Fairness of the Draw

[SM]

With all those complaining over the opening weeks that the Swans had been gifted an easy draw to start the season, I was reminded of this complaint this weekend with the Hawks taking on the Suns after last week playing the Giants - which was the initial complaint made by posters about an unfair advantage for the Swans, playing the two expansion teams back to back.

I found this quite interesting, and when someone mentioned to me, unrelated to this issue, that the Cats' next two games are against, you guessed it, the Suns and Giants, I thought to myself 'Now, wouldn't it be funny if the Pies (the other team Pre-Season who would have been thought most likely to make Top 4) also played the Suns and Giants back to back?

And guess who the Pies play in Rounds 17 and 18? You guessed it. In fact, not only do they have the Suns and Giants over a two week period, like the Swans, they also have the Lions, Demons, Bulldogs, BYE, and Port in a row over the preceding weeks.

Now this thread in no way is to say that therefore AFL House is fair in its fixturing, but instead to bring up the interesting point that perhaps all four teams expected to finish Top 4 have intentionally been gifted 'breaks' in their season at various points to keep them in top form for Finals. And instead of me saying this means the Swans have a fair draw, it's instead me saying that, perhaps, none of the expected Top 4 have a fair draw.

tl;dr Hawks, Swans, Pies and Cats all have Suns and GWS over a two week period therefore giving them more rest at various points, therefore not fair draws for any of the four.

 

[LongBomb]

It's more about the timing.
After a short pre-season the premiers were gifted the easiest possible start to the year.

 

[dazbroncos]

With all those complaining over the opening weeks that the Swans had been gifted an easy draw to start the season, I was reminded of this complaint this weekend with the Hawks taking on the Suns after last week playing the Giants - which was the initial complaint made by posters about an unfair advantage for the Swans, playing the two expansion teams back to back.

I found this quite interesting, and when someone mentioned to me, unrelated to this issue, that the Cats' next two games are against, you guessed it, the Suns and Giants, I thought to myself 'Now, wouldn't it be funny if the Pies (the other team Pre-Season who would have been thought most likely to make Top 4) also played the Suns and Giants back to back?

And guess who the Pies play in Rounds 17 and 18? You guessed it. In fact, not only do they have the Suns and Giants over a two week period, like the Swans, they also have the Lions, Demons, Bulldogs, BYE, and Port in a row over the preceding weeks.

Now this thread in no way is to say that therefore AFL House is fair in its fixturing, but instead to bring up the interesting point that perhaps all four teams expected to finish Top 4 have intentionally been gifted 'breaks' in their season at various points to keep them in top form for Finals. And instead of me saying this means the Swans have a fair draw, it's instead me saying that, perhaps, none of the expected Top 4 have a fair draw.

tl;dr Hawks, Swans, Pies and Cats all have Suns and GWS over a two week period therefore giving them more rest at various points, therefore not fair draws for any of the four.

After 4 games in 19 days to start the year, I'd say a little balance was in order.
Port in Adel, GCS at home ( 1st home game for the yr) then GWS in Sydney, bye, then Brisbane. Still with travel, GCS getting better,. Nothing is a given these days.

Go Catters

 

[Mr Mojo Risin]

While I don't really care, I think the argument was more about the Swans getting it the first two rounds after a shorter preseason, allowing them to ease into the year as opposed to Hawthorn.

 

[SM]

It's more about the timing.
After a short pre-season the premiers were gifted the easiest possible start to the year.

And right when teams are picking up injuries/getting fatigued, the Hawks and Cats get the easiest possible run through the middle of the year.

My point is people don't realise that it doesn't matter when these fixture oddities come up, they will affect teams evenly. The Swans are now losing players to injury because they have a tough run of games, and are dropping points as a result, such as last week against Freo. That's just the way things go.

 

[Lets Roar like '44]

It's all done by a whiz computer, no doctoring whatsoever. Andrew said so

 

[Silent Alarm]

My point is people don't realise that it doesn't matter when these fixture oddities come up, they will affect teams evenly. The Swans are now losing players to injury because they have a tough run of games, and are dropping points as a result, such as last week against Freo. That's just the way things go.

Dropping points?

Any credit to Fremantle at all? Both sides were pretty flat and played a scrappy game, but come on.

 

[the_slurpee_man]

its a good observation... but I think other supporters are complaining that we played both expansion teams round 1 & 2, and usually teams aint at there best in the early rounds, therefore we were very lucky to get drawn against these teams (no disrespect) who we would beat even if we were at 60% TBH..

 

[Pykie]

I don't get why the Swans pre-season was any shorter than Hawthorn's.................... They have a nation wide parade did they?

