1 hour ago, layzie said:

8 interstate games is a bit of a shock and definitely too many. The club may have just let this happen in the past but we're at the point where we should be pushing back on this.

If I'm not mistaken WC, Freo, Adelaide, Port, Brisbane, GC, Sydney and GWS each play a minimum of 10 "interstate games" every season.

14 minutes ago, old55 said:

If I'm not mistaken WC, Freo, Adelaide, Port, Brisbane, GC, Sydney and GWS each play a minimum of 10 "interstate games" every season.

That is absolutely correct.

My concern is that our direct competition for the top 4 in Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon only travel 6 times each, compared to our 8. Essendon only travel once in their final 9 games. 

That’s a competitive advantage we’re ceding to the other 3 VIC sides from a preparation point of view as well as on-field results if our early interstate form is any indication.

I’m on the record for never being a fan of this game, and it’s also on the record when I whinged about it a lot of Demonlanders shouted me down and said I was being short sighted. It’s worth noting that those that shouted me down were people who could afford the time and resources to travel to Alice Springs from Melbourne.

For me it looks like a lot of back slapping and throwing around the term ‘community engagement’ - when all we do is literally show up for 72 hours and then don’t think about Alice Springs for another 12 months. It’s about money, and it always has been. Now it looks like theres no way that the AFL will schedule a game there next year, which just makes the whole exercise seem pretty pointless.

If you’re following what’s going on there it’s deeply concerning. It’s probably not a place that should be encouraging tourists at the moment. The last thing that town needs is another bad headline. I hope things get better for the community in Alice, I’m just not at all convinced that us playing a game there has done much more than bring 1000 tourists in from Melbourne.

@Rod Grinter Riot Squad - what's the feeling in the community about these 'showcase' afl games?

what's yr vibe on the overs / unders of the game vs meth coke actually being removed from the territory?

1 hour ago, old55 said:

If I'm not mistaken WC, Freo, Adelaide, Port, Brisbane, GC, Sydney and GWS each play a minimum of 10 "interstate games" every season.

Interstate clubs though 

Just now, layzie said:

Interstate clubs though 

If we want our game to truly be national then we probably should smooth it out so it's 8 interstate games for all clubs, rather than letting the interstate clubs bear the brunt

2 minutes ago, DeelightfulPlay said:

If we want our game to truly be national then we probably should smooth it out so it's 8 interstate games for all clubs, rather than letting the interstate clubs bear the brunt

That's right however comparing a Victorian club's 8 interstate games vs an interstate club's 10 is not a level comparison. It's horses for courses and the tradeoff is 11 games on their actual home ground. 8 interstate games for a Vic club is nuts IMO.

1 minute ago, layzie said:

That's right however comparing a Victorian club's 8 interstate games vs an interstate club's 10 is not a level comparison. It's horses for courses and the tradeoff is 11 games on their actual home ground. 8 interstate games for a Vic club is nuts IMO.

It is apples and oranges with the way the fixture is currently structured... and especially this year where our main competition is Victorian clubs who are travelling 6 interstate games only.

Regardless we definitely messed up with our prep between Adelaide and Perth.  I'd assumed we would have stayed and flown direct and was surprised when watching the press conference!

10 minutes ago, DeelightfulPlay said:

It is apples and oranges with the way the fixture is currently structured... and especially this year where our main competition is Victorian clubs who are travelling 6 interstate games only.

Regardless we definitely messed up with our prep between Adelaide and Perth.  I'd assumed we would have stayed and flown direct and was surprised when watching the press conference!

This is the thing. It is a fundamentally flawed fixture to begin with and we're trying to polish a [censored]. For instance can you remember the last time we doubled up with Essendon in a season? And does anyone in the know able to explain the reasoning for that?

We're working with an unpredictable monster to begin with, it's always going to be extremely difficult.

I think the staying over thing is definitely a better way to go next time round.

Edit: Running out of ways to say feces.

Edited April 22, 20231 yr by layzie

1 hour ago, whatwhat say what said:

@Rod Grinter Riot Squad - what's the feeling in the community about these 'showcase' afl games?

what's yr vibe on the overs / unders of the game vs meth coke actually being removed from the territory?

