Facts on 6 day break bias for 2012

[kalsaint]

Here is the break down on key teams in 2011 plus Adelaide given their form in 2012.

Adelaide; 5 x 6 day breaks, 3 at home 2 away with 1 game interstate (won this game at Sydney, 3 more short breaks to come).
Carlton; 7 x 6day breaks, 3 home, 4 away with 3 games interstate (won 2, lost1 so far and 1 remaining (have 4 more 6 day breaks for the year.
Collingwood; 4 x 6 or less day breaks, 3 home, 1 away , nil away games interstate (surprise, surprise plus only 1 more for the year)
Essendon; 3 x 6 or less day breaks, 1 home, 2 away, nil away games interstate (no real surpise here either plus only 2 more for the year)
Geelong; 7 x 6 day breaks; 3 home, 4 away with 1 interstate (Won against Bris) 4 more short breaks left.
Hawthorn; 7 x 6 day breaks, 1 home, 6 away with 2 interstate (lost one of these so far WCE) 3 more short breaks left.
St. Kilda; 9 x 6 day breaks, 4 home, 5 away with 2 interstate (lost one so far to WCE) 4 more short breaks left
Sydney; 5 x 6 day breaks, 2 home, 3 away with 2 interstate (not yet happened) 4 more short breaks left
WCE; 6 X 6 day breaks, 3 home, 3 away with 2 interstate (lost 1 to Essendon so far) 4 more short breaks to come.

Collingwood and Essendon still get preferences here with less short breaks and nil interstate games with short breaks.

Saints and Blues worst treated. Saints on number of breaks , Carlton on number of interstate trips in short breaks. Both had 3 short breaks in a row with key teams in opposition over the period.

Who says the draw isn't biased now. I think I would prefer to play an additional 2011 top 8 team rather than risk the injury potential from short breaks like this.

[plugger66]

Of course you would prefer to play an additional top 8 side from last year but if we did this thread would be about us playing to many top 8 sides and you would prefer an additional 6 day break. swings and roundabouts. Our draw was good early and poor now. Every forum would find faults with the draw even the Pies and essendon.

[Enrico_Misso]

It's not just that we have two more than anyone else.
The fact that we had THREE in a ROW almost certainly cost us the game against Richmond.

Corrupt Draw or Incompetent Draw?

[perfectionist]

Here is the break down on key teams in 2011 plus Adelaide given their form in 2012.

Adelaide; 5 x 6 day breaks, 3 at home 2 away with 1 game interstate (won this game at Sydney, 3 more short breaks to come).
Carlton; 7 x 6day breaks, 3 home, 4 away with 3 games interstate (won 2, lost1 so far and 1 remaining (have 4 more 6 day breaks for the year.
Collingwood; 4 x 6 or less day breaks, 3 home, 1 away , nil away games interstate (surprise, surprise plus only 1 more for the year)
Essendon; 3 x 6 or less day breaks, 1 home, 2 away, nil away games interstate (no real surpise here either plus only 2 more for the year)
Geelong; 7 x 6 day breaks; 3 home, 4 away with 1 interstate (Won against Bris) 4 more short breaks left.
Hawthorn; 7 x 6 day breaks, 1 home, 6 away with 2 interstate (lost one of these so far WCE) 3 more short breaks left.
St. Kilda; 9 x 6 day breaks, 4 home, 5 away with 2 interstate (lost one so far to WCE) 4 more short breaks left
Sydney; 5 x 6 day breaks, 2 home, 3 away with 2 interstate (not yet happened) 4 more short breaks left
WCE; 6 X 6 day breaks, 3 home, 3 away with 2 interstate (lost 1 to Essendon so far) 4 more short breaks to come....

Good piece of research, although I doubt those who criticise your conclusion will even read it, let alone think about it. However, the only people who can really tell you what effect 6 day breaks have on performance are the players, especially those who have played for some time. For instance, I would be interested in what Lenny, the two Nicks and Kosi had to say about it. If the Saints and the Blues are to continue to have a one off Monday night game, then a higher number of 6 day breaks for both is going to be the corollary.

[Moods]

It's not just that we have two more than anyone else.
The fact that we had THREE in a ROW almost certainly cost us the game against Richmond.

Corrupt Draw or Incompetent Draw?

Agreed. I pointed this out on another thread two weeks ago before we played the swans. Watters was wondering aloud why we didn't tackle like we had been, or why we didn't stick as many tackles.

I reckon we have no-one to blame but ourselves. Monday night games, for mine, are pointless and automatically create this type of situation.

[SaintPav]

We play Crows on a six day break coming back from Gold Coast. Crow are coming off the bye and have 13 days off.

[saint75]

Here is the break down on key teams in 2011 plus Adelaide given their form in 2012.

