Swans, Crows not top two: Malthouse

[Leather Poisoning]

4th..even better..suck it up!

Poor victorians..can't have another period of non victorian dominance can we. I am sure the AFL will help out the shit vic clubs so they will always be there.

And yes Collingwood have had it easy as much as you try to spin it otherwise.

This Victorian angle that certain Sydney supporters keep going with is getting pretty annoying.

From what I can tell the AFL loves non-Victorian teams doing well. Poured plenty of money into game expansion into NSW, QLD, SA.

Sure Mick Malthouse (a guy who coached his team to something like 9 successive wins against Sydney) doesn't rate Sydney, neither does Necromancer Beth. But that's hardly representative of what the AFL, or Victorians think or believe. Sure the Melbourne based media outlets have a Victorian preference and focus, but
that's not all that surprising? Is it? That's their audience.

 

[doppleganger]

And yes Collingwood have had it easy as much as you try to spin it otherwise.

Collingwood have only had it 'easy' in comparison to other Victorian based clubs, like St.Kilda who often get 6 non-victorian away games.

You can't try and compare travel schedules between a team from a 10 team town, and that from a previous 1 team town like Sydney.....they are always going to have to travel more.

This year Sydney play

GWS, Footscray, StKilda, Geelong and Hawthorn twice - two easy beats one mid table team and two strong teams.

Adelaide play

GWS, GoldCoast, Port, Freo and Geelong twice - three easy beats, one mid table team and one strong team

Collingwood play

Carlton, Essendon, West Coast, Geelong and Hawthorn twice - two mid table teams, and three strong teams

Hawthorn play

Port, West Coast, Geelong, Sydney and Collingwood twice - one easy beat and four strong teams.

Adelaide and Sydney both have easier fixtures in comparison to Collingwood and Hawthorn

 

[JockStewart]

Adelaide and Sydney both have easier fixtures in comparison to Collingwood and Hawthorn

Shrug..now you know how us interstaters have felt for the past 5 years watching vic sides like collingwood get all the help they can get. Now the shoes on the other foot..we hear nothing but whinging from the vics..predicable.

 

[MaccasNeighbour]

From what I can tell the AFL loves non-Victorian teams doing well. Poured plenty of money into game expansion into NSW, QLD, SA.

Just want to qualify that in this case 'SA' = Port Adelailde.

Our draw this year is about the first decent thing the AFL has done for the Crows in 22 years (most likely be accident, not design) and look at the fuss it's caused! Compare this with the dream run the AFL have given Collingwood over the years!

 

[JockStewart]

This Victorian angle that certain Sydney supporters keep going with is getting pretty annoying.

From what I can tell the AFL loves non-Victorian teams doing well. Poured plenty of money into game expansion into NSW, QLD, SA.

Sure Mick Malthouse (a guy who coached his team to something like 9 successive wins against Sydney) doesn't rate Sydney, neither does Necromancer Beth. But that's hardly representative of what the AFL, or Victorians think or believe. Sure the Melbourne based media outlets have a Victorian preference and focus, but
that's not all that surprising? Is it? That's their audience.

Sydney have been largely ignored this year and for the past 10 seasons they have been treated with irrelevance from the vic centric media. It's like they have a template they drag out each year in regards to sydney. Every ****en year without fail they churn out the same crapola and still get it wrong. We have been 1st for a month and still no respect except for a few token articles here and there with the usual under current theme of "hawks and pies should be the real premiership favs" even after the hawks loose.

Sorry that you victorians are getting fed up with our attitude but frankly my dear we are sick and tired of the stupidity of the victorian media.

 

[The Karma Bus]

Side note, we were no doubt given Gold Coast in the final round because the AFL thought it would work well with being able to play the non finalists on Sunday for the maximum rest thing before finals for the competing clubs..

Final Round:

GWS vs North
Freo vs Melbourne
Brisbane vs Bulldogs
Richmond vs Port
Adelaide vs Gold Coast

All set up as the teams the AFL thought would not make finals..

Essendon vs Collingwood
Carlton vs St Kilda
Hawthorn vs West Coast
Geelong vs Sydney

The AFL's predicted finalists.. Oops..