It’s an event here that’s very popular, it hasn’t had problems that certain community games have had.

 

if it’s removed it will be a kick in the guts to a community that’s had to put up with more than most.

1 hour ago, The heart beats true said:

 

For me it looks like a lot of back slapping and throwing around the term ‘community engagement’ - when all we do is literally show up for 72 hours and then don’t think about Alice Springs for another 12 months. It’s about money, and it always has been. Now it looks like theres no way that the AFL will schedule a game there next year, which just makes the whole exercise seem pretty pointless.

 

Think you will find that the good people of Santa Teresa would vehemently disagree with you on this, as would many others out here that have seen the club’s work over the years.

3 hours ago, layzie said:

That's right however comparing a Victorian club's 8 interstate games vs an interstate club's 10 is not a level comparison. It's horses for courses and the tradeoff is 11 games on their actual home ground. 8 interstate games for a Vic club is nuts IMO.

Seriously? We have 13 games at the MCG this season!

2 hours ago, Rod Grinter Riot Squad said:

Think you will find that the good people of Santa Teresa would vehemently disagree with you on this, as would many others out here that have seen the club’s work over the years.

Well you’d know mate, so that’s actually really good to hear. I only watch on the TV and get really frustrated by the lack of support for us given the investment. 👍

8 hours ago, old55 said:

If I'm not mistaken WC, Freo, Adelaide, Port, Brisbane, GC, Sydney and GWS each play a minimum of 10 "interstate games" every season.

The interstate teams still get an advantage of a real home game (instead of the Melb teams playing against co-tenents) so I think it evens out

 

Maybe Gill and his bullying mates should listen to traditional owners like Micheal Liddle, who moved the motion about access to grounds.

 

Maybe the AFL could support communities to build facilities in local communities, like we did in Santa Teresa.

 

But it’s quite typical of the AFL to focus on symbolism whi continuing to do nothing meaningful. What a shameless bunch of ….

20 hours ago, dl4e said:

Play it in Wonthaggi.

Fine by me 20 mins away ;) 

 

Make it happen #1

Maybe the problem is Alice... Alice.. 

Seriously though,  all guff aside it's always been my view that the cental totem to many a country/ regional locale is their sport.  It's often interwoven into the fabric of the towns.

What little i know of Alice's problems they seem greatly whitewashed ( hmm ...leave it at that ) by the towns governors. Many locals ( business, support etc etc ) all seem at loggerheads with the Mayor and Co.

We as a club don't need to solve the problem

The AFL doesn't need to solve the problem.

Its our game...bring it to the G

7 minutes ago, beelzebub said:

 

What little i know of Alice's problems they seem greatly whitewashed ( hmm ...leave it at that ) by the towns governors. Many locals ( business, support etc etc ) all seem at loggerheads with the Mayor and Co.

 

Not sure where you get this information, people overwhelmingly (Arrernte and those living here) and businesses support the mayor, Liddke and the council on this issue 

29 minutes ago, Rod Grinter Riot Squad said:

Not sure where you get this information, people overwhelmingly (Arrernte and those living here) and businesses support the mayor, Liddke and the council on this issue 

Stand corrected. 

Makes no sense shutting down sport.

 

25 minutes ago, beelzebub said:

Stand corrected. 

Makes no sense shutting down sport.

 

Sports not being shut down, they are welcome to run their competition in the communities.

11 hours ago, Lucifers Hero said:

Easier said than done. 

• Our contract with MCC is for 9 Home MCG games.  I believe Collingwood and Richmond have a higher number of Home games at the G.
• We get a 10th at the G to offset the loss of Alice for members.
• We get a couple of 'extras' at the G by playing 'Away' games vs other MCG tennants:  2 'extra' in 2023
• If we bring Alice back home we lose the offset game.
• To play more games in Victoria would mean playing more at Marvel. 
• By my reckoning the sum of these is why we play at the Cattery each year.
• To play those interstate games at the G means mediocre crowds at best.
• We aren't going to get more than one maybe two repeat games at the G against the big clubs.

Very tricky for the club to balance all these.

Anytime, anyone, anywhere!

I don't know about that.

