The draw

[CURLY]

The draw cannot be even or fair but it shouldn't disadvantage particular clubs each year. The fact we have to go to Geelong each year while say Collingwood don't shows the AFL are biased and are not attempting to be fair. To say the draw doesn't have any effect on end of seaon ladder positioning is head in sand stuff.

Is this why you are known as "Cryin Curly"?

Yeah it's hilarious I think that squeezer is 7.

[Ghost Like]

Unfortunately we've not played St Kilda once.

[Life Long Saint]

Transparency in the FIXture is what's needed.
Have a formula that is known based on where you finished last season.
Even if it was as simple as splitting the ladder into 3 groups of 6.
1,4,7,10,13,16
2,5,8,11,14,17
3,6,9,12,15,18

You play every team once (17) and then every team in your "group" twice (5). That's 22 games with every team having a bye, that's 23 rounds.
What that doesn't guarantee you is repeat blockbusters, showdowns, and derbys.

[cwrcyn]

There's no easy fix, especially given the AFL's priorities in maximising profits and accommodating the desires of broadcasters and advertisers.

Once they went down that route there was no going back

The point I was trying to make was that the draw itself can shape the make up of the finals and that when judging a team's performance over the year the draw has to be factored in. If we had played West Coast and North Melbourne twice rather than Sydney and Brisbane we make finals and our season is considered a success rather than a failure in the eyes of our supporters and the football media.

[saynta]

There's no easy fix, especially given the AFL's priorities in maximising profits and accommodating the desires of broadcasters and advertisers.

Once they went down that route there was no going back

The point I was trying to make was that the draw itself can shape the make up of the finals and that when judging a team's performance over the year the draw has to be factored in. If we had played West Coast and North Melbourne twice rather than Sydney and Brisbane we make finals and our season is considered a success rather than a failure in the eyes of our supporters and the football media.

Don't you mean maximizing their ridiculous bonuses?

[Templar]

The draw cannot be even or fair...

Yes it can.

It works like this:

Each team plays each other: once at home and once away. In perpetuity.

Doesn't matter how many rounds there are. The cycle just rolls over to the next season.

[cwrcyn]

Yep, that's a good point. And a simple fix

[bigcarl]

The draw cannot be even or fair...

Yes it can.

It works like this:

Each team plays each other: once at home and once away. In perpetuity.

Doesn't matter how many rounds there are. The cycle just rolls over to the next season.

Good call, but you can never expect competition integrity from the AFL.

I see Girlong earned a home final, but faces the Filth at the Filth’s home ground. No advantage for finishing top. In fact, a disadvantage.

[SaintPav]

This is a crack up.

The fixture is fair and equitable..

Yeah, right….

Move along….nothing to see here..

[The_Dud]

The draw cannot be even or fair...

Yes it can.

It works like this:

Each team plays each other: once at home and once away. In perpetuity.

Doesn't matter how many rounds there are. The cycle just rolls over to the next season.

Yeah but one year that team might be good and the next its not, and then you'll have everyone screaming again how its not fair they copped them on a good year.

[Templar]

The draw cannot be even or fair...

Yes it can.

It works like this:

Each team plays each other: once at home and once away. In perpetuity.

Doesn't matter how many rounds there are. The cycle just rolls over to the next season.

Yeah but one year that team might be good and the next its not, and then you'll have everyone screaming again how its not fair they copped them on a good year.

Doesn't matter. It will be the luck of the draw. And it cycles so will mostly even out

Does it mean two bottom teams end up playing each other at the G on a blockbuster weekend? Sure it does. That is what happens with an equitable draw. Tradionalists will have no issue with it.

Big time money grubbing administrators will hate it. But an equitable as possible draw should be the basis of a professional sporting code. Otherwise the comp is more like manufactured WWE entertainment.

[The_Dud]

Doesn't matter. It will be the luck of the draw. And it cycles so will mostly even out

No offence, but there is no way that would fly with the more dedicated wingers in the fanbases! "Luck of the draw" and "mostly even out" does not exist in their reality.

[CURLY]

Removing ridiculous draw restrictions would be a great start. All teams should be in the mix to go to Geelong Tasmania and so on.

[saynta]

Doesn't matter. It will be the luck of the draw. And it cycles so will mostly even out

No offence, but there is no way that would fly with the more dedicated wingers in the fanbases! "Luck of the draw" and "mostly even out" does not exist in their reality.

noun
plural noun: wingers

1.
an attacking player on the wing in soccer, hockey, and other sports.
2.
a member of a specified political wing.
"a left-winger"

[Sanctorum]

Interesting stats about this year's draw and there's little doubt that if St Kilda had played fewer top 8 teams the team would have played finals next week and arguably taken the pressure off the beleaguered coach who's head has been on supporters' chopping blocks for months and spared us all that forlorn vitriol!

The AFL will always put "maximise revenue" on top of the list when designing the yearly fixtures, and rightly so because the operating costs of the league and clubs will continue to increase each year.