 

[The Karma Bus]

Sydney have been largely ignored this year and for the past 10 seasons they have been treated with irrelevance from the vic centric media. It's like they have a template they drag out each year in regards to sydney. Every ****en year without fail they churn out the same crapola and still get it wrong. We have been 1st for a month and still no respect except for a few token articles here and there with the usual under current theme of "hawks and pies should be the real premiership favs" even after the hawks loose.

Sorry that you victorians are getting fed up with our attitude but frankly my dear we are sick and tired of the stupidity of the victorian media.

I don't really care for the whole state rivalries thing and all that but it's true.. North are being praised and talked up at the moment, yet they have GC and GWS twice and are lower than Adelaide on the ladder..

There will always be a question mark over anything a non Victorian team achieves.. Adelaide win the 97 flag, ah it's a fluke.. Ah you only beat St Kilda.. You can't do it again.... If you do it again it's no fluke.. Adelaide win the 98 flag, nah you still didn't earn it..

 

[JockStewart]

Mate from living in the shithole that is melbourne i learnt early on that victorians are the biggest whingers of all..heck i even turned into one after a few years. Since i left i hardly whinge IRL nor am i frustrated no more. Yes i do whinge about the afl and the vic bias but thats just what you do when following a interstate side.

And spot on about North. Why are they been talked up when they played both witches hats twice.

 

[cobbly]

Lol @ people in Adelaide thinking that they have some sort of rivalry with Melbourne. I hate to break it to you, but no one in Melbourne cares either way about Adelaide. In fact in a list of 'teams people in Melbourne would prefer to win the grand final if not their own', Adelaide would be pretty high on the list. The only teams I can think of that may be higher would be bulldogs, and possibly saints or north but they have both lost alot of the sympathy vote in recent times.

Adelaide have a soft draw (just a fact) and it is probably going to enable them to finish top. I think they still would have finished top 4 anyway, so they are definitely a good side, but are Adelaide the best team in the competition? I don't think so, therefore they don't deserve the spot. At the end of the day will it matter? Probably not, as finals will sort it out, even if it's at their home ground.


Sydney on the other hand don't deserve to be lumped in with Adelaide, they don't have the same soft draw. And they actually have a right to claim bias as the reason they aren't being rated by some. Though in this case I think it's as simple as Mick doesn't rate them purely because of the recent record between Collingwood and Sydney.

I do rate Sydney, if they finish top 2 (they still might not) then they will have deserved it. But I would still be confident of Pies beating them

 

[Leather Poisoning]

Sydney have been largely ignored this year and for the past 10 seasons they have been treated with irrelevance from the vic centric media. It's like they have a template they drag out each year in regards to sydney. Every ****en year without fail they churn out the same crapola and still get it wrong. We have been 1st for a month and still no respect except for a few token articles here and there with the usual under current theme of "hawks and pies should be the real premiership favs" even after the hawks loose.

Sorry that you victorians are getting fed up with our attitude but frankly my dear we are sick and tired of the stupidity of the victorian media.

The Age and the Herald Sun have every right (almost a responsibility) to be Vic centric.

No need to be condescending to me because you're irritated at a lack of media respect. Waiting for media respect is a fruitless endeavour though. When you get it, it won't feel like enough, and when you don't get it you'll feel stung like you do right now. Believe me, I've seen hawk fans as a group trying to deal with a lack of respect since the 2008 flag.

Let the media do their thing to sell papers, getting uptight about it is a real waste of effort and emotion.

Sydney have floated between 5-8 since 2006 (apart from one year in 2009 when you guys dropped out of the finals). It's a real nowhere zone in terms of getting press and coverage (Carlton aside). This is the first year since 2006 that you've finished in the top four and it usually takes a bit more than that to be taken seriously. In this time Collingwood has managed to get to 2 grand finals and had several top 4 finises. Hawks have won a flag, finished top 4 this year and hopefully this year. All the while Sydney has been in the nowhere zone.

It takes a while to build up credibility and media buzz, and Sydney haven't been up high enough for a long time to create any.

 

[MaccasNeighbour]

North are being praised and talked up at the moment, yet they have GC and GWS twice and are lower than Adelaide on the ladder.

