Draw flaws take their toll
07/07/2008 10:15 AM
17 and 22 respectively.
So in light of that huge inequity, is it any wonder Carlton is sitting some five wins and seven places better off than the Demons on the ladder and their respective first-year coaches in Brett Ratten (his first full year after being caretaker late last season) and Dean Bailey have endured such contrasting debut seasons to date?
Ratten has been praised quite rightly so far as the Blues enjoy their best season since 2001 while Bailey has endured one of the most difficult debut seasons imaginable. Would their positions be reversed if their fixture lists throughout the first 15 rounds had also been reversed?
With 16 teams and just 22 rounds, the AFL is never going to be able to come up with the ultimate fair draw of all teams playing each other twice - once home and once away - as is the case in European soccer leagues such as the English Premier League and Italy's Serie A.
But surely the AFL has made a fixture that is already unfair by its very nature even more inequitable this season by its decision to abandon the time-honoured principle of all teams at least playing each other once over the first 15 rounds before staging any return meetings between clubs.
Certainly Melbourne fans would agree.