Not only are the Swans the best team in the competition right now, but they are also the best road team, and as I keep saying, great teams have to win on the road.
They have taken all before them in 2024, and whilst the Dockers are flying under the radar for wins on the road, there is no hiding from the Swans. They’re the real deal.
We’ve heard it for years – the teams based outside Victoria have it tougher.
I get it, though. I really do. Forced to travel interstate almost every second week, some teams clock up enormous miles as they traverse the country to be part of this sport we love.
Meanwhile, we get some Victorian-based clubs cracking the sads when they have to play at Marvel Stadium instead of the MCG, and vice versa. Or those who get a little nasty when a move away from Kardinia Park is floated.
So, how do the teams fare away from home, and who is travelling best at the moment?
The Mongrel has devised a little ladder to assess who is the best road team in the league. Oh, the Vic teams will still get a look in if they’re good enough, and whilst I fully expect a number of fans to say this system is rigged to favour non-Victorian teams… I really don’t care. Stop your whining.
So, how does it work?
The Road Warrior Ladder is named after one of the best Tag Teams of all time. Don’t come at me with your Demolition garbage, or your Powers of Pain crap… they were Road Warrior rip-offs… who were, in turn, rip-offs of the 1980s movie, Mad Max.
It was called The Road Warrior in the United States because… geez, I’m not a film buff. Do your own homework.
Anyway, you get four points for an interstate win and two points for a win at an away venue that IS NOT played at the venue you consider your home ground. I don’t care if it’s not your home game – you’re still at the ground you play your home games. The Road Warrior Ladder Nazi isn’t concerned with your feelings – just facts.
Tasmania is considered a home game for Hawthorn. You choose to play your home games there – you cop it. Same with GWS and Canberra – if it’s your choice, you wear it.
Now that my belligerence is out of the way, let’s get to business.
THE ROAD WARRIOR LADDER AFTER ROUND TEN
1 – SYDNEY – 16 PTS (183 Point differential in wins)
2 – FREMANTLE – 12 PTS (97)
3 – GEELONG – 12 PTS (49)
4 – GWS – 8 PTS (93)
5 – ADELAIDE – 8 PTS (59)
6 – PORT ADELAIDE – 8 PTS (36)
7 – MELBOURNE – 8 PTS (22)
8 – COLLINGWOOD – 8 PTS (15)
9 – CARLTON – 8 PTS (11)
10 – ESSENDON – 8 PTS (9)
11 – WESTERN BULLDOGS – 6 PTS (118)
12 – BRISBANE – 6 PTS (22)
13 – HAWTHORN – 4 PTS (52)
14 – ST KILDA – 4 PTS (7)
15 – RICHMOND, GOLD COAST, NORTH MELBOURNE, WEST COAST – 0 PTS
ANALYSIS
Port jumped into the top eight this week, on the back on what was perhaps their best road performance of the last few years, knocking over the Cats in Geelong. Of course, they then went home and snuffed out any chance Hawthorn may have had to pick up a road win, swooping in to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
The Cats have fallen away, and in their first contest in the heat of Darwin failed to get the job done. Their good start to the season is holding them in good stead, as it is the Guiants. Those two teams will square off this week at Kardinia Park, with the Giants having a good recent record at the venue. It’ll be either four losses in a row for the Cats, or four om trot for the Giants. Wouldn’t have picked that a month ago…
Freo cop so much heat in the AFL landscape. They can do six things right, but if the seventh is wrong, that’ll be all you hear about. They picked up their third interstate win of the season this past weekend, beating the Saints at Marvel, and are settling into the season nicely.
Interesting to see the Suns without a road win to their name at this stage. They have built Darwin as a bit of a fortress, but as it is classified their home game, no points for their win over the Cats.
And you have to feel it is only a matter of time until West Coast brings someone undone on the road, right? That’ll leave Richmond and North to battle it out for the wooden road spoon.
Just like in the actual AFL.
UPCOMING FOUR-POINT GAMES
SYDNEY have the chance to extend their break at the top as they face the WESTERN BULLDOGS at Marvel
COLLINGWOOD head to Optus Stadium to face FREO
PORT ADELAIDE travel to Tassie to play NORTH MELBOURNE
GOLD COAST fly in to face CARLTON at Marvel.
GWS try to rattle the cage of the Cats at Kardinia Park
And BRISBANE also head to Marvel to face HAWTHORN
TWO-POINT CROSSTOWN GAMES THIS WEEK
Just the one, as ST KILDA desperately try to salvage their season at the MCG against MELBOURNE
ODD FOOTNOTE OF THE WEEK
We have received a lesson in 2024 – don’t jump the gun.
Just a month or so ago, there were plenty of talking heads in the AFL Media Landscape expressing their opinions as to whether West Coast should be asking for a compensation pick after this season.
They’re pretty bloody quiet now, aren’t they?
The Eagles have rallied. They’re playing inspired, combative, and confident footy. They have backed their list, they have gone to the draft, and they’ve picked up the best kid in the land t help drive them back to the Promised Land.
Someone mentioned to me that North Melbourne should be looking at West Coast as an example of how to turn it around. The issue is that North have been down longer than the Eagles and haven’t gone close to what West Coast are now doing.
There are more problems there than the playing list, sadly. Looking at what West Coast is doing would be the last thing they’d want. It’d make them depressed.
Like this content? You could buy me a coffee – I do like coffee, but there is no guarantee I won’t use it to buy a doughnut… I like them more. And I am not brought to you by Sportsbet or Ladbrokes… or Bet365, or any of them.
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