It's a week shorter than Collingwood or Adelaide's, and in reality the players probably return on the same day.

If the Swans take longer because of celebration's, giving players a longer break, that's the clubs personal choice, nothing to do with a late finish.

 

[LongBomb]

And right when teams are picking up injuries/getting fatigued, the Hawks and Cats get the easiest possible run through the middle of the year.

My point is people don't realise that it doesn't matter when these fixture oddities come up, they will affect teams evenly. The Swans are now losing players to injury because they have a tough run of games, and are dropping points as a result, such as last week against Freo. That's just the way things go.

Like everyone else I would have much preferred the easy start to the season.

 

[SM]

While I don't really care, I think the argument was more about the Swans getting it the first two rounds after a shorter preseason, allowing them to ease into the year as opposed to Hawthorn.

Swans won the GF so I suppose they were given a reward as a result, Hawks got the evener later in the Season?

Look at the injuries the Swans have now, I don't think you can really say the 'longer preseason' has helped for players like Mattner and Shaw who have struggled all year to be fit.

 

[SM]

Dropping points?

Any credit to Fremantle at all? Both sides were pretty flat and played a scrappy game, but come on.

27 points up going into the last 10 minutes? I call that dropping points.

 

[SM]

Like everyone else I would have much preferred the easy start to the season.

Because the Swans are in such a superior position to the Cats at the moment, and beat the Cats after said easy start to the season.

 

[Mr Mojo Risin]

Swans won the GF so I suppose they were given a reward as a result, Hawks got the evener later in the Season?

Look at the injuries the Swans have now, I don't think you can really say the 'longer preseason' has helped for players like Mattner and Shaw who have struggled all year to be fit.

You would have to admit given your form in the first two rounds that if you had to play two stronger sides you may have two less wins. You could argue that if you played them now you would get two wins but that is not as good as playing the stronger teams in better form and having 4 wins as opposed to 2.

Like I said, I don't really care that much, just pointing out that your OP missed the crux of the argument.

 

[Tex Support]

27 points up going into the last 10 minutes? I call that dropping points.

I'd call that a choke myself.

 

[SM]

You would have to admit given your form in the first two rounds that if you had to play two stronger sides you may have two less wins. You could argue that if you played them now you would get two wins but that is not as good as playing the stronger teams in better form and having 4 wins as opposed to 2.

Like I said, I don't really care that much, just pointing out that your OP missed the crux of the argument.

No because I would argue the club would have gone harder in the Pre-Season and been ready for tougher opponents earlier. No dis-respect to either club but I'm sure the Swans hierarchy looked at the opening two rounds and knew they could allow underdone players more time to recover. In the same way that I'm sure the Hawks have looked at the last two rounds as an opportunity to not go at 100% as evidenced by the winning margins.

 

[SM]

I'd call that a choke myself.

That's what I'm calling it as well... a choke due to fatigue. In the same way that the Roos were out on their feet against you and were unable to hold their lead.

 

[Hawthorn United]

It's all done by a whiz computer, no doctoring whatsoever. Andrew said so

With all the locked in games, there's probably about 15 games that's randomised.

 

[Jaeger]

Can't believe a Swans supporter is complaining about the fixture.

 

[SM]

Can't believe a Swans supporter is complaining about the fixture.

Did you even read the OP?

 

[Mr Mojo Risin]

No because I would argue the club would have gone harder in the Pre-Season and been ready for tougher opponents earlier. No dis-respect to either club but I'm sure the Swans hierarchy looked at the opening two rounds and knew they could allow underdone players more time to recover. In the same way that I'm sure the Hawks have looked at the last two rounds as an opportunity to not go at 100% as evidenced by the winning margins.

In other words, if you had stronger teams certain players wouldn't have had the time to recover? It was a definite advantage, I'm not sure why it matters to you so much to admit it. The fixture affords team advantages over others every year. This year you got one.

 

[vonn]

As a Sydney fan, I disassociate myself from this thread and the idiot OP's opinion.

 

[SM]

In other words, if you had stronger teams certain players wouldn't have had the time to recover? It was a definite advantage, I'm not sure why it matters to you so much to admit it. The fixture affords team advantages over others every year. This year you got one.

Or they would have been upping their training earlier in the Pre-Season is more what I was referring to.

If you read the OP, I openly admit we received an advantage by playing those two first. That's not the premise of this thread. I'm actually just saying that all four top teams received the same advantage at different points in the season.

 

[SM]

As a Sydney fan, I disassociate myself from this thread and the idiot OP's opinion.

Flog.

 

[vonn]

Flog.

'We dropped points against Fremantle'

Your arrogance embarrasses me.