WELL F*CK ME! I never realised we're not the only team playing GC/GWS twice until now and had to check http://www.afl.com.au/2012 fixture/tabid/10586/default.aspx to make sure you were right.

SO WHY THE HELL IS NO ONE GOING ON ABOUT NORTH'S SOFT DRAW AND ALL THE FOCUS IS ON ADELAIDE??????????

According to the 'logic' applied by many on here if North make the finals they would have stolen a top 8 spot from a more deserving club.

I personally have nothing against North Melbourne and think that argument is BS but why are the Crows the only club being attacked?

 

[The Karma Bus]

Lol @ people in Adelaide thinking that they have some sort of rivalry with Melbourne. I hate to break it to you, but no one in Melbourne cares either way about Adelaide. In fact in a list of 'teams people in Melbourne would prefer to win the grand final if not their own', Adelaide would be pretty high on the list. The only teams I can think of that may be higher would be bulldogs, and possibly saints or north but they have both lost alot of the sympathy vote in recent times.

Adelaide have a soft draw (just a fact) and it is probably going to enable them to finish top. I think they still would have finished top 4 anyway, so they are definitely a good side, but are Adelaide the best team in the competition? I don't think so, therefore they don't deserve the spot. At the end of the day will it matter? Probably not, as finals will sort it out, even if it's at their home ground.


Sydney on the other hand don't deserve to be lumped in with Adelaide, they don't have the same soft draw. And they actually have a right to claim bias as the reason they aren't being rated by some. Though in this case I think it's as simple as Mick doesn't rate them purely because of the recent record between Collingwood and Sydney.

I do rate Sydney, if they finish top 2 (they still might not) then they will have deserved it. But I would still be confident of Pies beating them

We don't think we have some sort of rivalry with Melbourne, we couldn't care less apart from the odd leftover state parochial types.. I would be going for any team in the competition against Port in any game, as would most (and Port fans the other way around)

I'd say most just get annoyed at the disregarding of most things a non Vic team or player achieves.. Why is it that so often you hear "if he played in Victoria, he would be regarded as so much better a player"? How stupid does that sound? Heard that said about so many players over time, the most recent favourite is Pavlich..

 

[MaccasNeighbour]

Lol @ people in Adelaide thinking that they have some sort of rivalry with Melbourne. I hate to break it to you, but no one in Melbourne cares either way about Adelaide.

Funny you say that. I have lived in Sydney and Melbourne. People in Melbourne seem to think they have a rivalry with Sydney and people in Sydney don't give a heck about Melbourne.

 

[Leather Poisoning]

WELL F*CK ME! I never realised we're not the only team playing GC/GWS twice until now and had to check http://www.afl.com.au/2012 fixture/tabid/10586/default.aspx to make sure you were right.

SO WHY THE HELL IS NO ONE GOING ON ABOUT NORTH'S SOFT DRAW AND ALL THE FOCUS IS ON ADELAIDE??????????

According to the 'logic' applied by many on here if North make the finals they would have stolen a top 8 spot from a more deserving club.

I personally have nothing against North Melbourne and think that argument is BS but why are the Crows the only club being attacked?

Because people care more about the top 4 than the next 4. It's where the likely premier will come from and if they're there falsely courtesy of an easy draw (not that I think that) then someone gets a better shot at the flag than they deserve. And we see it every year. People complained about COllingwood's lack of travel when they finished top four, people (mostly Carlton supporters) complained about west coast's draw last year, etc.

Collingwood usually gets the focus in regard to a lack of travel, but this year the focus is on who gets to play GC/GWS twice. No idea why Sydney are getting dragged into the easy draw debate though.

 

[JockStewart]

The Age and the Herald Sun have every right (almost a responsibility) to be Vic centric.

I have no issue with the media pampering to their market BUT

a) The Hun and The Age considers themsleves to be official AFL papers, so they should be giving all teams the same coverage and not just melbourne based teams.

b) The swans have a healthy amount of supporters in Melbourne, those included are old South people. When swans play North and the dogs we normally out number them in melbourne.

 

[JockStewart]

Funny you say that. I have lived in Sydney and Melbourne. People in Melbourne seem to think they have a rivalry with Sydney and people in Sydney don't give a heck about Melbourne.

