Opinion Which club currently has the biggest home ground advantage in the AFL?

[MC Extra Dollop]

And West Coast got thumped by just about everyone in Perth, so I guess there's no advantage to playing in Perth?

The Eagles definitely had a home ground advantage, so I'm a little unclear as to what you're on about. It was nothing like Gold Coast though.

West Coast was 33.3% at Perth Stadium and 9.1% everywhere else.

Gold Coast was 81.8% at Carrara/Marrara and 20% everywhere else.

 

[AstonSouffle]

Gold Coast in Darwin - window into what an NT team would be like, they'd kick the pants off everyone every season up there then head down to a place like Ballarat and then get walloped by 120 points.

 

[greatwhiteshark]

In 2018 as an example, who had by far the easiest path to the GF? Tigers who played Hawks and Pies at neutral MCG, or Eagles who played Pies and Demons in Perth?

So whilst an MCG tenant may often have the advantage in the GF, it’s often a much easier path for non-Vic teams to make the big dance.

So would you rather a finals run for an MCG tenant v a non-VIC team of:

MCG tenant: Neutral / Neutral / Home

Non-Vic: Home (95% crowd) / Home (95% crowd) / Away

The odds across the entire finals series are heavily stacked for the non-Vic team … but everyone only ever focusses on the GF, not lead-in finals.

Even Geelong in 2007 were not done any favours in comparison to Port, who got 2 x huge home ground lead-in finals and Cats played MCG tenants on their way to the GF.

Keeping in mind a non-Vic team gets very generous crowd support at the Grand Final, especially Lions and Swans.

So I don’t shed any tears for non-Vic teams , as they often have a much easier path to the GF than MCG co-tenants.


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You win nothing getting to a GF. So who has the easiest path has no relevance. To win the flag you have to win at the G on GF day. The Vic team has the advantage.
Do you know how many premierships you have won winning the preliminary finals? you win nothing.

 

[Bugs1977]

GC in Darwin

Slip N Silde Stadium

 

[VinnieB]

Oh my, it’s just such a struggle for the poor MCG teams isn’t it. How DO they cope with the world against them, their 14 or so games at their home ground each year, their long, long road trips occasionally down the tramway to Docklands where their supporters must rug up like Robert Scott and Captain Oates and brave the conditions, and their supporters leave home and tell their loved ones ‘I’m going out for a walk, I may be some time’ and no one really knows if they will ever make it back, and they have to leave notes at incremental points along the way to tell people of their remarkable journey to and from the venue.

It’s a hard life.

Where this makes no sense is that the MCG is the home ground for several clubs. So, when they do play each other, it's not a major advantage for one over the other.

 

[PhatBoy]

Where this makes no sense is that the MCG is the home ground for several clubs. So, when they do play each other, it's not a major advantage for one over the other.

So what. It’s not a major disadvantage when you are ‘travelling’ either, is it.

 

[VinnieB]

So what. It’s not a major disadvantage when you are ‘travelling’ either, is it.

Odd response….

 

[Mr Meow]

Where this makes no sense is that the MCG is the home ground for several clubs. So, when they do play each other, it's not a major advantage for one over the other.

The advantage is clear in finals.

Hypothetically an MCG tenant could finish 3rd, host St Kilda at the G and lose a QF, play NM at the G in a SF, play WB at the G in a PF and then host an interstate side at the G in the GF. That would be 4 genuine home ground advantages in finals without finishing top 2, and losing a final. At the venue where they've played 15+ times.

The equivalent would be Geelong playing 4 finals in Geelong in a row under those circumstances, which of course would instigate a league-wide meltdown.

Luckily the teams with Marvel as their primary home have mostly been rubbish so it's primarily a factor when MCG tenants play Geelong or are the "away" team in a GF against an interstate team.

Given the importance of finals it is a big factor. One that would only be cancelled out if all of the MCG tenants were playing finals against each other (e.g top 4 of Collingwood, Melbourne, Hawthorn and Richmond).

 

[VinnieB]

The advantage is clear in finals.

Hypothetically an MCG tenant could finish 3rd, host St Kilda at the G and lose a QF, play NM at the G in a SF, play WB at the G in a PF and then host an interstate side at the G in the GF. That would be 4 genuine home ground advantages in finals without finishing top 2, and losing a final. At the venue where they've played 15+ times.

The equivalent would be Geelong playing 4 finals in Geelong in a row under those circumstances, which of course would instigate a league-wide meltdown.

Luckily the teams with Marvel as their primary home have mostly been rubbish so it's primarily a factor when MCG tenants play Geelong or are the "away" team in a GF against an interstate team.

Given the importance of finals it is a big factor. One that would only be cancelled out if all of the MCG tenants were playing finals against each other (e.g top 4 of Collingwood, Melbourne, Hawthorn and Richmond).

How many games do Geelong play each year at the MCG excluding finals? 6 or 7?

 

[Mr Meow]

How many games do Geelong play each year at the MCG excluding finals? 6 or 7?

5.

14 for the mighty Pies. Then if they are the away side against Geelong, NM, WB, St Kilda, Carlton, Essendon in a final - they "host" a side that plays at the G much less than them. Same situation for the GF, but add all of the interstate sides as well.

Given the importance of finals, of course that means a significant overall advantage. Like I said, it's only neutralised if all of the MCG tenants are contenders in a given season, or at least most of them.

 

[SurreyBlue]

Home advantage offers a difference when 2 sides are matched equally. Unfortunately the home team has a big advantage on such matches.

IMO, the MCG is the least advantage ground, as most sides play often. Just to elaborate, a young team like GC, need to learn to win away from home. Last year is an example but only one in many. Once that mental issue is overcome, they wont have an issue with the MCG, but they will still struggle in Perth against say a Fremantle, who’ll most likely be an equal match in talent and vice versa, Fremantle will find it hard up at the GC.