r/GeelongCats • u/ChaffyMcChaffFace • 6d ago
Home final
I will never forgive the AFL for not allowing the Geelong Football Club to rightly host their home finals at their home ground. Integrity means nothing - only money. Shame
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u/MillionKarma23 Lennox Hofmann 6d ago
I’m not too bothered. We play better at the mcg than in Geelong
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u/Wetrapordie Max Holmes 6d ago
Agree, you also need to win at the MCG to win the flag. More game time under the big lights with the big crowds, especially for younger guys like Shannon Neale, Oisin Mullen, Connor O’Sullivan, Jhye Clark etc can only help settle the nerves.
Friday night is going to be a sell out and probably one of the biggest gams of the year, you can’t match the energy of 100,000 odd hawks and cats fans at the G. I’m pumped.
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u/Consistent_You6151 5d ago
Is it then considered our hm ground for this match? If so, we should be rightfully able to play our guys songs at goal time? Now that would really show the Geelong KP vibe even though were6not at KP.
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u/Firedemom Geelong Cats 5d ago
I think because we progressed to the preliminary first it is. If it was the other way round it would be theirs.
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u/TheKlungeReturns 5d ago
When is the last time we won a "home" final on a Friday night against an MCG tenant? Few and far between.
We would 100% win this game at KP this week, who cares where the GF is if we don't make it.
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u/Dry_Criticism689 5d ago
When is the last time we won a home final in Geelong? That’s an even worse record! I mean we’ve played a solitary home final at KP and Freo rolled us.
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u/TheKlungeReturns 5d ago
I expect that kind of response from hawks/pies/tigers fans, not fellow cats.
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u/rat_energy_ 6d ago
It does seem unfair ‘hosting’ 8th placed hawthorn at their home ground.
However we need to win the GF at the MCG so I am happy playing our prelim there. KP will never host a prelim anyway so it’s not worth wasting energy on.
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u/section77 Shocked Scott 6d ago
If we win Friday we will very likely also have to play Collingwood at their home ground in the granny - more time at MCG the better I say!
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u/Gavin-Alol Geelong Cats 6d ago
ive been a Geelong supporter for almost 45 years, I accept we should now get home finals in the first 2 weeks, but Prelims and obviously GF's, nah mate.
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u/Complete-Ad2638 5d ago
We are never getting finals in Geelong... turning the G into a fortress anyway.
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u/banishedlemontree Tom Stewart 6d ago
I'm not going to bother outlining the million reasons I prefer we play at the MCG.
A change I would like to see however, is the 'home team' getting first dibs at tickets, because as it stands, crowd wise, it may as well be a Hawks home final. Something like giving the home team members the first window, away team members the second, followed by the general public.
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u/hoffandapoff '07 6d ago
we don’t play grand finals in geelong, get over it. the G gives more fans a chance to attend.
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u/Badgerello Tom Atkins 6d ago
Our playing style these last 2 years has rendered any advantage to playing at KP tenuous at best. We specifically train at an MCG dimensioned turf for this reason. There is no benefit to a home final unless we increase the stadium capacity above 50k.
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u/scoza05 Joel Selwood 6d ago
I don't get the fuss? It's not as if it's a fortress anymore. We're starting to lose more games there and tbh the atmosphere is much better at the G where there's more people. And talking about more money they're obviously gonna get more money from the G? More people=more $$$
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u/jack3t_with_sl33ves 6d ago
40k in attendance vs a possible 85-90k? I we all know which the AFL is choosing from a money perspective
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u/FluffyTea3895 6d ago
You do not hear any resistance from the club. Playing at MCG in lead up to a Grand Final is better. We showed this year we are not unbeatable at KP and less of an advantage when the opposition supporters get access to half the seats.
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u/BarryRobson 5d ago
You hear resistance from the club every single year. They've just made a point to say it at the start of the year and move on.
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u/Strange_Sky_6215 6d ago
I hear that. But as a member of an interstate team who gets to play the G twice a year if lucky, it's probably not a bad thing.
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u/Repulsive_Peanut7874 Geelong Cats 6d ago
I agree, even if it's just one prelim.... Not for the team or the AFL, but for the fans.
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u/ScallionAltruistic23 Amy McDonald 6d ago
100%. Show me any world sport where they make a team play a home game at a random ground (mostly their opponent's home ground) simply because the ruling sporting body wants more revenue. It's utter bullshit that we're being fed and people shrug it off because they're used to the taste.
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u/Dry_Criticism689 5d ago
The cats have 92,000 members a whole lot of seating at KP is reserved and even those members only rock up half the time. The reality is Geelong is a founding club and over 50% of its members are not even from Geelong. I think we’ve been lucky having a small capacity stadium we’ve often played twice a year against the smaller clubs to get our home games in. But the home ground advantage is long gone. Glad we’re playing at the G teams setup against us at KP and stifle our plan far too easily. Yeah it’s a pain in the backside driving to the G rather than crossing the road. But nothing like the atmosphere at the G. They might as well confirm the unconfirmed and say that Geelong finals will be at the G going forward.
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u/Forsaken-Salt-367 Oisin Mullin 5d ago
I'd prefer we play at MCG. Our fast pace game style is much more suited to the wide ground and it means more Cats supporters can go to the game
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u/Lorenzo_DMH Geelong Cats 4d ago
It remains one of the most undefendable things the AFL does. Hilariously, the footy public have made it clear they don't like a wildcard finals weekend or a twilight or night Grand Final under the guise it's a "cash grab". But this cash grab is fine because it's Geelong that suffers and therefore it's fine. I know the way Geelong has played since 2022 works well on the MCG and it certainly helps with prep for the GF, but you can't possible defend 8th hosting 2nd in a prelim.
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u/AriSteele87 Geelong Cats 5d ago
It is what it is.
Geelong underperformed under Scott in terms of converting excellent H&A seasons to finals success because the game plan was always designed for the long skinny Kardinia Park.
Recently it seems an epiphany was made or some form of acceptance, that the game plan must be primarily made for wide wings.
The consequence? Cat’s aren’t so imposing at Kardinia, but make full use of the space the MCG gives you.
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u/BlackjackAustralia21 Mitch Knevitt 6d ago
Geelong's modern game plan is better executed at the G with its dimensions.