2011 Fixture

[aker39]

http://www.afl.com.au/portals/0/afl_docs/fixture_document.pdf

[The Underdog]

First things that strike me:
2 trips to Perth in first 9 weeks sucks (Paterson's Stadium - Really?)
First bye coincides with a planned holiday for the mother in laws 60th - gold
2nd bye in Round 20 is pretty good timing
Not many games at the MCG is disappointing
Home game against Freo in Rd 24 isn't the worst way to finish the season, despite Freo's increased competitiveness

[LostDoggy]

WESTERN BULLDOGS
The Western Bulldogs start their season with three games at Etihad Stadium. They'll be aiming to spoil James Hird's debut as coach when they take on the Bombers in a Sunday afternoon game in round one. They then host the Brisbane Lions and Gold Coast in successive weeks. The latter of those games will be the Suns' first trip to Melbourne for premiership points.

The Dogs have been granted consecutive Friday night home matches against Melbourne and Carlton in round 15 and 16, which is recognition for their consistently good form in recent seasons.

Once again, the Bulldogs host the Sydney Swans at Manuka Oval in Canberra, but that is their only home game outside Melbourne.

[aker39]

We play on ANZAC day in Perth.

[LostDoggy]

So no more Darwin home games..
BUT I do like the fact we're playing on Anzac Day against Freo.
And i like the fact we play the pies at the MCG for once instead of Etihad!

[angelopetraglia]

From my quick analysis;

- only play Collingwood, Geelong and StKilda once
- play Hawthorn, Sydney, West Coast, Freo, Bombers, Gold Coast twice
- first three at Etihad is good, we should win them all
- looks pretty good

[firstdogonthemoon]

I thought it looked pretty good - but that's just me

[The Underdog]

I thought it looked pretty good - but that's just me

If someone drew a chicken on it, it would look better.

[LostDoggy]

15 straight games. Not bad considering its always 11-12 in a row before the mid-season break.

[Remi Moses]

Ummm we're playing down at hillbilly stadium!:eek:
Been drawing good crowds at Geelong games,both sides top4 the last 3 years yet we're playing at a stadium that holds 20 odd thousand!!
Just plain stupid

[LostDoggy]

If someone drew a chicken on it, it would look better.

So you dont like it? Whys that?

[Mantis]

From my quick analysis;

- only play Collingwood, Geelong and StKilda once
- play Hawthorn, Sydney, West Coast, Freo, Bombers, Gold Coast twice
- first three at Etihad is good, we should win them all
- looks pretty good

That really shouldn't occur considering we only played both of these 2 teams once this year, we should really play at least one of these sides twice in 2011... Not that I'm complaining.

[The Underdog]

So you dont like it? Whys that?

No I think it's a pretty good draw, I just think it would look better if they produced it with a picture of a chicken on it.

[Daughter of the West]

No I think it's a pretty good draw, I just think it would look better if they produced it with a picture of a chicken on it.

The PDF file is pretty plain....

I think it doesn't look too bad for us really. I still can't stand those 4.40pm Sunday arvo games at Etihad though.

[Hotdog60]

At a quick glance I'll watch 14 games on FOX, a couple are Friday night games that will be broadcast on Seven at midnight and clashes with Brisbane

Can't kill the pay TV yet.

[firstdogonthemoon]

If someone drew a chicken on it, it would look better.

I agree. However most things in life would be improved with a picture of a chicken.

[Sockeye Salmon]

The neighbors are doing a big reno that has upset my chickens and my chickens have stopped laying eggs.

How can a chicken just choose not to pop out an egg?

Don't they just all build up in there? So why don't my chickens look massive then?

[The Coon Dog]

Just some bits & pieces:

13 Etihad Stadium, 2 MCG, 2 Paterson's Stadium, 1 AAMI, 1 SCG, 1 Gold Coast Stadium, 1 Manuka Oval, 1 Skilled Stadium

Friday x 3N
Saturday x 8 - 7D, 1N
Sunday x 9 - 4D, 5T
Monday x1N
TBC x1

FOX 10, Seven x5, Ten x6, TBC x1

[LostDoggy]

5 Sunday Twilight - :mad: Worst time ever

Monday Night is more appealing.

[Murphy'sLore]

(Paterson's Stadium - Really?)


How long till we see the first Paterson's Curse headline?

