2016 AFL Season

[Club Rossa]

Aerlik where are you with your reports??

[TabClear]

Aerlik where are you with your reports??

Have you not seem the ladder? Aerlik is in counselling!  To be fair I think he posted something about having broadband issues.

Another couple of cracking games at the weekend.  Hawks were pushed all the way by a st kilda side that is looking better and better. Adelaide beat the swans in a great game.  I'm really surprised by how well the crows have dealt with the loss of Dangerfield.

Freo lost again to North but played much better. You would have got some odds on then being 0-4 to start the season.

Pearce Hanley was brilliant against gold coast in an upset win for the lions.  That left north with the only 100% record.

[Club Rossa]

Yeah,that was a great game between the Crows and Swans.Hawthorn next for Adelaide.The Hawks performance against St.Kilda wouldn't do on Friday night.

[Ball Hopper]

In response to some general enquiries, I'll attempt to give a little background over a few posts about the AFL.  Those better qualified can certainly point out errors and corrections.

History

In 1896, delegates from the stronger and wealthier Victoria Football Association clubs—Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, Fitzroy, Geelong, Melbourne, St Kilda and South Melbourne—met to form a breakaway competition and in 1897, the Victorian Football League (VFL), was born as an eight-team competition. Popularity of the VFL grew rapidly and by 1925 with 12 teams, had become the most prominent league in the game and would dominate so many aspects of the sport from that point on.

By 1980, the way the game was played had changed dramatically due to innovative coaching tactics, with the phasing out of many of the game's kicking styles and the increasing use of handball; while presentation was influenced by television.

In 1982, in a move that heralded big changes within the sport, one of the original VFL clubs and then struggling, South Melbourne, relocated to Sydney and became known as the Sydney Swans. In the late 1980s, due to the poor financial standing of many of the Victorian clubs, the VFL pursued a more national competition. Two more non-Victorian clubs, the West Coast Eagles and the Brisbane Bears, began playing in 1987.

In their early years, the Sydney and Brisbane clubs struggled both on and off-field because the substantial TV revenues they generated by playing on a Sunday went to the VFL. To protect these revenues the VFL granted significant draft concessions and financial aid to keep them competitive. Each club was required to pay a license fee which allowed the Victorian-based clubs to survive.

The league changed its name to the Australian Football League (AFL) following the 1989 season. In 1991, it gained its first South Australian team, the Adelaide Crows, which paid five million dollars to enter the AFL. During the next five years, two more non-Victorian teams, the Fremantle Dockers and Port Adelaide Power, joined the league. In 2011 and 2012, respectively, two new non-Victorian teams were added to the competition, the Gold Coast Suns and Greater Western Sydney Giants.

The AFL, currently with 18 member clubs, is the sport's elite competition and the most powerful body and continues to seek further opportunities to expand into new markets.

[Ball Hopper]

The 2015 season ended as follows, with the top 8 making the Finals.  Hawthorn beat West Coast Eagles in the Grand Final.

The next post will detail the structure of the Finals.

1 Fremantle
2 West Coast Eagles
3 Hawthorn
4 Sydney Swans
5 Richmond
6 Western Bulldogs
7 Adelaide
8 North Melbourne

9 Port Adelaide
10 Geelong
11 Greater Western Sydney
12 Collingwood
13 Melbourne
14 St. Kilda
15 Essendon
16 Gold Coast
17 Brisbane Lions
18 Carlton

[Ball Hopper]

Drawing a diagram is the best way to show how the Finals work, but that is a skill I don't have.  So a description of the four weeks of Finals will have to do instead.

The important thing to note is the Top 4 teams are not eliminated with a loss in their first game. the 5v8 and 6v7 games sees the loser out of the competition with one loss.  Also, what they call the semi-final is what we would call a quarter final.

Week one
•   1st Qualifying Final: 1st ranked team hosts 4th ranked team
•   2nd Qualifying Final: 2nd ranked team hosts 3rd ranked team
•   1st Elimination Final: 5th ranked team hosts 8th ranked team
•   2nd Elimination Final: 6th ranked team hosts 7th ranked team

The eight finalists are split into two groups for the opening week of the Finals Series. The top four teams have the best chance of winning the premiership and play the two Qualifying Finals. The winners get a bye through to Week Three of the tournament to play home Preliminary Finals, while the losers play home Semi-Finals in Week Two. The bottom four teams play the two Elimination Finals, where the winners advance to Week Two away games and the losers' seasons are over.
There is a game on Friday Night, Saturday Afternoon, Saturday Night and Sunday Afternoon.

Week two
•   1st Semi-final: Loser of 1st QF hosts winner of 1st EF
•   2nd Semi-final: Loser of 2nd QF hosts winner of 2nd EF
One semi final is played on a Friday Night and the other is played on a Saturday Night.

