
threenewpadlocks
Brownlow Medallist
There'll never be a local derby in the gather round because it means that 8 of the 9 games, not 7, are neutral games.
AFL ideally would also want to maximise Vic vs Non-Vic matchup because you're taking away a match that could have higher attendance if both home and away fans would want to go. Of course making all 9 games that combination is hard because of all the other requirements of the fixture, but they would never have more than 1 or 2 in the round. For all the round's success I'm sure they're a bit frustrated that they missed out on two big MCG crowds for Essendon/Melbourne and St Kilda/Collingwood.
So in this framework really the only "fair" way of doing it is rotating which 2 Vic teams are forced to play away every 4-5 years. Or give it to Geelong every year to balance out their unique home ground advantage as being the only Vic team that has a HGA vs. Other Vic teams but no home ground disadvantage.
AFL ideally would also want to maximise Vic vs Non-Vic matchup because you're taking away a match that could have higher attendance if both home and away fans would want to go. Of course making all 9 games that combination is hard because of all the other requirements of the fixture, but they would never have more than 1 or 2 in the round. For all the round's success I'm sure they're a bit frustrated that they missed out on two big MCG crowds for Essendon/Melbourne and St Kilda/Collingwood.
So in this framework really the only "fair" way of doing it is rotating which 2 Vic teams are forced to play away every 4-5 years. Or give it to Geelong every year to balance out their unique home ground advantage as being the only Vic team that has a HGA vs. Other Vic teams but no home ground disadvantage.