[LostDoggy]

Just some bits & pieces:

13 Etihad Stadium, 2 MCG, 2 Paterson's Stadium, 1 AAMI, 1 SCG, 1 Gold Coast Stadium, 1 Manuka Oval, 1 Skilled Stadium

Friday x 3N
Saturday x 8 - 7D, 1N
Sunday x 9 - 4D, 5T
Monday x1N
TBC x1

FOX 10, Seven x5, Ten x6, TBC x1

Thats a MASSIVE change from the 2010 fixture.
Didnt we only have about 2 or 3 Saturday arvo matches?


No I think it's a pretty good draw, I just think it would look better if they produced it with a picture of a chicken on it.

And yes, i deffinately agree there. plain black and white is a bit boring...
Typical AFL though isnt it..

[Throughandthrough]

5 Sunday Twilight - :mad: Worst time ever

Monday Night is more appealing.

Unless u live in Adelaide and you are tied up with SANFL most weekends

Sunday twilights live! Hooray for me!

[The Pie Man]

That really shouldn't occur considering we only played both of these 2 teams once this year, we should really play at least one of these sides twice in 2011... Not that I'm complaining.

Even stranger (or more strange) that we play them consecutively in what I think will be the toughtest stretch of the year.

Round 10 - Hawks Sunday twilight
Round 11 - Cats Saturday
Round 12 - St Kilda Friday night

6 day breaks with those 3 teams not ideal. Otherwise it looks alright. Bye late in the season and Freo at home last round is a good get.

[Desipura]

Play Once: Coll, Gee, StK, Bris, Nth, Port, Rich, Adel, Melb & Carl

Play twice: Haw, Syd, WCE, Freo, Ess & Gold Coast.

[Mofra]

I agree. However most things in life would be improved with a picture of a chicken.
Tofu wouldn't.

Good draw except for too many Sunday games. Geelong, then a six day break to play St Kilda looks tough. Quite a few Friday games in the middle block of the season, gives us some exposure.

[LostDoggy]

Even stranger (or more strange) that we play them consecutively in what I think will be the toughtest stretch of the year.

Round 10 - Hawks Sunday twilight
Round 11 - Cats Saturday
Round 12 - St Kilda Friday night

6 day breaks with those 3 teams not ideal. Otherwise it looks alright. Bye late in the season and Freo at home last round is a good get.

That is a tough stretch with only 6 days between each.

The best part of the whole thing for me is the bye at round 20, that must be near perfect timing, close enough to give the guys a break before the finals while still having momentum of a few matches before we head in to the pointy end.

[divvydan]

Play Once: Coll, Gee, StK, Bris, Nth, Port, Rich, Adel, Melb & Carl

Play twice: Haw, Syd, WCE, Freo, Ess & Gold Coast.

That really is nuts, no so much the mix of which teams we play twice, just the fact that it's now only 6/16 other teams that we play twice in a season. From 2010, of the 6, three were in the top 8 and three weren't so in that sense it's reasonable, albeit Haw, Syd,Freo were all below us.

[Sedat]

Play Once: Coll, Gee, StK, Bris, Nth, Port, Rich, Adel, Melb & Carl

Play twice: Haw, Syd, WCE, Freo, Ess & Gold Coast.
Very generous draw to us in terms of who we avoid playing twice.

Oh, and I love Saturday arvo footy

[Axe Man]

Why do they always tend to group our Friday night games together? We had 3 in a row this season, in 2011 3 in 4 weeks! You would think that this wouldn't be desirable from a TV point of view, ie other supporters would be sick of seeing us by the third time.

[bornadog]

I love Saturday arvo footy

Me too, but hate the twilight matches.

Does anyone know when the excel spreadsheet version of the fixture comes out?

[LostDoggy]

We have a bye round 4 also, with Bris and Stk...

[LostDoggy]

And why a Friday night game against Adelaide @ Etihad...?

[LostDoggy]

And why a Friday night game against Adelaide @ Etihad...?

We had that this year? Not surprising..

[Sedat]

Does anyone know when the excel spreadsheet version of the fixture comes out?
I just downloaded it from The Age

[Grantysghost]

Trip to the Gold Coast in the middle of winter looks appealing!

