Roast Has Opening Round been totally botched?

[The Educator]

They're manufactured blockbusters to start the season. There's a reason why the return games between the big 4 always draw less, and it isn't because of "mid season lull"

This isn't correct. They will draw at least as many, if not more, when they are both contending for the finals (which has historically not been common this century)

 

[Andyy]

Round zero was lame.

There should also be no byes for the year and rotations should be severely limited to about 5/quarter (+ changes in breaks) so that more players are forced to rest during the season.

 

[SC_Power]

I just thought of another ridiculously minor thing that the AFL Opening Round screws up.

The statistic “Finished round on top of the ladder”.

All the time spent compiling this https://afltables.com/afl/seas/ladders/ladders.html
Now corrupted for the sake of an Opening Round.

Hell, my team is undefeated, has the highest percentage, and is in 5th spot!

It’s a carriage of misjustice of the highest order, I tells ya.

Where’s my beer?

 

[Purple Suit]

Still no evidence to support the notion that first week byes are particularly dis/advantageous, btw.

Fremantle made a lot of people in this thread look foolish!

3 losses and Freo were down by 4 goals in 10 minutes. They then nearly got run down as they weren’t match fit.

OR cost us percentage.

 

[GC2015]

Its the highest attended round ever. Not just a round 1 record.

AFL Tables - Crowds 1921-2024

So let me get this straight. Every game in Opening Round sells out in the northern expansion markets and is followed by the highest attended round of all-time... yet people are still trying to claim the AFL has stuffed this season up somehow? CLEARLY the majority of footy fans in the southern states were not of the same opinion and instead showed up in droves for the R1 games. They say distance makes the heart grow fonder and this very much appears to be the case where Opening Round seems to have motivated footy fans to attend R1 games even more than we've seen in previous years. The metrics paint a very different picture to what the critics are suggesting in this thread.

The AFL would be doing cartwheels over what they've achieved in the last two weeks and if you can't see that then you simply don't understand the business side of professional sport. Like it or not, the AFL is a business at the end of the day.

 

[Teen Wolf]

3 losses and Freo were down by 4 goals in 10 minutes. They then nearly got run down as they weren’t match fit.

OR cost us percentage.

Riiiight, teams with impaired fitness always come back from 4 goals down to win by 4 goals...

That Freo were the only team to win against an earlier-starting opponent this year is a nice historical change of pace (look up the 1991 and 1992 seasons). Suggests there's no clear trend to base the "wahhh it's not fair" claims on.

 

[Purple Suit]

Riiiight, teams with impaired fitness always come back from 4 goals down to win by 4 goals...

That Freo were the only team to win against an earlier-starting opponent this year is a nice historical change of pace (look up the 1991 and 1992 seasons). Suggests there's no clear trend to base the "wahhh it's not fair" claims on.

Yes but it’s an easy fix. If you insist on further compromising the draw, why not just have the teams that started early play each other in R1?

The AFL don’t see the inequities in the draw as an issue and have decided to increase it further.

 

[Purple Suit]

Riiiight, teams with impaired fitness always come back from 4 goals down to win by 4 goals...

That Freo were the only team to win against an earlier-starting opponent this year is a nice historical change of pace (look up the 1991 and 1992 seasons). Suggests there's no clear trend to base the "wahhh it's not fair" claims on.

The slow start was rust. We stuffed up multiple kicks and I think the umpires were rusty as they had paid 5 free kicks to Brisbane.

Did you watch the game?

 

[seasonedsainter]

I live overseas now, have for 5 or 6 years. I legit don't even understand the fixture this year, let alone some of the recent rule changes.

 

[Teen Wolf]

The slow start was rust. We stuffed up multiple kicks and I think the umpires were rusty as they had paid 5 free kicks to Brisbane.

Did you watch the game?

Unlike most people in this thread, I watch a lot of football, not just my own team. Hence I like the initiative by the AFL to create extra standalone marquee slots and make it easier to watch more games, which is what Opening Round does.

So yeah I did watch the match and saw Fremantle making several mental errors including soft turnovers and free kicks/50m penalties leading to goals early on. Nothing to do with fitness, which was the basis for 20 pages of stupid complaints.

 

[Purple Suit]

Unlike most people in this thread, I watch a lot of football, not just my own team. Hence I like the initiative by the AFL to create extra standalone marquee slots and make it easier to watch more games, which is what Opening Round does.

