AFL head-to-head (2002-2011)

[Doss]

Thought it be might interesting to compare how many times each team have played each other in the last ten seasons. I'm including round 22, 23 and 24 of this season, and excluding finals played in the last ten seasons as they will skew the results somewhat.

Also won't include Gold Coast as obviously they only joined this year.

So, since 2002 (excluding finals):

Adelaide v Brisbane= 14 times (excluding 2 finals)
Adelaide v Carlton= 12 times
Adelaide v Collingwood= 15 times (excluding 3 finals)
Adelaide v Essendon= 13 times (excluding 1 final)
Adelaide v Fremantle= 17 times (excluding 1 final)
Adelaide v Geelong= 15 times
Adelaide v Hawthorn= 12 times (excluding 1 final)
Adelaide v Melbourne= 13 times (excluding 1 final)
Adelaide v North Melbourne= 14 times
Adelaide v Port Adelaide= 20 times (excluding 1 final)
Adelaide v Richmond= 14 times
Adelaide v St Kilda= 15 times (excluding 1 final)
Adelaide v Sydney= 13 times
Adelaide v West Coast= 16 times (excluding 3 finals)
Adelaide v Western Bulldogs= 16 times

Brisbane v Carlton= 14 times (excluding 1 final)
Brisbane v Collingwood= 14 times (excluding 3 finals)
Brisbane v Essendon= 15 times
Brisbane v Fremantle= 11 times
Brisbane v Geelong= 16 times (excluding 1 final)
Brisbane v Hawthorn= 16 times
Brisbane v Melbourne= 12 times
Brisbane v North Melbourne= 16 times
Brisbane v Port Adelaide= 14 times (excluding 2 finals)
Brisbane v Richmond= 12 times
Brisbane v St Kilda= 13 times (excluding 1 final)
Brisbane v Sydney= 20 times (excluding 1 final)
Brisbane v West Coast= 16 times
Brisbane v Western Bulldogs= 15 times (excluding 1 final)

Carlton v Collingwood= 20 times
Carlton v Essendon= 20 times
Carlton v Fremantle= 15 times
Carlton v Geelong= 12 times
Carlton v Hawthorn= 13 times
Carlton v Melbourne= 14 times
Carlton v North Melbourne= 15 times
Carlton v Port Adelaide= 15 times
Carlton v Richmond= 16 times
Carlton v St Kilda= 15 times
Carlton v Sydney= 15 times (excluding 1 final)
Carlton v West Coast= 12 times
Carlton v Western Bulldogs= 11 times

Collingwood v Essendon= 20 times
Collingwood v Fremantle= 13 times
Collingwood v Geelong= 13 times (excluding 3 finals)
Collingwood v Hawthorn= 14 times
Collingwood v Melbourne= 13 times
Collingwood v North Melbourne= 14 times
Collingwood v Port Adelaide= 13 times (excluding 2 finals)
Collingwood v Richmond= 14 times
Collingwood v St Kilda= 15 times (excluding 4 finals)
Collingwood v Sydney= 14 times (excluding 1 final)
Collingwood v West Coast= 12 times (excluding 1 final)
Collingwood v Western Bulldogs= 15 times (excluding 2 finals)

Essendon v Fremantle= 14 times (excluding 1 final)
Essendon v Geelong= 13 times (excluding 1 final)
Essendon v Hawthorn= 15 times
Essendon v Melbourne= 12 times (excluding 1 final)
Essendon v North Melbourne= 10 times
Essendon v Port Adelaide= 11 times (excluding 2 finals)
Essendon v Richmond= 17 times
Essendon v St Kilda= 14 times
Essendon v Sydney= 14 times
Essendon v West Coast= 15 times (excluding 1 final)
Essendon v Western Bulldogs= 16 times

Fremantle v Geelong= 15 times (excluding 1 final)
Fremantle v Hawthorn= 15 times (excluding 1 final)
Fremantle v Melbourne= 14 times (excluding 1 final)
Fremantle v North Melbourne= 13 times
Fremantle v Port Adelaide= 15 times
Fremantle v Richmond= 15 times
Fremantle v St Kilda= 18 times
Fremantle v Sydney= 13 times (excluding 1 final)
Fremantle v West Coast= 20 times
Fremantle v Western Bulldogs= 13 times