[The Coon Dog]

From The Age:

WESTERN BULLDOGS

Rd 1: v Essendon at Etihad Stadium, Sun Mar 27, 1.10pm

Rd 2: v Brisbane Lions at Etihad Stadium, Sun Apr 3, 1.10pm

Rd 3: v Gold Coast at Etihad Stadium, Sat Apr 9, 2.10pm

Rd 4: Bye

Rd 5: v Fremantle at Patersons Stadium, Mon Apr 25, 6.40pm

Rd 6: v Collingwood at the MCG, Sun May 1, 4.40pm

Rd 7: v Sydney at Manuka Oval, Sat May 7, 1.10pm

Rd 8: v Richmond at Etihad Stadium, Sun May 15, 2.10pm

Rd 9: v West Coast at Patersons Stadium, Sun May 22, 2.40pm

Rd 10: v Hawthorn at Etihad Stadium, Sun May 29, 4.40pm

Rd 11: v Geelong at Skilled Stadium, Sat Jun 4, 2.10pm

Rd 12: v St Kilda at Etihad Stadium, Fri Jun 10, 7.40pm

Rd 13: v Adelaide at Etihad Stadium, Fri Jun 17, 7.40pm

Rd 14: v Gold Coast at Gold Coast Stadium, Sat Jun 25, 2.10pm

Rd 15: v Melbourne at Etihad Stadium, Fri Jul 1, 7.40pm

Rd 16: v Carlton at Etihad Stadium, Sun Jul 10, 4.40pm

Rd 17: v North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium, Sun Jul 17, 4.40pm

Rd 18: v Sydney at the SCG, Sat Jul 23, 2.10pm

Rd 19: v West Coast at Etihad Stadium, Sat Jul 30, 2.10pm

Rd 20: Bye

Rd 21: v Essendon at Etihad Stadium, Sat Aug 13, 7.10pm

Rd 22: v Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium, Sun Aug 21, 2.40pm

Rd 23: v Hawthorn at the MCG, Sat Aug 27, 2.10pm

Rd 24: v Fremantle at Etihad Stadium, TBA

[LostDoggy]

Trip to the Gold Coast in the middle of winter looks appealing!

Even more so when its on your Birthday ;) ;)

[Sockeye Salmon]

We are on FTA twice in the first 10 rounds.

R1 v Essendon (away game) is always a pain to get tickets anyway, because it's round 1 it will even be harder and it's not on FTA either.




10 games on Fox in total (not counting R24)

Collingwood get 5 games on Fox. Where's Ernie?

[bornadog]

I just downloaded it from The Age

Yes got it, also has a good analysis of the venues and timeslots.

[bornadog]

I like how the Hawks play 9 outside Victoria (includiung 4 in Tassie)

[Desipura]

We are on FTA twice in the first 10 rounds.

R1 v Essendon (away game) is always a pain to get tickets anyway, because it's round 1 it will even be harder and it's not on FTA either.




10 games on Fox in total (not counting R24)

Collingwood get 5 games on Fox. Where's Ernie? Isnt he Chops now?

[G-Mo77]

Looking at the draw has helped make a tough decision. Dislocated my knee twice this year at football and thought about retirement in 2011. 8 Saturday games for the Dogs next year so now I'm officially retired.

I don't know if I'm happy or sad. :confused:

[Mofra]

Why do they always tend to group our Friday night games together? We had 3 in a row this season, in 2011 3 in 4 weeks! You would think that this wouldn't be desirable from a TV point of view, ie other supporters would be sick of seeing us by the third time.
If they didn't, we'd end up with more 6 day breaks.

[Mantis]

Looking at the draw has helped make a tough decision. Dislocated my knee twice this year at football and thought about retirement in 2011. 8 Saturday games for the Dogs next year so now I'm officially retired.

I don't know if I'm happy or sad. :confused:

If we play well and win these games you will be content with the decision made, however if we play like shit and get beaten you will be wishing you were spending your time elsewhere (on the footy field).

[Remi Moses]

Overall it's pleasing that we've got some Saturday arvo games.
The twighlight games suit some but not others in particular having kids it's not ideal as are night games!Having just returned from the Gold Coast might be making another mid winter sojourn.

[BornInDroopSt'54]

Danger game first up, playing the Bombers with a new coach, and club legend first up.

[Mr.1975]

This fixture may help us place a finish in the top 4 in 2011

[hujsh]

Glad for the club and traditionalist supporters that we get some Saturday arvo games. But did they have to during my first year of ressies? When I was playing Sundays the Dogs had Sunday games and now I'm on Saturdays and the Doggies are playing more Saturday games.

Damn you AFL!

[bornadog]

Danger game first up, playing the Bombers with a new coach, and club legend first up.

but a crap team;)

[LostDoggy]

We are on FTA twice in the first 10 rounds.