So yeah I did watch the match and saw Fremantle making several mental errors including soft turnovers and free kicks/50m penalties leading to goals early on. Nothing to do with fitness, which was the basis for 20 pages of stupid complaints.

It was match fitness though or Rust. It had everything to do with not playing a game for 6 months. All 4 teams who had played won the first quarter.

 

[My Tilly]

I see some of the same posters who couldn't care less about player weights no longer being publicized are making a bit of noise about opening round

 

[btdg]

The crazy thing to me is that Carlton, Richmond, Collingwood and Sydney will have played twice before 10 other teams play their first game.

How on earth does it make sense to have Carlton and Collingwood travel then play on a 6 day break, and Richmond travel for a 5 day break, when there 10 teams that could slot in there instead?

Both Carlton and Richmond have injury concerns, in part because of a shortened preseason, and are playing extra cautious with the travel as a result and hokding back injured players. This is a huge advantage to home teams Brisbane and GC, particularly given GC have a 7 day break and play at home next week and the Lions have an 8 day rest before travelling to Freo.

Similarly Sydney have a home opener, followed by an 8 day rest before playing against Collingwood who are travelling and have a 6 day break.

Forget the commercial.implications and even the competitive balance - fixtures tend to sort themselves out over time. This is still just utter lunacy in fixturing.

If Richmond vs Carlton had to be Thursday and you wanted big Melbourne clubs this week why not have Essendon replace Richmond, and maybe Hawthorn instead of Carlton. Then play GWS/Collingwood (a replay of a better prelim final anyway) on Friday night instead of Saturday. Hawthorn/Essendon could still be Saturday 1:45 the following week on a 7 day rest... bloody simple really

So how are the opening round teams faring with injury now that we're heading towards the mid-point of the season? I guess everyone has injuries, right - so the shortened pre-season and stupid early fixtureing must have balanced itself out by now...

Richmond - played opening round away, at a suburban ground on the Gold Coast, then had to play again 5 days later. Currently 18 players on the injury list (most in the league) and barely able to field a suburban team. Must just be the exception, right?

Carlton - played opening round away in Brisbane, then had to play again 6 days later. Currently 15 players on the injury list (second in the league). Ok, maybe that's just coincidence?

Collingwood - played opening round away at a suburban ground in West Sydney, then played 6 days later, then had another 6 day break the following week... currently 14 players on the injury list (3rd in the league). Hmm... a pattern is starting to emerge here...

GWS played on a Sunday at home in opening round, and surely being GWS they got a 7 day break? Oh wait, no, they had a 6 day break. Let's check how they are going? What, 12 players on the injury list (4th most in the league)? Sheesh...

At least Sydney and Melbourne had things a bit better - they played on the Thursday of opening round, and then got an 8 and a 9 day rest. So they're probably going fine, right? Well, they were going all right, but things have crept up the last few weeks and Sydney now have 10 and Melbourne 9. That's good enough for 5th and 6th worst in the league

Brisbane played at home in opening round and then had a 9 day rest, so a much more palatable option than the rest. They've had managed to limit themselves to just the 4x ACL injuries (this year, plus one holdover from last year), which is pretty good when you consider that the AFL average, for a season is 8-9. Only 8 players injured total though and now we're getting back to normal territory - there are actually two other teams in the comp who have the same injuries as Brisbane.

Only Gold Coast came through unscathed. They started at home, played on a 7 day break and played at home the following week, then had an 8 day break, then a bye. But they're actually looking ok

TLR: Can I just sum this up again for anyone who couldn't read above:
Richmond = away (Queensland) in OR, 5 day break = worst injury list in the league
Carlton = away (Queensland) in OR, 6 day break = second worst injury list in the league
Collingwood = away (NSW shit ground) in OR, 6 day break = third worst injury list in the league
GWS = home (NSW shit ground) in OR, travelled on a 6 day break = fourth worst injury list in the league
Sydney = home (NSW) in OR, travelled on an 8 day break = fifth worst injury list in the league
Melbourne = away (NSW) in OR, 9 day break = sixth worst injury list in the league
Brisbane = home (QLD) in OR, travelled on a 9 day break = equal 7th worst injust list in the league (including 4x ACLs)

There's an almost direct 1-1 correlation between how stupid the opening round and round 1 fixture was, and how those teams are faring with injury mid-season.

You cannot tell me that extending the footy season and playing matches in Queenland (and on sub-par grounds in NSW) in Summer, then making teams back that up for a short week the following week, is anything other than utterly and completely botched.