Week three
•   1st Preliminary Final: Winner of 1st QF hosts winner of 2nd SF
•   2nd Preliminary Final: Winner of 2nd QF hosts winner of 1st SF

One Preliminary final is played on a Friday Night and the other is played on Saturday, usually in the Afternoon or at Twilight if one or more of the teams playing is an non-Victorian team, or at Night, if both teams are Victorian. However the final has not had two Victorian teams playing it in since 2010, and based on positive Twilight timeslot experiments in 2012 and 2014, it is unlikely that any future preliminary finals involving two Victorian teams will be played on Saturday night.

Week four
•   Grand Final: Winner of 1st PF meets Winner of 2nd PF at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on a Saturday Afternoon.

[redzone]

Was there a team from New Zealand in it any time, thought I heard it in commentary one time

[Ball Hopper]

Was there a team from New Zealand in it any time, thought I heard it in commentary one time

St. Kilda had a three year deal with Wellington to host a game each year, which is what you might have seen. That deal expired this year and was not renewed. Attendances dropped by 50% over the three years, from 25,000 to just over 12,000 last year, so it seems to be not catching on with the NZ sporting public.  Some are anxious to renew the effort with Christchurch a possible venue, but no games in NZ for 2016.

[Ball Hopper]

The "Regular" Season's fixtures

Back in the days of 12 teams, each team played every other team at home and away, resulting in 22 games per team before the Finals.  As expansion occurred the rules had to be changed.  As the league now has 18 teams, the question arises as to how the league HQ decide how to get 22 games for each team.  Hopefully, I can help to make it a little clearer here.
First of all, every team plays every other team once.  That covers 17 games.  To get the remaining five games the "committteeeeee" came up with the following system.

The previous season's final league position (called the "ladder" rather than "table) is divided into three sections, 1-6, 7-12 and 13-18.  A team's extra five games is determined by their position in the section.

Sides ranked 1-6 on the ladder will have a minimum of two double-meetings with other top six sides and a maximum of three meetings with sides ranked 1-6. They will have a minimum of one double-meeting of sides ranked 7-12 and a maximum of two double-meetings of sides in the 7-12 range. They will have either no double meetings or a maximum of one double meeting with a side ranked 13-18.

Sides ranked 7-12 on the ladder will have a minimum of one double-meeting with sides ranked 1-6 on the ladder and a maximum of two meetings with sides ranked 1-6. They will have a minimum of two double-meetings of sides ranked 7-12 and a maximum of three double-meetings of sides 7-12. They will have a minimum of one double-meeting of sides ranked 13-18 and a maximum of two double-meetings of sides ranked 13-18.

Sides ranked 13-18 on the ladder will have either no double meeting or a maximum of one double meeting with a side ranked 1-6. They will have a minimum of one double-meeting with sides ranked 7-12 and a maximum of two double-meetings of sides ranked 7-12. They will have a minimum of two double-meetings of sides ranked 13-18 and a maximum of three double-meetings of sides 13-18.

Essentially, they try to match teams as far as possible with those of even strength from the previous year's standings. 

The 22 rounds are played over 23 weeks, with each time having one bye week.  2016 sees a week off between round 23 and the first week of the finals as teams already qualified for the finals were resting players in the final round to the detriment of the viewing/paying public.

[Ball Hopper]

2016 Predictions before the season started

Although there are 5 rounds completed by this weekend, I thought it appropriate to check on the pre-season predictions of some of the expert reporters that cover the games. 

The easiest part is to determine from the predictions are the teams with no hope of making the top 8 and advancing to the finals.  The experts say Essendon, Carlton, Brisbane, St Kilda, Melbourne, Gold Coast and Adelaide Crows are the bottom seven in the competition. 

That leaves 11 teams fighting for 8 finals positions.

Top 6 seem to be separated from the rest (in order): West Coast, Hawthorn, Fremantle, Richmond, Sydney Swans and Geelong. 

That leaves five teams chasing the last two spots: Port Adelaide, Western Bulldogs, North Melbourne and Collingwood.

Regular updates will show how "expert" these predictions turn out, although they seem general enough in classifying teams into groups rather than exact finishing positions.

[Ball Hopper]

After 5 rounds there is only one team undefeated...North Melbourne.  There is also one winless team...Fremantle. 

Western Bulldogs, Sydney Swans, Geelong and Hawthorn have four wins out of five.

On 3 wins is GW Sydney, Gold Coast, West Coast, Adelaide Crows and Melbourne.
That's the Top 10.

On two wins are Port Adelaide and Collingwood and single victories have been gained by ST Kilda, Richmond, Carlton, Brisbane and Essendon.

Surprises so Far.

