Collingwood - 22 straight games in Melbourne

[one-eyed]

Magpies take very rare flight

    Jon Anderson
    From: Herald Sun
    June 23, 2011

AS Richmond finishes three straight rounds of interstate travel, Collingwood comes off an unprecedented 22 straight games in Melbourne.

The Magpies trip to Sydney this Saturday night will be their first travel since Round 15 last year, when they played and beat Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium on July 9, or 350 days ago.

In the period since, they have played 19 times at their home ground, the MCG, and on three occasions at Etihad Stadium.

It gets worse when you consider from their past 18 home and away matches, 11 were against opponents coming off an interstate match the week before, losing just one of those which was by three points to Hawthorn in Round 22 last year.

Even this week against Sydney at ANZ Stadium, a venue where the Magpies have an excellent record, the Swans’ home-ground advantage has been negated by the fact they had to play a bruising encounter against Carlton in Melbourne last Sunday. Collingwood’s preparation? A bye.

As for the lack of interstate travel, consider how often the other Victorian-based teams have travelled in the same period: Carlton (5) Essendon (3) Geelong (5) Hawthorn (9, including four in Launceston) Melbourne (5) North Melbourne (5) Richmond (3) St Kilda (4) and Western Bulldogs (6).

Two points should be made in fairness to the Magpies, one being that some sides request their home fixtures be played against Collingwood at the MCG so they can reap greater financial benefits.

And of their 22 straight games in Melbourne, four were in finals at the MCG which the Pies had won the right to host after finishing top of the ladder.

But that hardly balances the ledger, one that is becoming increasingly frustrating to other Victorian-based clubs.

With 17 teams there is always going to be an unbalanced draw. Just seems it is biased too much in one direction at the moment.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/magpies-take-very-rare-flight/story-e6frf9io-1226080382097

[tiger101]

End of the day collingwood get looked after because they appeal and draw big crowds hopefully we do the same once we are at top of the ladder and the AFL look after us.

[The Big Richo]

End of the day collingwood get looked after because they appeal and draw big crowds hopefully we do the same once we are at top of the ladder and the AFL look after us.

Exactly.

[Penelope]

we haven't done too bad either with 3, one of which was our own making.

[tiger101]

2010-11 we had 18 games straight without travelling(not sure where they got that number from im guessing it is correct though). They just had a table of the highest non travel periods for teams on The Game Plan.

[WilliamPowell]

End of the day collingwood get looked after because they appeal and draw big crowds hopefully we do the same once we are at top of the ladder and the AFL look after us.

Exactly.

x 2

We have 6 interstate trips this year 2 of which are of own making - so we have 4 away interstate games that should be the ave/norm for all clubs. Until of course we are regularly in finals when it should drop back to a maximum of 3 a season 

[RollsRoyce]

I can't believe you bunch of AFL apologists!!! Here we have the most corrupt administration the game has ever suffered through,gifting one particular club an armchair ride to the upper echelons of the finals year after year after year, and you don't have a problem with it? It's nothing short of fixture tampering. And the excuse that they've somehow EARNT it, or that the league is forced to do it because every other club requests to play Collingwood at the G, frankly is a steaming pile of CRAP!!!   

[WilliamPowell]

I can't believe you bunch of AFL apologists!!! Here we have the most corrupt administration the game has ever suffered through,gifting one particular club an armchair ride to the upper echelons of the finals year after year after year, and you don't have a problem with it? It's nothing short of fixture tampering. And the excuse that they've somehow EARNT it, or that the league is forced to do it because every other club requests to play Collingwood at the G, frankly is a steaming pile of CRAP!!!   

So RR are you saying that when the RFC puts in a request the AFL to play a home game against C'wood on Friday night at the MCG the AFL should say "Sorry chaps, can't give you that we need to send them over to Subi to play Freo instead"

You prepared to give up a home game at the 'G against the Pies to ensure that the Pies travel a bit more?

[RollsRoyce]

No WP whether it's our home game or Collingwood's we should play them at the G, just like we have done since time immemorial. Remember? Before the AFL started manipulating the draft??
What I'm saying is the AFL has no right to gift Collingwood so many games at the MCG every year, as if it's some kind of birthright. Word is that Eddie's already jumped up and down about the AFL daring to give them a couple of home games at Docklands this year. And sure enough Andy has already apologised profusely and promised to right this injustice for them next year.
Take it for exactly what it is: The corrupt AFL protecting their cash-cow to ensure that they finish well into the 8 every year, and ensure their coffers receive a financial windfall. No interstate travel since rd 15 last year til last week is a DISGRACE.They should be made to travel to the sleepy hollow graveyard like other clubs. And how different the result could have been a couple of weeks ago, if they'd been made to play a rampant Eagles side in Perth. We were in the middle of a three week road trip at the time.
I'm just fed up to the back teeth with the AFL's agenda's and short-sightedness when it comes to the Tigers. If money is their sole motivation, then maybe Andy Dimwitriou should bother to waddle off his fat bum in his corporate box and look out the window once in a while. He might actually see the Tigers are capable of pulling a decent crowd,and give us a few perks too.     

