

Bring on the challengers