Biggest surprise, even shock, is the winless Fremantle Docker team.  Add in the fact that star player Nat Fyfe broke his left leg this weekend and the season looks very grim for the team that topped the ladder last year.  The only other item missing from out West is Aerlik's computer...any connection in both being disabled?

On the positive side, the undefeated North Melbourne and one-loss Western Bulldogs top the ladder.  They play each other this coming weekend, so we will see if either or both are for real.  Note from the expert predictions that these two were expected to be in the five chasing the last two finals spots.  Plenty of games left, but these experts might be the same mob doing the weather forecasts.

Geelong were expected to improve over last year, and are indeed looking good. Sydney Swans have not gone back much from last year and Hawthorn will be there or thereabouts as well.

Still have 17 rounds to go and anything can happen.  Steering clear of injuries is crucial in such a high-contact game.

Although I've been watching the game seriously for only two years and do not live in a city with a team (hence no allegiance to any team), I find the game enthralling.  There have been some very exciting games so far.  The knowledgeable commentators and analysts (nearly always ex-players) during games add greatly to the game - usually four commentators per game!!!  There are a few other observations/peculiarities that should be raised for comment with a view to improving Gaelic football.  Look for another post later on my list of items to discuss, assuming the board is still functioning that is...anyone have any reason for unavailability several times over the last few days?

[Aerlik]

 

Ahem, the internet issues were resolved; the comment about counselling, while probably not unwarranted, was not the case.  My team are not playing well.  NO.  Oh well, as you've been screaming for it here goes.

ROUND ONE

Richmond 92-83 Carlton
The traditional start to the season and while it was a close game on the scoreboard, Richmond did enough throughout to keep their noses in front to the end.    Of note was the lack of noise from Richmond fans about this being the year...every years seems to be the year.

Melbourne 80-78 GWS
A superbly exciting final quarter saw the Demons snatch a victory that many would not have begrudged the rising Giants.  Not pretty but a win is a win.

Gold Coast 121-60 Essendon
We were all wondering just how much the year-long bans would have on Essendon and this provided the answer.  Tis going to be a long year if you are an Essendon fan.

North Melbourne 107-97 Adelaide
Classic game of footy with two teams who will feature in the finals for sure.  End to end stuff and some great play all around.  What the fan of the game wants to see, every week.

Sydney 133-53 Collingwood
If you're going to upset a team's plans for their season, best to do it two days before the first game of the season and best to make it a damning indictment of the club.  The latest drug scandal to affect the AFL is against Collingwood and, well, it showed.  Rubbish to watch.

Western Bulldogs 103-38 Fremantle
But not as rubbish as the crap that was served up in this game by the team who finished the regular season atop the ladder.  Sweet Jaysus that was bad.  No further comment.

Port Adelaide 133-100 St. Kilda
Not many teams score 100 and still lose.  Signs are not looking good at Port Adelaide for the year and St. Kilda are on the rebuild. 

West Coast Eagles 166-102 Brisbane
Right, if you are from Perth, forget about booking flights to and hotels in Melbourne on the first weekend of October as it is a given that themmuns will be in the final.  This is going to be very difficult to stomach.

Geelong 116-86 Hawthorn
Is this the beginning of the end for Hawthorn or is the four-in-a-row still on?  Hmmmm, I wonder.  Patrick Dangerfield made a great debut for Geelong after his transfer from Adelaide, and the absence of Jarrod Roughead for the Hawks were two noticeable points in this game. 

[Aerlik]

ROUND TWO

Collingwood 87-86 Richmond
How not to defend an 18pt lead with a few minutes remaining.  Rule no. 1, do not kick the ball to the wing as the rules have changed and you'll give away a free.  Rule no. 2, mark a man, especially the 6'4" lad standing about 20m out from your goal...on his own. Rule no. 3, do all of the above in the last 30 seconds cos otherwise the opposition will score.  And guess what happened...
An amazing ending to a pretty enjoyable game even if there were long periods of mediocre skill execution.

Adelaide 144-86 Pt. Adelaide
Oh dear, not one the Port fans will want to remember.  Didn't see the game but by all accounts it was a feeble Port effort.

Essendon 80-67 Melbourne
Last year this would've been expected but this year with the banned players etc., Melbourne were supposed to win.  Fekkers ruined my 9/9 tipping.  Fekkers.

North Melbourne 117-83 Brisbane
As expected the powerful kangas continue on their merry way against a rebuilding Lions team. 

Western Bulldogs 93-36 St. Kilda
Another powerful effort from the ascending Dogs. 

Gold Coast 126-100 Fremantle
Another shite effort from Freo.  In my nearly 10 years as a full member of the club I had never walked out before the end of a game...until this game.  I was raging.  Some of the errors were simply unforgiveable.  Not impressed.  On a brighter note, mini-me finally got to see Gary Ablett Jr. play and in the same game as the current Brownlow medallist, Nat Fyfe of Freo.  Not the best start to the season, especially at home.