R1 v Essendon (away game) is always a pain to get tickets anyway, because it's round 1 it will even be harder and it's not on FTA either.




10 games on Fox in total (not counting R24)

Collingwood get 5 games on Fox. Where's Ernie?

He's gone. Still a better draw than collingwood ;).
What's our equalization pay out worth? Is it enough?

[BornInDroopSt'54]

but a crap team;)

A good deal worse than the team that knocked us off, first up this year.

[LostDoggy]

Glad for the club and traditionalist supporters that we get some Saturday arvo games. But did they have to during my first year of ressies? When I was playing Sundays the Dogs had Sunday games and now I'm on Saturdays and the Doggies are playing more Saturday games.

Damn you AFL!

You DO know that the AFL wait for your fixture list to come out first THEN draw theirs up just to piss you off? ;)

I get your pain -- similar (though not sports related) frustrations for me. Looks like more membership money just being a donation to the club.

[Chicago1]

Yay! I'm booked to fly into Melbourne on March 22 and leave on April 12 so I'll be there for the first three rounds - Essendon, Brisbane and the Gold Coast! Less than five months to go...:D

[DOG GOD]

Cool, just worked out my roster for the next 12 months (i have to work 1 wkend in every 3) and of the 24 rounds there are only 3 games i wont be able to watch live :)

[The Bulldogs Bite]

One of the best draws we've had in a long time IMO.

The byes are well placed and the sides we're playing twice realistically shouldn't be better than us. Like a couple of other posters, I am simply amazed we are only playing St. Kilda and Geelong once. Malthouse and co. talked about this fact a lot in season 2010 - how Saints/Dogs/Cats only played one another once, but Collingwood had to play all three twice.

Good news for us though.

[Sedat]

Malthouse and co. talked about this fact a lot in season 2010 - how Saints/Dogs/Cats only played one another once, but Collingwood had to play all three twice.
We did have to play all of Geelong, St Killda and Collingwood twice in 2009 though. That's not to mention 2 Perth trips in the first 4 weeks of 2009, or 7 interstate trips to 7 different states/territories in 2008.

[LostDoggy]

We did have to play all of Geelong, St Killda and Collingwood twice in 2009 though. That's not to mention 2 Perth trips in the first 4 weeks of 2009, or 7 interstate trips to 7 different states/territories in 2008.

I'd probably prefer to play the top sides a couple more times in the H/A season -- within reason, there really is no point buffering up our position with wins against bottom sides if we can't compete with the top ones, and more games against them the better, to toughen the side up and also give us a realistic form line.

I think Collingwood getting to play the top sides twice each last year was to their advantage -- of course they had to be good enough to use that advantage, and they were, but no doubt they got a chance to work through some of their deficiencies against the top sides the second time they played in a H/A game, whereas we had to wait until a cut-throat final to get another crack.

[LostDoggy]

The twighlight games suit some but not others in particular having kids it's not ideal as are night games!

Not not like we need more kids to support us. Let other teams have them.

[LostDoggy]

One of the best draws we've had in a long time IMO.

The byes are well placed and the sides we're playing twice realistically shouldn't be better than us. Like a couple of other posters, I am simply amazed we are only playing St. Kilda and Geelong once.

How do we really know now its a good draw? These teams could be crap or a good match up for us next year. Also teams we play twice we might not match up well against. To me its always a crap draw because its not a fair draw for any team. You don't play each other twice (home & away) nor do they split the draw in half to minimise the inequality.

[NoName]

It sucks that we play Geelong down at Skilled Stadium and only have 2 games at the G - even Freo will play more games at the G than us!

[The Coon Dog]

Just had a look at Collingwood's 'draw' for the first 10 rounds. In round 10 they play St.Kilda. St.Kilda are the first team they play who have a longer break than they do. In all other instances Collingwood have a longer break, apart from 3 times where they play a team with an equal break in terms of days but, in each instance that other team played the week before interstate (such as us)!

[bornadog]

Just had a look at Collingwood's 'draw' for the first 10 rounds. In round 10 they play St.Kilda. St.Kilda are the first team they play who have a longer break than they do. In all other instances Collingwood have a longer break, apart from 3 times where they play a team with an equal break in terms of days but, in each instance that other team played the week before interstate (such as us)!

If thats not rigged I will go he.

[LostDoggy]

If thats not rigged I will go he.

