Okay, it’s been four weeks of full rounds… or close to full rounds. Time to look at the best road teams in the game.
Heading into Gather Round, where basically 16 teams are playing away games, things are about to be shaken up.
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 FOUR
1 – GOLD COAST – 8 PTS (145 points differential in wins)
2 – SYDNEY – 8 PTS (68)
3 – BRISBANE – 8 PTS (32)
4 – ADELAIDE – 4 PTS (61)
5 – HAWTHORN – 4 PTS (20)
6 – ST KILDA – 4 PTS (17)
7 – GWS – 4 PTS (3)
8-18 – FREO, PORT, GEELONG, CARLTON, COLLINGWOOD, DOGS, DEES, ESSENDON, RICHMOND, NORTH, WEST COAST – ALL NO ROAD WINS
ANALYSIS
Yay… everyone is in the top eight. Well done, you guys!
It could be a great way for the AFL to extend the season, having a top eight where everyone is involved. Give them all participation awards…
Anyway, the story here is Gold Coast, who took forever to win when they were not listed as the home team in 2024, and this season, they have put any thoughts that they may be a little shaky on the road to bed, nice and early.
Wins over the Eagles and Dees may not sound impressive, but these are the exact games that the Suns would have dropped early in the year last year, and would have put down to “learning” and some crap like that. No excuses, this time around. The Suns mean business.
And it’s about damn time.
The Crows were an Izak Rankine mark/free kick away from the chance to join those teams on eight points, buuuuut… you know what happened.
Meanwhile, the Swans and Lions continue to do what good teams do, and win away from home. The Lions got both the Swans and Tigers on the road, whilst Sydney knocked over Freo and the Kangaroos.
Sadly, both North and West Coast still resemble relatively easy kills at the moment.
UPCOMING FOUR-POINT GAMES – it’s gather round… all away games except for the Crows and Port
FOOTNOTE OF THE WEEK
Did you read any of the furore around Toby Greene “tunnelling” Matt Owies on the weekend?
If you’re sane, you probably didn’t, because as far as I can tell, the less sane amongst us gathered in one place to express their anger over the situation. They headed to Reddit.
Here’s the link to the discussion. Read at your own risk.
https://www.reddit.com/r/AFL/comments/1jsmwku/incident_between_toby_greene_and_matthew_owies/
Of course, there are some voices of reason in there – islands of sanity is a sea of chaos – but the level of vitriol in some of the comments and accusations… far out.
What we need to be really careful of is assessing incidents based on reputation, even as fans. Some of the people blasting Greene in this instance come across as completely unhinged, claiming he saw Owies coming, and intentionally tried to injure him.
In actual time, he had about 0.3 of a second to tuck up and brace for contact once he realised Owies and him were going to collide. If Greene, or anyone, could take evasive action in that minute amount of time, there’d be no car crashes, no punches ever landed in a fight, and no one would ever trip over anything.
I was relieved that the MRO saw it for what it was, and I am also glad that trial by Reddit is not a thing. Anyone who does anything would be banned, irrespective of circumstance. Vision of the incident attached below.
As always, massive thanks to those who support this work. You can see the amount of care that goes into it. I love footy, I love writing about it, and I hope you enjoy reading it. Without you, this whole thing falls over. Sincerely… thank you – HB
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