AFL FINALS VENUES

If a grandfinal was drawn and this were to happen it may end up like the NRL grandfinal did last year where one mistake cost a team the grandfinal.

MCG GRAND FINAL

" Should it be shifted around ?
Absolutely...."

By
Rob Chapman

" What would a state government pay for a grand final?
Why do we always as an interstate club have to play on somebody elses home ground in a grand final is beyond me."

By
David Koch

' I think it should shift around the country and even if you go lower than 100,000 people to a grand final thats not the issue

By
John Olsen


" If were going to consolidate as a national competition then we have to become less Victoriancentric."

By
Kate Ellis


" If your good enough , your good enough

By
Booney

Would there have to be a game in Melbourne in the first week of the finals if say Sydney finished 1st Adelaide 2nd West coast 5th and GWS 6th or would they all get to play at their home grounds?

William wrote:Would there have to be a game in Melbourne in the first week of the finals if say Sydney finished 1st Adelaide 2nd West coast 5th and GWS 6th or would they all get to play at their home grounds?

pretty sure there has been a weekend when Melbourne hasn't had a final...mind you i think a preliminary final got changed to Melbourne one year, but i'm only going on memory so i'll stand corrected

William wrote:Would there have to be a game in Melbourne in the first week of the finals if say Sydney finished 1st Adelaide 2nd West coast 5th and GWS 6th or would they all get to play at their home grounds?

It used to be the MCG had to have 1 final per week at the ground. West Coast had a couple of home finals shifted there, Adelaide had their 2002 home semi shifted there (ironically against Melbourne), and Brisbane had their 2004 prelim final shifted there.

The AFL then changed the rules so that the MCG could 'bank' finals so that it only has to average out to be one a week over a few years. This meant that finals like the Sydney v Geelong semi in 2005 (somewhat ironically played at the SCG due to ANZ Stadium being unavailable) was able to be played in Sydney and not at the MCG, and both semi's of the 2006 finals series to be played at Domain Stadium (instead of Freo having to play a home semi at the MCG).

Since then, no interstate side has had to play a home final at the MCG.

Greater Western Sydney
2016 finals
Spotless has a capacity of approximately 24,000
SCG would hold approximately close to double the Spotless maximum capacity

Will they play finals at the SCG or Spotless ?
Given the way GWS play at Spotless, they would most likely prefer Spotless to the SCG

What happens if GWS could finish above the Sydney Swans on the ladder
Will they play at the SCG to maximize attendances ?

The final is going to be played at anz stadium.

halfwayhotel wrote:The final is going to be played at anz stadium.

Won't please Sydney if that is their "home ground", they do not have a good record there.

2013 Minor round finish
2ND GE 18 WINS
3RD FR 16.5 WINS

The GE V FR match was played Geelongs home ground at Simonds Stadium
FR won that final by 15 points

2016 Minor round finish
2ND GE 17 WINS [143.8 %]
3RD HW 17 WINS[ 118.6%]

So where will this GE V HW final be played ?
GE should be rewarded with a home final at Simonds Stadium
$$$$ will most probably be a BIG factor and they will play at the M.C.G ?
No reward for GE beating HW home in the Minor Round if so

In 2013 the teams played against each other in a Prelim Final
HW 14-18
GE 15-7

Scrappy wrote:Greater Western Sydney
2016 finals
Spotless has a capacity of approximately 24,000
SCG would hold approximately close to double the Spotless maximum capacity

Will they play finals at the SCG or Spotless ?
Given the way GWS play at Spotless, they would most likely prefer Spotless to the SCG

What happens if GWS could finish above the Sydney Swans on the ladder
Will they play at the SCG to maximize attendances ?

SS finished above GWS
The venue was ANZ stadium
Why didnt they play the match at SS home ground at the SCG ?
The logic is that ANZ can accommodate a BIGger crowd
So I checked the record crowds in any sport at the two venues, and also the highest AFL crowds

ANZ
83,333 NRL Rabbitohs V Bulldogs [2014]
60,222 AFL  Sydney Swans V Greater Western Sydney [2016]

SCG
46,070 CRICKET  5th Test Australia V England[2007]
42314 AFL Sydney Swans v Hawthorn [2016]

Ye$ the AFL does get an extra 20,000 + at ANZ instead of the SCG
Even though the Swans were somewhat disadvantaged , it makes cents to play at ANZ as it gave more people an opportunity to attend the game

So why did I bring this up ?
Because Sydney play Adelaide Crows next week
THE VENUE IS THE SCG

GWS V WESTERN BULLDOGS
Prelim Final
Venue : Spotless Stadium

Crowd capacity 24,000
But at least GSW get some reward  for finishing above Western Bulldogs

Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge had this to say
* But GWS has earnt the right- I know all the debate around the Cats and even us last year at Ethiad
We just have to suck that up and go up there and do our very best."