GWS 89-76 Geelong
Yep, you read right.  Some superb score-taking by the young Giants.  Is this their year to make finals? 

Hawthorn 99-53 West Coast
Phew, there might be room on the planes to Melbourne in October, after all.  The hawks were absolutely clinical in this game and questions have to be raised about the mental capacity of the Eagles' players.  I'm just fekkin happy they lost.  Hard enough living in Perth listening to the soothsayers.

Sydney 131-71 Carlton
Putrid footy by the Blues.  Nuff said.

[Aerlik]

ROUND THREE

Port Adelaide 112-51 Essendon
Didn't see this game but by all accounts it was garbage. 

St. Kilda 119-90 Collingwood
I had tipped the pies to win but I didn't mind getting this wrong.  Helluva game for Saints fans with some of the play breathtaking in its execution. 

Adelaide 128-92 Richmond
Eeek, the Crows are starting to develop a seriously powerful squad.  Should be there or thereabouts in September.  As for the Tigers, well, it's not looking good.

Sydney 93-68 GWS
Now we know which is the best team in Sydney.  The Swans were just waaaaay to strong all over the park for the Giants.  No repeat of past giant-killing (no pun intended) exploits in this game.

Gold Coast 95-41 Carlton
More shite from Carlton.   Why?  I dunno.  Just not playing ball.

Themmuns 92-59 Freo
A great start by Freo had themmuns on the rack in the first quarter despite some shocking set shot kicking by Freo.  The game could've been over at quarter time but lady luck was to deal us a bad hand.  A serious injury to the Freo ruck giant Sandilands (punctured lung/broken ribs) after a contested mark with the human palm tree saw the Freo game disintegrate.  Not a  happy chappy walking home but at least the effort was better than last week and I refused to let the drug cheats's fans gloat too much and I stayed to the end.  Fekk.

North Melbourne 136-131 Melbourne
Another really exciting finish and had the Demons had an extra 5 seconds there is nothing to say they wouldn't have snatched an incredible win.  But that is footy.  Close.

Hawthorn 93-90 Western Bulldogs
A wonderful game for the neutral.  It had everything.  Drama, controversy, great scores, shocking misses.  But sadly it also have injuries, none more so than to the great Bulldogs player Robert Murphy, who in the last minute wrecked his knee in a contested mark from which the Hawks man kicked the winning score.  Yep that is footy. 

Geelong 125-56 Brisbane.
I didn't see this game but the score says it all. 

[Aerlik]

ROUND FOUR

West Coast 125-57 Richmond
Yep, well, we better not be booking any flights to Melbourne again.   Really boring game.

Geelong 72-42 Essendon
More rubbish from the bombers.  Didn't see any of the game but can't imagine my comments to be anywhere too far from the facts.

Hawthorn 87-84 St. Kilda
I only started watching the last quarter of this really tight and tense encounter.  It was gripping stuff.  When young (19 yo) Paddy McCartin took a great contested mark 50m out with only 3 minutes to go, there was nothing to suggest he would miss.  He did and the Hawks hung on for their second 3-point win in successive weeks.  Great stuff from the young Saints team.

Brisbane 107-94 Gold Coast
The Suns were looking for a 4-0 start to the season but a Pearse Hanley-inspired Lions team took the game right up to them and recorded a great win, their first for the year.  The most notable incident in the game was the "bump" by May on the Lions player.  Ouch, it hurt just to watch it.  Tough boys in this game.

Western Bulldogs 85-49 Carlton.
Didn't see any of this game and I don't think I missed too much.

Adelaide 113-103 Sydney
Kurt Tippett returned again to his first club but left on the losing team.  Great game from two teams which I am beginning to think will be in the Grand Final.  (Alrite Horse has booked his Grand Final package already, I'm told.)

GWS 151-65 Port Adelaide
Now I'm not a fan of the Port director, David Koch who also happens to the anchorman for Channel 7's breakfast TV show.  But his description of the efforts of his team as a "disgrace" says it all.  It was.  That is not taking anything away from the efforts of the Giants. 

Melbourne 102-67 Collingwood
Very few like Collingwood, and even fewer Melbourne fans have got even an iota of sympathy for what is reputed to be the largest club in the land.  Well, the Demons' fans were singing loud after this one.

North Melbourne 132-101 Fremantle
Woeful kicking.  That is all.  I started to watch the game then switched off at quarter time.  I'd had enough.  How the fcuk men who are paid very well to kick a fekkin ball cannot do so is beyond me.  Mini-me and his Redcliffe u-15s are better.  Not impressed.  Finals over.  The end.