[The Big Richo]

The 22 is not really a true indicator anyway as there were 4 finals in that they earnt the right to host.

A couple of years ago we had about 16 games straight didn't we?

[Dubstep Dookie]

The 22 is not really a true indicator anyway as there were 4 finals in that they earnt the right to host.

A couple of years ago we had about 16 games straight didn't we?

Not sure, but IIRC, Essendon had heaps straight on their side of the fence until Hille was drafted

[The Big Richo]

The 22 is not really a true indicator anyway as there were 4 finals in that they earnt the right to host.

A couple of years ago we had about 16 games straight didn't we?

Not sure, but IIRC, Essendon had heaps straight on their side of the fence until Hille was drafted

I don't follow?  ???

[gerkin greg]

joke of a comp when you don't play each side home and away and the fixture is based around earnings

[WilliamPowell]

No WP whether it's our home game or Collingwood's we should play them at the G, just like we have done since time immemorial. Remember? Before the AFL started manipulating the draft??
What I'm saying is the AFL has no right to gift Collingwood so many games at the MCG every year, as if it's some kind of birthright. Word is that Eddie's already jumped up and down about the AFL daring to give them a couple of home games at Docklands this year. And sure enough Andy has already apologised profusely and promised to right this injustice for them next year.
Take it for exactly what it is: The corrupt AFL protecting their cash-cow to ensure that they finish well into the 8 every year, and ensure their coffers receive a financial windfall. No interstate travel since rd 15 last year til last week is a DISGRACE.They should be made to travel to the sleepy hollow graveyard like other clubs. And how different the result could have been a couple of weeks ago, if they'd been made to play a rampant Eagles side in Perth. We were in the middle of a three week road trip at the time.
I'm just fed up to the back teeth with the AFL's agenda's and short-sightedness when it comes to the Tigers. If money is their sole motivation, then maybe Andy Dimwitriou should bother to waddle off his fat bum in his corporate box and look out the window once in a while. He might actually see the Tigers are capable of pulling a decent crowd,and give us a few perks too.     

When we play C'wood at the MCG as a home game the only Club coffers that receive a windfall is ours not C'wood - we have no gate sharing arrangement with them.

With 17 teams (soon to be 18 teams) there is no way all clubs are going to get all thier wishes granted.

Facts are ALL melb based teams request home games against the Pies because it is good for their bottom line. We do it every team does it.

So when it is all said and done it is a case of what's better for the comp and Clubs (including us)? Shipping the Pies interstate at the expense of Melb based Clubs or giving them 18 games in Melb allowing Melb clubs to earns some decent coin?

Is it fair? Nope but I know which I'd rather

I will say it again - once we are a successful team you will find that clubs will want to play us for the very same reason they want to play the Pies and then the travel will be shared around alot more than it is right now

"Build it and they will come" 

[RollsRoyce]

WP-I think you're misunderstanding my point. I'm not interested in the specifics of what our gate-sharing arrangement or lack of an arrangement is with Collingwood. Whether we play them once or twice a year, and whoever's turn it is to pocket the gate, the fact is that the G is the only ground that can accomodate a Rich vs Coll crowd so the hypothetical you posed a couple of posts ago is absurd.
Personally,I'm happy to play them once a year as we have been doing for a while, because believe me it's no fun losing to the filthy mob,or being around their knuckle-dragging fans.
I just challenge your assertion that Collingwood have "earned" this armchair ride through success.They get this preferential treatment simply because they pull a crowd, and the bottom line is the AFL are greedy and corrupt. It took Collingwood until 2010 to break a Premiership drought, hardly over-achievers by anyones definition. In fact it could be argued that with the leg up they're constantly given they should be far more successful.But it's not about success, it's about money.Everybody in Australia was outraged over Sepp Blatter awarding Qatar the World Cup because they paid for it, and said that kind of thing doesn't happen here. But what Demetriou does with Collingwood is no different.
As gate receipts are the bottom line, the AFL needs to wake up and realize the potential pulling power of the Tigers, and stop sabotaging us with bad draws, lousy umpires, and inconsistent MRP interpretations. Similarly, any club should realize when putting their requests to the AFL,that when they play Richmond at the MCG, they can pretty much rest assured that a minimum of 30,000 to 40,000 Tiger fans will turn up, before they even factor in their own clubs pulling power.