Collingwood play two home games at Marvel this year (one of which is vs North Melbourne, which is ridiculous) and have done so for years, IIRC.

I also don't think we are getting a 10th MCG home game as some sort of compensation.

My understanding is that the AFL requires a minimum number of games at Marvel and because Carlton and Essendon (Marvel tenants) want and get their bigger games at the MCG, the MCG tenants have to play home games at Marvel. Our 11th home game would almost certainly be at Marvel if we didn't sell the Alice Springs game but we'd stay at 10, I think (Collingwood might drop a Marvel game to compensate).

I have no idea how the above leads to us being sent to Geelong each year. I'm nearly 100% sure the basic reason for that is that the AFL (and/or Geelong) decide to make Geelong host bigger Victorian clubs at the MCG, which restricts the pool of Victorian clubs eligible to go down there to us, North, St Kilda and the Dogs. So we cop it most years.

11 hours ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

That is absolutely correct.

My concern is that our direct competition for the top 4 in Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon only travel 6 times each, compared to our 8. Essendon only travel once in their final 9 games. 

That’s a competitive advantage we’re ceding to the other 3 VIC sides from a preparation point of view as well as on-field results if our early interstate form is any indication.

We're not ceding anything.

It's the AFL and it's our crowd-pulling ability.

If we stop selling the Alice Springs game we'll still get at least one more interstate game compared to those other sides.

Hawthorn sold 4 home games per year in its dominant years. The AFL minimised the number of away games they otherwise played. We sell a home game but the AFL doesn't minimise our other away games to compensate. That's on the AFL, not on us.

If we pull bigger crowds consistently, then more clubs will want to host us in their home games. Everyone wants to host Collingwood (and Richmond, and Essendon, and Carlton). So they get more away games in Victoria. If we pulled bigger crowds we'd get more of those away games in Victoria.

14 hours ago, Lucifers Hero said:

I'm not sure the number of interstate games is the major issue. 

The question is can mfc do the preparation and recovery better.  In the past week:

• we caught the red eye back and flew out again a few days later for the Gather round
• Freo stayed in Adelaide before the Gather round
• Bulldogs went from Adelaide to Perth for last nights game

Freo and Bulldogs effectively cut out an interstate trip.  We chose to fly back and take the red eye.

A lot to learn form those experiences.

And it is our choice to invest in and play in Alice.

Thought as a club we dropped the ball here big time, Could have stayed at the old Premiership haunt in Joondalup for a couple of days, then flown to Adelaide on Tuesday or Wednesday. 

Would have thought I'd be a smoother transition for the players and cut out an unnecessary flight of back n forth.

21 hours ago, DeelightfulPlay said:

Regardless we definitely messed up with our prep between Adelaide and Perth.  I'd assumed we would have stayed and flown direct and was surprised when watching the press conference!

Agree with this and similar to what @YesitwasaWin4theAges post, thatmy recollection was that our 2021 experience was that living and training in the hubs created great team bonding opportunities.  I'm sure that partners etc would rather spend more time with the players, but perhaps a few in-season mini hub experiences could help us get that edge that helps us win another flag.

In some ways though, it's not the end of the world for us to have dropped these early season games if it keeps us humble and hungry.  I'd just rather have not dropped 8 point games to teams that are up there at the moment.  Would have been better to drop a game to North or the Sun's as at least that would have been something of benifit to the Freo death rude.

Edited April 22, 20231 yr by Rodney (Balls) Grinter

20 hours ago, Rod Grinter Riot Squad said:

Think you will find that the good people of Santa Teresa would vehemently disagree with you on this, as would many others out here that have seen the club’s work over the years.

 

20 hours ago, Rod Grinter Riot Squad said:

It’s an event here that’s very popular, it hasn’t had problems that certain community games have had.

 

if it’s removed it will be a kick in the guts to a community that’s had to put up with more than most.

And on a similar note, I get the impression that our indigenous players in particular really love the opportunity to get out into the area and then play in front of so many of thier people.

Not sure if it was related or just something of a coincidence, but Kossie cut loose at Alice last year, had an absolute day out and kicked a bag.  Would love to see that again (and again and again!).

Edited April 22, 20231 yr by Rodney (Balls) Grinter