Luke is 'spot' on
By all means play this game at Spotless
but
Why didnt Geelong get to play Hawthorn at Simonds in 2016 instead of the MCG
and
Why didnt Western Bulldogs get to play Adelaide Crows at Ethiad 2015, instead of the MCG

2017
GEELONG V RICHMOND

Geelong finished second in the minor round
Richmond finished third in the minor round
They play each other at Richmonds home ground the M.C.G
Little reward for Geelongs players

FINALS WILDCARD
Michelangelo Rucci is advocating a wildcard AFL Finals round
Instead of having a week off , have 2 finals as follows
7th v 10th
8th v 9th
At present the finalists are having a week of between the last round and the first finals
The wildcard finals would be played during that week off

Forget 'wildcards'.

Why reward a team that comes 10th in an 18 team comp.

Besides, it's Australia, not the USA.

Whilst you can feel sorry for Geelong not playing this at Geelong, they have sold close to 100,000 tickets to this game. The new stadium at Geelong holds less then half this number. That's a lot of spectators and revenue to miss out on.

That's it in a nutshell UH, the afl is a business & business decisions are made & have been made in this case, while I feel for Geelong they do have something positive in this, they'll get a run at the MCG in a final & after all that's where they play the grand final

2017 Minor Round finish
1 AC
2 GE
3 RI
4 GW
5 PA
6 SS
7 ES
8 WC

9 finals
1 away team winner , being WC over PP
7 home ground winners
GE beat SS at the MCG

RI the 2017 premiers played all 3 finals at their home MCG
That they finished below but  played both GE  and AC at the MCG is fundamentally wrong , and must be considered unfair

RI took fool advantage and played sensational football in all 3 finals , and good on them

So we can only ponder a result had the grand final been played at the Adelaide Oval
I think Adelaide would have won , having smashed GWS and GE at that venue in finals

The AFL Grand Final is now locked in until 2057
If that holds, that would mean  some of  us will never see an AFL Grand Final played away from the MCG

Thats a cent$ible decision from an AFL monetary boon perspective
It would cost the AFL too much $$$ to play GFs in the other cities

If its about $$$$, why not have all Prelim finals played at the MCG as well ?
Adelaide and Geelong only had a crowd of 53,817 in the 2017 PF

I think until someone else builds a stadium holding 100,000 (which I doubt will ever happen) it is hard to mount a case for the GF to go anywhere but the MCG.

My only grievance with this deal is the continued arrogance with which the Vics treat this subject like it is their God given right to the GF at the MCG.

I suppose if they are going to spend such a mammoth amount to shore up Victorian football particularly at the "G" then they want certainty of their return on investment. I understand that part.

However, it blows the argument way out of the water that they cannot and do not have the ability to mount a proper AFL Reserves competition as there should be.

Whilst the deal is largely funded by Vic State Govt and Federal Govt money for the betterment of footy and to a lesser degree Soccer and Rugby in Vistoria, this is the "A"FL not "V"FL.

Will they sponsor and promote similar deals to foster community footy in the other states?

Ok they were involved in the Adelaide Oval but most of that money and drive was from the State Govt and SANFL/SACA. And they would have been involved in the new WA stadium.

BUT, what have they directly done for COMMUNITY football (ie SANFL, Amateur, Country) here or in WA, or other states for that matter. I don't count putting up new goal posts or other minor improvements at places like Unley, Elizabeth, Richmond etc.

My main gripe is that these guys (AFL and big Gill) are the custodians of this game. Everyone knows it except themselves. It is time they start behaving that way and taking direct interest in the structure of the game as it played from the REAL grass roots levelto the main stage. I always get the impression that the AFL considers grass roots to be the Under 18 competitions around the place. Basically that is just an incubator for their draft and feeder to the league competition.

Don't get me wrong, what they propose with this deal will be great for footy and sport in suburban Melbourne. Indirectly (as Eddie Everywhere said on the Footy Show) the other states' AFL teams will benefit and their supporters coming to Melbourne. But that is small fry to what the AFL could and should promote and sponsor in the wider footy communities around the country and not just suburban Melbourne.

Off the soap box now....