Adelaide; 5 x 6 day breaks, 3 at home 2 away with 1 game interstate (won this game at Sydney, 3 more short breaks to come).
Carlton; 7 x 6day breaks, 3 home, 4 away with 3 games interstate (won 2, lost1 so far and 1 remaining (have 4 more 6 day breaks for the year.
Collingwood; 4 x 6 or less day breaks, 3 home, 1 away , nil away games interstate (surprise, surprise plus only 1 more for the year)
Essendon; 3 x 6 or less day breaks, 1 home, 2 away, nil away games interstate (no real surpise here either plus only 2 more for the year)
Geelong; 7 x 6 day breaks; 3 home, 4 away with 1 interstate (Won against Bris) 4 more short breaks left.
Hawthorn; 7 x 6 day breaks, 1 home, 6 away with 2 interstate (lost one of these so far WCE) 3 more short breaks left.
St. Kilda; 9 x 6 day breaks, 4 home, 5 away with 2 interstate (lost one so far to WCE) 4 more short breaks left
Sydney; 5 x 6 day breaks, 2 home, 3 away with 2 interstate (not yet happened) 4 more short breaks left
WCE; 6 X 6 day breaks, 3 home, 3 away with 2 interstate (lost 1 to Essendon so far) 4 more short breaks to come.

Collingwood and Essendon still get preferences here with less short breaks and nil interstate games with short breaks.

Saints and Blues worst treated. Saints on number of breaks , Carlton on number of interstate trips in short breaks. Both had 3 short breaks in a row with key teams in opposition over the period.

Who says the draw isn't biased now. I think I would prefer to play an additional 2011 top 8 team rather than risk the injury potential from short breaks like this.

You need to go one step further and see how many of them back up against each other. We just came off 3 in a row with a trip to WA right in the middle. That is more damaging than a 6 day break on it's own.

You do have to get use to them and there will always be a certain level of inequity but 9 x 6 day breaks compared to the average of 6 based on your stats? Something is rotten in denmark.

[perfectionist]

...Something is rotten in denmark.

Oh, I think that's just a red herring.

[dragit]

Surely if 6 day breaks are a disadvantage, then 7, 8 + 9 day breaks are an advantage…

If we all play the same amount of games over 6 months, then for some matches we will have the advantage with longer breaks too? Like this week 6 vs 8 day break?

[SainterK]

We do ask for Monday night game though, which has contributed to this run.

[Leo.J]

3 in a row with an interstate trip in between is just too much.

It has to have a negative effect, especially on the older midfielders.

[OneEyedSainter77]

Surely if 6 day breaks are a disadvantage, then 7, 8 + 9 day breaks are an advantage…

If we all play the same amount of games over 6 months, then for some matches we will have the advantage with longer breaks too? Like this week 6 vs 8 day break?

So far we have had two 8 day breaks for one win, one loss.
We have three more remaining plus a 16 day break after our bye v north.

[Leo.J]

As I've said before I love the Saints, but the AFL is a joke.

The way the competition is run is seriously flawed if you expect it to be fair...

I do which is why I struggle to take it seriously sometimes.

If you don't expect it to be fair, then you'd have no problems with it.

[Leo.J]

Surely if 6 day breaks are a disadvantage, then 7, 8 + 9 day breaks are an advantage…

If we all play the same amount of games over 6 months, then for some matches we will have the advantage with longer breaks too? Like this week 6 vs 8 day break?

So far we have had two 8 day breaks for one win, one loss.
We have three more remaining plus a 16 day break after our bye v north.

We had a 180 day break and lost too.

I don't think the long breaks are the issue, the short breaks are the disadvantage, the body can only recover at a certain rate, and it takes longer the older you get.

We happen to have an old list, which makes it tougher.

The way around it is to play teams against each other who've had similar recovery times.

[meher baba]

The draw isn't fair, and this is a deliberate AFL policy. Essendon and Collingwood tend to get the most benefit from the system.

But, while I might have some complaints about the draw in general, the fact is that 6 day breaks are a fact of life for all clubs. If the players can't take it, they can go and find a different game to play (although all codes nowadays feature lots of 6 day breaks).

We could, of course, return to the good old days when all games were played simultaneously on Saturday afternoon and Melbourne on a Sunday was a cultural desert akin to contemporary Riyadh. No thanks.

[Leo.J]

The draw isn't fair, and this is a deliberate AFL policy. Essendon and Collingwood tend to get the most benefit from the system.

But, while I might have some complaints about the draw in general, the fact is that 6 day breaks are a fact of life for all clubs. If the players can't take it, they can go and find a different game to play (although all codes nowadays feature lots of 6 day breaks).