Unlike most other elite professional football codes, the AFL Commission administers 16 mostly member-owned teams plus 2 of their own hybrids GWS and Gold Coast Suns, and all clubs get to take their share of the pie in annual distributions, some that are down on their luck, like St Kilda, a little more than others.

Guess we have to live with it but I'm quite sure that with a bit of luck St Kilda will once again get back on top in the next few years.

[spert]

Doesn't matter- just needed to play better when the heat was on and we would have won more games. Too many lame efforts in some games regardless of the quality of the opposition.

[Fidelis]

On ways of measuring draw difficulty, if we add the total ladder points of opponents (eg add 72 for each time Geelong is played, add 8 each time Roos are played) we get St Kilda with the 5th most difficult draw (1038). Only the Swans from the top 8 had a more difficult run (1044) and Geelong and Richmond (868 and 894) had the 2 easiest draws in the comp.
It's been mentioned that the draw is done on last year's ladder and even if it's absolutely fair at the time, you can be fortunate or not in the way your double up teams rise or drop.
Worth noting that if we do the same calculation at the time the draw was announced last year (using 2021 ladder), 10th placed St KIlda had the hardest draw (1020) while 3rd placed Geelong (966) came in with only 4 teams having an easier draw.

[Fidelis]

On ways of measuring draw difficulty, if we add the total ladder points of opponents (eg add 72 for each time Geelong is played, add 8 each time Roos are played) we get St Kilda with the 5th most difficult draw (1038). Only the Swans from the top 8 had a more difficult run (1044) and Geelong and Richmond (868 and 894) had the 2 easiest draws in the comp.
It's been mentioned that the draw is done on last year's ladder and even if it's absolutely fair at the time, you can be fortunate or not in the way your double up teams rise or drop.
Worth noting that if we do the same calculation at the time the draw was announced last year (using 2021 ladder), 10th placed St KIlda had the hardest draw (1020) while 3rd placed Geelong (966) came in with only 4 teams having an easier draw.

[Fidelis]

On ways of measuring draw difficulty, if we add the total ladder points of opponents (eg add 72 for each time Geelong is played, add 8 each time Roos are played) we get St Kilda with the 5th most difficult draw (1038). Only the Swans from the top 8 had a more difficult run (1044) and Geelong and Richmond (868 and 894) had the 2 easiest draws in the comp.
It's been mentioned that the draw is done on last year's ladder and even if it's absolutely fair at the time, you can be fortunate or not in the way your double up teams rise or drop.
Worth noting that if we do the same calculation at the time the draw was announced last year (using 2021 ladder), 10th placed St KIlda had the hardest draw (1020) while 3rd placed Geelong (966) came in with only 4 teams having an easier draw.

[Saints58]

I was at the Members day at RSCA park on Saturday and had a chat to the Pres Andrew Bassett about this very subject he was levied about the draw and said what you guys have about playing the weaker sides once on there home ground and the other teams getting the easy draw.
He was determined to challenge the AFL about us getting a better draw as we have had a shocking draw the last few years.
I do have a lot of confidence in him and the board and lets home they get us a better draw for 23.

We could always us the threat of if we don't get a good draw we will get grant Thomas back in the club the AFL hate him might work!

[Killa]

The simple fact was that, due to the impact of the Pandemic (which continues hence the WHO Risk Grading maintains), the AFL had to go to its bankers requesting a Line of Credit, secured by mortgage over the Docklands site (which is of what value, especially given a forced sale?).

So there was an impact on the Balance Sheet of the AFL (including because of impaired cash flow).

The AFL has a reliance on media coverage - so audience size (hence the "investment" into "blockbuster" Clubs, looking for an audience to sell to broadcasters).

There is a contributor on here still back in the age of the Spanish Flu, so wholly uneducated both socially and economically.

Fortunately, educated and responsible people are guiding society thru these troubled times.

Not deniers.

[saynta]

Did you mean livid?

[Templar]

The simple fact was that, due to the impact of the Pandemic (which continues hence the WHO Risk Grading maintains), the AFL had to go to its bankers requesting a Line of Credit, secured by mortgage over the Docklands site (which is of what value, especially given a forced sale?).

So there was an impact on the Balance Sheet of the AFL (including because of impaired cash flow).

The AFL has a reliance on media coverage - so audience size (hence the "investment" into "blockbuster" Clubs, looking for an audience to sell to broadcasters).

There is a contributor on here still back in the age of the Spanish Flu, so wholly uneducated both socially and economically.

Fortunately, educated and responsible people are guiding society thru these troubled times.

Not deniers.

So the pandemic is the reason that the AFL started manipulating the draw. OK. Got it.

[The_Dud]

Regardless of the draw, the simple fact is that if we had of "turned up" each and every game this year we would be playing finals right now.

You can't whinge about missing finals because you have to play "hard" teams too many times then turn around and lose to Port and Essendon...

[cwrcyn]

I'm not whingeing about missing finals. We didn't deserve to make it based on out last 11 games. Merely pointing out how the draft can influence the end of year positions on the ladder. I don't think anyone could argue against that.