Just as a quick reference, the last time Collingwood played the Cats in a non 'blockbuster' slot (not friday night etc), with crowds permitted, was Round 8, 2018; a Sunday 3.20pm game.

Magpies were 4-3 and on their way to a top 4 finish.

The crowd of 44k was the smallest of the 8 games Geelong played at the MCG that year.

Including the Demon's v Cats MCG game in round one, sunday 3.20pm, with 54,000, and our Elimination final win in front of 92,000.

In 2017 the Magpies played the Cats at the MCG twice (yup), for crowds of 46k and 48k. Again, the Cats two smallest crowds at the MCG that year. Out of just 5 games they played there int he H&A season.

It keeps going. Not only have Collingwood routinely been the only team to play Geelong at the 'G, they have also routinely been the Cats smallest crowd at the G - happened again on both points in 2015, 2012, and... actually I decided I'd had enough by then, but I think any debate is over.

Anyway, Collingwood sucks and we're going to beat Geelong at Goomba stadium anyway.

1 hour ago, Kozzie4PM said:

 I actually really enjoy going down there

 

 

1 hour ago, Little Goffy said:

Just as a quick reference, the last time Collingwood played the Cats in a non 'blockbuster' slot (not friday night etc), with crowds permitted, was Round 8, 2018; a Sunday 3.20pm game.

Magpies were 4-3 and on their way to a top 4 finish.

The crowd of 44k was the smallest of the 8 games Geelong played at the MCG that year.

Including the Demon's v Cats MCG game in round one, sunday 3.20pm, with 54,000, and our Elimination final win in front of 92,000.

In 2017 the Magpies played the Cats at the MCG twice (yup), for crowds of 46k and 48k. Again, the Cats two smallest crowds at the MCG that year. Out of just 5 games they played there int he H&A season.

It keeps going. Not only have Collingwood routinely been the only team to play Geelong at the 'G, they have also routinely been the Cats smallest crowd at the G - happened again on both points in 2015, 2012, and... actually I decided I'd had enough by then, but I think any debate is over.

Anyway, Collingwood sucks and we're going to beat Geelong at Goomba stadium anyway.

I think they both suck which is why they draw crap crowds 

We still owe them, along with everyone else, more pain.  Affix bayonets.  

On 7/4/2022 at 9:46 AM, Lucifers Hero said:

 

• I wouldn't care if we lose but if we could possibility unearth 1 or 2 flaws in their game so that if we meet again in the finals, we can try to expose that weakness.

Because this worked for them last year 😂

17 hours ago, Ben E said:

Here’s something I prepared earlier.

Guess which team (other than Geelong, of course) has played the most times at Kardinia Park this century?

Melbourne. 18 times.

Guess which team has played the least times?

Collingwood. Zero. (Oh and Essendon once, Hawthorn and Carlton thrice.)

The lack of integrity and fairness in the fixture is, to me, the biggest blight on our great game. What elite, professional sporting league in the world would allow such a discrepancy to occur, where an ‘away’ team, a so-called big club, doesn’t play at another team’s home venue for over 20 years, while another team plays there almost every friggin’ year? It infuriates me.

It’s like telling Manchester United they don’t need to play at Bournemouth, ever, while Liverpool does.

I am sick to death of the fixture’s inherent inequity, and our collective acceptance of it (or is it apathy).

If we can’t have a pure 34-game home-and-away season (which would be fair and ideal for an 18-team comp), then let’s have a 17-game season. Play each team once, alternate between playing at home one season and away the next, no questions asked, no compromises entertained. Collingwood plays down at Geelong, it’s a sell-out, so be it.

People forget that for the first 90 years of the VFL, the fixture was built on playing each team twice, home and away. There were 8 teams and 14 rounds in the first VFL season in 1897. This nonsense that we have to be wedded to a 22-round season no matter the number of teams we have is, well, nonsense. The 22-round season only came into effect when the league had expanded to 12 teams in 1925. When the league moved to 14 teams in 1987, the season inexplicably remained at 22 rounds. 

Now, of course, the fixture is a complete mess having strayed more and more from first principles, leading to the quite absurd scenario pointed out at the top of this post and illustrated in the attached table.

The 'reasoning' for this would appear to be the large crowd drawing clubs don't play at Geelong because crowds would miss out. Also in the early part of this century these clubs were quite strong

This hands Geelong an enormous advantage because they avoid the big clubs there, they play the 'weaker' clubs here virtually handing them 8 or 9 wins a year. We got belted there for years.

So when people laud Geelong for being so 'competitive' year in year out it a crock of bulldust.

On the other hand its probably why they fail at the pointy end of the season which isnt a bad thing.

Either way though it is appalling that such an imbalance exists

.