We could, of course, return to the good old days when all games were played simultaneously on Saturday afternoon and Melbourne on a Sunday was a cultural desert akin to contemporary Riyadh. No thanks.

They should make more of an effort to give teams playing each other the same or a similar amount of recovery time.

[meher baba]

The draw isn't fair, and this is a deliberate AFL policy. Essendon and Collingwood tend to get the most benefit from the system.

But, while I might have some complaints about the draw in general, the fact is that 6 day breaks are a fact of life for all clubs. If the players can't take it, they can go and find a different game to play (although all codes nowadays feature lots of 6 day breaks).

We could, of course, return to the good old days when all games were played simultaneously on Saturday afternoon and Melbourne on a Sunday was a cultural desert akin to contemporary Riyadh. No thanks.

They should make more of an effort to give teams playing each other the same or a similar amount of recovery time.

I thought they generally did. Didn't both Richmond and us play the previous Saturday night?

[OneEyedSainter77]

The draw isn't fair, and this is a deliberate AFL policy. Essendon and Collingwood tend to get the most benefit from the system.

But, while I might have some complaints about the draw in general, the fact is that 6 day breaks are a fact of life for all clubs. If the players can't take it, they can go and find a different game to play (although all codes nowadays feature lots of 6 day breaks).

We could, of course, return to the good old days when all games were played simultaneously on Saturday afternoon and Melbourne on a Sunday was a cultural desert akin to contemporary Riyadh. No thanks.

I actually completely agree with this post.

These likes are professionals - cant see why they need more than six days to recover before playing another game.

[Leo.J]

The draw isn't fair, and this is a deliberate AFL policy. Essendon and Collingwood tend to get the most benefit from the system.

But, while I might have some complaints about the draw in general, the fact is that 6 day breaks are a fact of life for all clubs. If the players can't take it, they can go and find a different game to play (although all codes nowadays feature lots of 6 day breaks).

We could, of course, return to the good old days when all games were played simultaneously on Saturday afternoon and Melbourne on a Sunday was a cultural desert akin to contemporary Riyadh. No thanks.

They should make more of an effort to give teams playing each other the same or a similar amount of recovery time.

I thought they generally did. Didn't both Richmond and us play the previous Saturday night?

Yes they did.

We had 3 in a row.

Do you think that would of effected our performance at all?

They are a fact of life.

The draw can minimise the effect they have.

What the AFL draw attempts to do is maximise profit... not minimise the effects of 6 day break.

[SaintPav]

The draw isn't fair, and this is a deliberate AFL policy. Essendon and Collingwood tend to get the most benefit from the system.

But, while I might have some complaints about the draw in general, the fact is that 6 day breaks are a fact of life for all clubs. If the players can't take it, they can go and find a different game to play (although all codes nowadays feature lots of 6 day breaks).

We could, of course, return to the good old days when all games were played simultaneously on Saturday afternoon and Melbourne on a Sunday was a cultural desert akin to contemporary Riyadh. No thanks.

You're forgetting about the VFL reserves game that was telecast live on Ch 7 from Lakeside oval in late 70s and early 80s right after Wide World of Sports...that was culture.....

[saintspremiers]

We do ask for Monday night game though, which has contributed to this run.

The Pies get Queens bday and Anzac Day.

The AFL can go f themselves if they blame the six day break
Fiasco over ONE Monday night request!

[oh when the]

What draw , it's a FIXture

[dragit]

I'm not a fan of the current fixture system at all, but I think it's sour grapes to blame losing to the tigers on a tough draw… In 10 games so far, they have played 7 top-8 sides, and us who are around the mark… Would be a very taxing start to the year…

They're playing good footy that is why they beat us.

[plugger66]

We do ask for Monday night game though, which has contributed to this run.

The Pies get Queens bday and Anzac Day.

The AFL can go f themselves if they blame the six day break
Fiasco over ONE Monday night request!

Havent heard anyone from the AFL blaming the Monday night game for the 6 day breaks. I know it hard for people to accept but one win and two losses was probably what we expected at the start of the year for those 3 games its just the win we thought would be Richmond and the Sydney game was 50/50. WCE were always going to be hard to beat over there. And by the time we actually played the sides, WCE were going to be harder to beat, Sydney were probably going just better than us and the Tigers were probably going just better than us. I saw nothing in any game to suggest the 6 day breaks hurt us.

[Leo.J]

... I saw nothing in any game to suggest the 6 day breaks hurt us.

The fact that the output of our older midfielders was well down... which contributed to our loss?

I know it's a fact of life in modern footy, but it has to take it's toll when they are back to back.

One off shouldn't be a problem really, but 3!

So do you really believe it had no effect at all?

It's been mentioned a few times by club representatives in the media... why would they do that if it's rubbish?