Rigged and planned, thanks AFL. Bring on free agency and a new era of collingwood inequity, thanks AFL. And thanks for the stadium deal while your there.

Football will be far simpler in the future... 2 rounds and a grand final.
Collingwood A def Hawthorn
Collingwood B def Essendon

GF

Collingwood A(Buckley) def Collingwod B(Malthouse)

3 games a season with 99,0000 fans each (15 shared teeth), all at the MCG on a delayed telecast Friday night.

Preseason: Pies A vs Pies B at the G(1 week before the season opener), Essendon vs Hawthorn in Antarcica 6 days before season opener)

Dane Swan still does not win the Brownlow due to losing votes to genetically modified Dane Swan clones, Sam Mitchell wins the Brownlow and Eddies head turns red then purple then ultra violet and then spontaneously combusts.

A new break out league is created with all the other clubs, all equal. Utopia.. pigs are given jet planes to fly over Etihad.

Sorry... jaded much?

[LostDoggy]

Rigged and planned, thanks AFL. Bring on free agency and a new era of collingwood inequity, thanks AFL. And thanks for the stadium deal while your there.

Football will be far simpler in the future... 2 rounds and a grand final.
Collingwood A def Hawthorn
Collingwood B def Essendon

GF

Collingwood A(Buckley) def Collingwod B(Malthouse)

3 games a season with 99,0000 fans each (15 shared teeth), all at the MCG on a delayed telecast Friday night.

Preseason: Pies A vs Pies B at the G(1 week before the season opener), Essendon vs Hawthorn in Antarcica 6 days before season opener)

Dane Swan still does not win the Brownlow due to losing votes to genetically modified Dane Swan clones, Sam Mitchell wins the Brownlow and Eddies head turns red then purple then ultra violet and then spontaneously combusts.

A new break out league is created with all the other clubs, all equal. Utopia.. pigs are given jet planes to fly over Etihad.

Sorry... jaded much?

Love it. I laughed out loud!! :D

[LostDoggy]

If thats not rigged I will go he.

This is what I was saying in the Campbell Brown thread. I don't understand why AFL HQ feel such a need to manipulate the game so much, it's almost as if they don't trust that the sport and competition really sells itself, almost as if they don't really rate footy or trust its own evolution.

I mean, year after year they keep changing the rules and manipulating the draw (which can't even be called a draw anymore, it's just guys sitting in a room and writing up the best 'storyline' schedule for the year), let teams manipulate the draft, and tamper with the tribunal and chop and change on the run to suit their purposes -- 2006 wasn't behind the play because they wanted Hall in the Grand Final for better TV, but 2011 it is behind the play because of the outcry against Campbell Brown, but originally it wasn't behind the play because Brown plays for GC and no one watches them as it is, it wouldn't do for them to lose by 20 goals every week for the next 5 years.

What other Mickey Mouse competition is run like this? How can we even hope to be respected as a real, big-time sport? Can you imagine the NBA working like this? Heck, it's closer to the corrupt Ukrainian soccer league where money and oil tycoons run the sport and manipulate everything to suit their purposes than to something remotely fair and equitable.

[Doc26]

Had a laugh with a Brad Scott response on AFL Insider when asked during the week when his preferred time would be to have the two byes this season ? His answer, "Collingwood's".

[bornadog]

This is what I was saying in the Campbell Brown thread. I don't understand why AFL HQ feel such a need to manipulate the game so much, it's almost as if they don't trust that the sport and competition really sells itself, almost as if they don't really rate footy or trust its own evolution.

I mean, year after year they keep changing the rules and manipulating the draw (which can't even be called a draw anymore, it's just guys sitting in a room and writing up the best 'storyline' schedule for the year), let teams manipulate the draft, and tamper with the tribunal and chop and change on the run to suit their purposes -- 2006 wasn't behind the play because they wanted Hall in the Grand Final for better TV, but 2011 it is behind the play because of the outcry against Campbell Brown, but originally it wasn't behind the play because Brown plays for GC and no one watches them as it is, it wouldn't do for them to lose by 20 goals every week for the next 5 years.

What other Mickey Mouse competition is run like this? How can we even hope to be respected as a real, big-time sport? Can you imagine the NBA working like this? Heck, it's closer to the corrupt Ukrainian soccer league where money and oil tycoons run the sport and manipulate everything to suit their purposes than to something remotely fair and equitable.

The effect of all this is Collingwood, Essendon, Carlton just become bigger and bigger and we have no hope of catching up.