Playing the grand final on the MCG every year is without doubt unfair on the non-Victorian clubs, but let's be honest, the AFL has never been completely fair and it's unlikely that it ever will be.
For a start, the fixture is not fair. In any one season, a team will play every team at least once and only five teams twice. This means you might have to play the top team twice, but the bottom team only once. The degree of difficulty of a team's draw is now based on their ladder position from the year before, but in truth this is only a guide. Ladder positions annually change so, inevitably, some teams have a more difficult draw than others.
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Then there's the unevenness of scheduling matches over a weekend. For commercial reasons, some teams play during prime time on free to air television far more than others. Generally the most successful teams from the previous year, with big supporter bases and the ability to pull big television ratings, will be scheduled for Thursday and Friday nights. Other, less successful, smaller clubs are often banished to pay television in unfriendly time slots that significantly reduce their ability to market their brand.
For example, this year Richmond will play a total of eight Thursday and Friday night games, while Brisbane, Fremantle and the Gold Coast wont play any.
This gives a club like Richmond a huge advantage. More games during prime time exposes their brand to the masses more often. This can lead to increased attendances, gate receipts, memberships, merchandise sales and, ultimately, more money. The money can then be invested back into the club to ensure their players have everything they could possibly need.
Mind you, the AFL does make it up to some of these clubs in the form of distributions. These are not equally distributed. As you might've guessed by now, the AFL gives some clubs more money than others. Last year, for example, the AFL gave all clubs at least $10.6 million, but then gave additional funds to others. The Gold Coast, for example, received over $24 million.
Then there's the matter of the MCG itself. It is home to Melbourne, Richmond, Collingwood and Hawthorn. As an MCG tenant, this year Collingwood will play on the MCG 14 times. The GWS Giants will only play there twice. If they were to meet in a grand final, Collingwood would have a significant home ground advantage.
Last year when Richmond played Adelaide in the grand final, it was the 14th time Richmond had played at the ground. For Adelaide, it was just their fourth MCG appearance.
The AFL does have some fair policies. The equalisation policy, namely the draft and the salary cap, is fair. But it hasn't always been – for years teams in the northern states had a higher salary cap than their southern and western state counterparts.
So it's clear that nothing's fair. In fact, it's all terribly unfair. The AFL is professional, exciting, popular and successful because what it does works. But fair? No, it never has been.
Sam Duncan is an Age columnist.