I used to say this all the time when i lived in Melbourne and those idiots down south would curse me and tell me that they didnt care (mind you this after 10 minutes of telling me why shitney sucks) and everyone outside of victoria has an issue with them and not the other way round.

When you escape from victoria you realise how petty they are and it always them who start on the hate.

So glad i am out of that grey depressing back water.

 

[MightyHawks]

Why do you relate everything back to betting? I don't bet on footy period, doesn't mean I don't think we are a chance.



It is great value isn't it? Possibly two home finals, and what if we meet our bitches Sydney in the GF? Nothing is certain in footy these days, and yes clearly not many people are taking the $7, doesn't mean we're not some chance though.

The odds are there for a reason, the bookies don't like losing money

Yes some teams are better value than others

FWIW I don't think Hawthorn are particularly great value at $2.50

However you are certainly in the minority if you think that Adelaide represents terrific value at $7

I doubt that any Minor Premier in history has been rated such a low chance of winning the flag

 

[Leather Poisoning]

I used to say this all the time when i lived in Melbourne and those idiots down south would curse me and tell me that they didnt care (mind you this after 10 minutes of telling me why shitney sucks) and everyone outside of victoria has an issue with them and not the other way round.

When you escape from victoria you realise how petty they are and it always them who start on the hate.

So glad i am out of that grey depressing back water.

You must have hung out in some miserable circles. It's been literally 2 years since I've heard anyone bag Sydney or present anything in terms of a cross-city rivarly, and that's from when I used to work with this idiot that was competitive about everything from parking space to who got the best chair in the office.

You've got a clear grudge against Melbourne and the media that comes out of here, yet you're projecting on the entire state as though the problem is down here.

 

[JockStewart]

Not my problem victorians made it easy for me to dislike them.

 

[mattymac]

Adelaide and Sydney both have easier fixtures in comparison to Collingwood and Hawthorn

Tear spillage in aisles 3 and 4. Can we get some kleenex to aisles 3 and 4 please.

 

[ford71]

WELL F*CK ME! I never realised we're not the only team playing GC/GWS twice until now and had to check http://www.afl.com.au/2012 fixture/tabid/10586/default.aspx to make sure you were right.

SO WHY THE HELL IS NO ONE GOING ON ABOUT NORTH'S SOFT DRAW AND ALL THE FOCUS IS ON ADELAIDE??????????

That would be because other clubs aren't worried North will challenge them for a GF win

 

[Pessimistic]

To be fair hawks did get to play port twice

 

[MaccasNeighbour]

Because people care more about the top 4 than the next 4. It's where the likely premier will come from and if they're there falsely courtesy of an easy draw (not that I think that) then someone gets a better shot at the flag than they deserve. And we see it every year. People complained about COllingwood's lack of travel when they finished top four, people (mostly Carlton supporters) complained about west coast's draw last year, etc.

Collingwood usually gets the focus in regard to a lack of travel, but this year the focus is on who gets to play GC/GWS twice. No idea why Sydney are getting dragged into the easy draw debate though.

Yeah fair point. So basically it's ok to play GC/GWS twice each in a season as long as you don't win lots of your other games against decent opposition.

34 doesn't divide into 23 rounds and with the priority being $$ not fairness we're going to have these issues every year. The AFL need to have some clear guidelines e.g. top 4 teams play each other twice the following season, same for bottom 4 sides, etc.

 

[doppleganger]

SO WHY THE HELL IS NO ONE GOING ON ABOUT NORTH'S SOFT DRAW AND ALL THE FOCUS IS ON ADELAIDE??????????

The crows are a very good chance of finishing 1st, the four 'gimme' wins coming from GWS and GC being a massive leg-up, especially when they also get another 2 from the double of Port who just happened to be a rabble.

Adelaide may finish 1st, when with a less advantageous fixture they may be a 5th-6th type of team.

North may finish 6th or 7th, when with a less advantageous fixture they may be a 9th-10th type of team.

That is why the focus is on Adelaide.

 

[Dickie Greenleaf]

That would be because other clubs aren't worried North will challenge them for a GF win

Have a look in the mirror bud. Nobody will be losing any sleep over worrying about Adelaide either just quietly.