 

3 minutes ago, jnrmac said:

The 'reasoning' for this would appear to be the large crowd drawing clubs don't play at Geelong because crowds would miss out. Also in the early part of this century these clubs were quite strong

This hands Geelong an enormous advantage because they avoid the big clubs there, they play the 'weaker' clubs here virtually handing them 8 or 9 wins a year. We got belted there for years.

So when people laud Geelong for being so 'competitive' year in year out it a crock of bulldust.

On the other hand its probably why they fail at the pointy end of the season which isnt a bad thing.

Either way though it is appalling that such an imbalance exists

There are eight interstate clubs and three Vic clubs smaller than us (North, Bulldogs and Saints).  That is 11 other clubs that could play there each year for their nine Home games at GMBA. 

Rotate those 11 clubs at GMHBA for a few years.  It is a terrible disadvantage for a premiership team to play at that sub standard oval.  We have done well there in recent times but it is like handing them 4pts and a step up on the ladder.

I grew up in Geelong. I find them hard to like.

17 hours ago, Ben E said:

Here’s something I prepared earlier.

Guess which team (other than Geelong, of course) has played the most times at Kardinia Park this century?

Melbourne. 18 times.

Guess which team has played the least times?

Collingwood. Zero. (Oh and Essendon once, Hawthorn and Carlton thrice.)

The lack of integrity and fairness in the fixture is, to me, the biggest blight on our great game. What elite, professional sporting league in the world would allow such a discrepancy to occur, where an ‘away’ team, a so-called big club, doesn’t play at another team’s home venue for over 20 years, while another team plays there almost every friggin’ year? It infuriates me.

It’s like telling Manchester United they don’t need to play at Bournemouth, ever, while Liverpool does.

I am sick to death of the fixture’s inherent inequity, and our collective acceptance of it (or is it apathy).

If we can’t have a pure 34-game home-and-away season (which would be fair and ideal for an 18-team comp), then let’s have a 17-game season. Play each team once, alternate between playing at home one season and away the next, no questions asked, no compromises entertained. Collingwood plays down at Geelong, it’s a sell-out, so be it.

People forget that for the first 90 years of the VFL, the fixture was built on playing each team twice, home and away. There were 8 teams and 14 rounds in the first VFL season in 1897. This nonsense that we have to be wedded to a 22-round season no matter the number of teams we have is, well, nonsense. The 22-round season only came into effect when the league had expanded to 12 teams in 1925. When the league moved to 14 teams in 1987, the season inexplicably remained at 22 rounds. 

Now, of course, the fixture is a complete mess having strayed more and more from first principles, leading to the quite absurd scenario pointed out at the top of this post and illustrated in the attached table.

This honestly needs to be made a bigger issue but the fact is that the "newsbreakers" and those who like to control the agenda are fans or have investment in the "bigger" Victorian clubs. There is absolutely no reason these days why there shouldn't be a rotation policy for all Victorian clubs to be sent down there. The AFL fixture is the most compromised, inequitable, and unfair draw of any professional code in the world. It's amateurish. Tell it to ANY fan of any code around the world and they would laugh. They are using the fixture to cheat the system.

Once the new stand opens up there is no reason why all Victorian teams can't go down there, and the AFL should be forcing the cats to allocate more seats to opposition fans. If nobody snaps the tickets up by a certain time then by all means make it available to all.

Edited July 5, 20223 yr by Pates

10 hours ago, Gorgoroth said:

To be fair, not one cats supporter down this way (that I’ve spoken too, and it’s a lot of them) wants this game on a Thursday night either.

Even if it was on Saturday there would still be only 500 MFC Supporters there

It is a disgrace that we have been sent down there 18 times this century, whilst other teams NEVER play there. 
 

it is Corrupt 

I’m driving down there with two “mates” who are Geelong supporters. They’ve been living in a fantasy land and I’d love it if we burst it again this year. 

1 hour ago, Sir Why You Little said:

Even if it was on Saturday there would still be only 500 MFC Supporters there

It is a disgrace that we have been sent down there 18 times this century, whilst other teams NEVER play there. 
 

it is Corrupt 

Meanwhile, those looking for sensible debate on important sporting matters (such as the one being debated on this thread) are left out in the cold

Again, my main beef is that 10's of 1000's of football members & supporters (from both clubs) can't attend the game (which, by any definition, is a blockbuster fixture)

 

n.b. I'm of the firm belief that our team can win anywhere against any opposition at any time (if we bring our best) I'm not at all concerned about playing Geelong at Geelong in terms of our winning chances

Edited July 5, 20223 yr by Macca

22 hours ago, Jaded No More said:

If there is one thing in life I can’t handle is losing to Geelong. The fire of a thousand suns is not as burning hot as my hatred of the Geelong Football Club, it’s coach, it’s player or it’s dumpy stadium filled with hick supporters.

Please let’s destroy these *insert 190 different swear words*

By the power of Wodin...death by a thousand goals..

With memberships at an all time high it seems the AFL are now only concerned at looking after the money coming their way (broadcast rights dollars)

Gate receipts would be negligible in many cases (for a lot of the games) so maybe that's why the maximising of crowd numbers isn't high on the agenda

Edited July 5, 20223 yr by Macca

49 minutes ago, TheWiz said:

I’m driving down there with two “mates” who are Geelong supporters. They’ve been living in a fantasy land and I’d love it if we burst it again this year. 

Reckon we've set ourselves for this game a long way out.  The quintessential 8 point game

2 hours ago, Sir Why You Little said:

Even if it was on Saturday there would still be only 500 MFC Supporters there

It is a disgrace that we have been sent down there 18 times this century, whilst other teams NEVER play there. 
 

it is Corrupt 

Worse than that... It deserves a Royal commision and a full inquiry led by Uncle Bitter and WCW!

Just one issue to take up with @Ben E's post.

The VFL only had a 22-game season from 1970.  For example, in 1925 it was 17 games long. In 1964 there were 18 games and it was 20 games long in 1968. Most seasons were 18 games long and teams played the reverse rounds of 1-7 and only played the teams from rounds 8-11 once.

The VFL/AFL has a long proud history of unfair, inconsistent and incomprehensible fixtures. 

( but I otherwise fully concur with @Ben E )

JEEEElong's midfield is bog average, we will slap them around 

12 hours ago, Clint Bizkit said:

It’s Geelong’s home game so they should be able to play it where they want.

The issue I have is that only certain teams have to play there.

Oh, and that their stadium is totally tax payer funded.

To be fair the Daniel Andrews government has only spent about $120 on upgrading Kardinia Park.

It's a totally reasonable and justifiable amount to lavish upon one club and one town, especially since state debt is at an historically low levels.

5 minutes ago, pineapple dee said:

To be fair the Daniel Andrews government has only spent about $120 on upgrading Kardinia Park.

It's a totally reasonable and justifiable amount to lavish upon one club and one town, especially since state debt is at an historically low levels.

taxpayer park!

their funding long predated andrews being in charge, and shows how beneficial being in a swing electorate at state and federal level has been...

they've been sucking on the pork barrel teat since 2003

14 hours ago, BDA said:

I've been roped into a work function on Thursday night so I won't be able to watch the game. not happy

Wouldn't it be nice to a have a Saturday 1.45pm afternoon game at the G. Will we ever be scheduled for one of those again?

not until we are out of finals and irrelevant again.  success bring good and bad

10 hours ago, rpfc said:

The stories I will tell about that game:

Grandad, why is there no one at the game?

‘Well, Pfizer, it’s because the whole town of Geelong were locked out of events because they were a feral people. Terrible body odour and behaviour to match.’

Now go play with your sister Astrazenica, she is not feeling great

On 7/4/2022 at 9:46 AM, Lucifers Hero said:

• I can’t forget the nightmares of last year. Both games V Melbourne.  I can see us getting to a decent lead early and them then reeling us back in.
• Melbourne by 25 points.  We are due for a loss and they are too good.

Thanks for the info LH, really enjoyable thread

These two give me a lot of pleasure. They used to give us nightmares and I wouldn't even give us a 1/100 chance of winning in previous years. Goes to show how far we have come.

And I LOVE that the fans are scarred from last year!  suck it!

On 7/4/2022 at 7:58 AM, Winter Dan said:

The venue is a huge influence in this game. I wonder if they get a home game there come finals, as they have been lobbying for some time, anyone know?

Lsat final they got there they lost... v dockers years ago. 

2 hours ago, Big Col said:

Just one issue to take up with @Ben E's post.

The VFL only had a 22-game season from 1970.  For example, in 1925 it was 17 games long. In 1964 there were 18 games and it was 20 games long in 1968. Most seasons were 18 games long and teams played the reverse rounds of 1-7 and only played the teams from rounds 8-11 once.

The VFL/AFL has a long proud history of unfair, inconsistent and incomprehensible fixtures. 

( but I otherwise fully concur with @Ben E )

Yep good points, Big Col, I stand corrected on a couple of comments I made about length of season in VFL pre-1970. Further highlights, as you say, just how ridiculous the fixturing has been for so long.

Anyway, I’ll be heading down there this Thursday. Last two times I’ve been there (Roos’ last game and Tuohy’s goal after siren) have been very unpleasant, traumatic even. Hoping for third time lucky!