Geelong v Hawthorn= 16 times (excluding 1 final)
Geelong v Melbourne= 15 times (excluding 1 final)
Geelong v North Melbourne= 15 times (excluding 1 final)
Geelong v Port Adelaide= 13 times (excluding 2 finals)
Geelong v Richmond= 14 times
Geelong v St Kilda= 16 times (excluding 3 finals)
Geelong v Sydney= 16 times (excluding 1 final)
Geelong v West Coast= 14 times
Geelong v Western Bulldogs= 15 times (excluding 2 finals)

Hawthorn v Melbourne= 16 times
Hawthorn v North Melbourne= 18 times (excluding 1 final)
Hawthorn v Port Adelaide= 16 times
Hawthorn v Richmond= 15 times
Hawthorn v St Kilda= 11 times (excluding 1 final)
Hawthorn v Sydney= 15 times
Hawthorn v West Coast= 14 times
Hawthorn v Western Bulldogs= 14 times (excluding 1 final)

Melbourne v North Melbourne= 15 times (excluding 1 final)
Melbourne v Port Adelaide= 17 times
Melbourne v Richmond= 15 times
Melbourne v St Kilda= 13 times (excluding 1 final)
Melbourne v Sydney= 16 times
Melbourne v West Coast= 15 times
Melbourne v Western Bulldogs= 17 times

North Melbourne v Port Adelaide= 17 times (excluding 2 finals)
North Melbourne v Richmond= 12 times
North Melbourne v St Kilda= 16 times
North Melbourne v Sydney= 14 times (excluding 1 final)
North Melbourne v West Coast= 14 times
North Melbourne v Western Bulldogs= 16 times

Port Adelaide v Richmond= 14 times
Port Adelaide v St Kilda= 14 times (excluding 1 final)
Port Adelaide v Sydney= 12 times (excluding 1 final)
Port Adelaide v West Coast= 16 times (excluding 1 final)
Port Adelaide v Western Bulldogs= 12 times

Richmond v St Kilda= 16 times
Richmond v Sydney= 17 times
Richmond v West Coast= 13 times
Richmond v Western Bulldogs= 14 times

St Kilda v Sydney= 12 times (excluding 2 finals)
St Kilda v West Coast= 14 times
St Kilda v Western Bulldogs= 15 times (excluding 2 finals)

Sydney v West Coast= 13 times (excluding 5 finals)
Sydney v Western Bulldogs= 15 times (excluding 2 finals)

West Coast v Western Bulldogs= 16 times (excluding 1 final)




Note how Ess/Coll/Carl have played each other 20 times (the maximum possible in ten years of purely home and away fixtures), and so have West Coast and Freo, Adelaide and Port and, interestingly enough, Sydney v Brisbane. Yet in the same time period, amazingly, Essendon and North have faced off just ten times (the lowest of any head-to-head since 2002), in other words once every season for the last ten years. Indeed, the last time they played twice in a season was 2001.

Not for a minute suggesting it's possible to have a completely accurate and fair draw all the time, but some of the stark inequities highlighted in the list above are beyond the pale. For example, the Essendon v North Melbourne situation, is that just an oversight from the AFL, or genuine belief that it isn't a profitable exercise for them? Food for thought...

 

[SJ]

The draw inequality is ridiculous. I know Demetriou accepts it's compromised and is happy to live with that but how St Kilda and Sydney haven't met between Round 1 2010 and Round 22 2011 is madness.

I remember last year Hawthorn and Essendon played eachother twice in consecutive months.

 

[*Paul*]

Not for a minute suggesting it's possible to have a completely accurate and fair draw all the time

But are they really trying to though? The NRL had a (theoretically) fair draw, but they explicitly chose to unfair it up, following the model of the AFL.

 

[Doss]

The draw inequality is ridiculous. I know Demetriou accepts it's compromised and is happy to live with that but how St Kilda and Sydney haven't met between Round 1 2010 and Round 22 2011 is madness.

I remember last year Hawthorn and Essendon played eachother twice in consecutive months.

FACT: If you include the two grand finals last year, St Kilda and Collingwood have played each other no less than SIX TIMES since St Kilda and Sydney last played. Ridiculous.

 

[RogersResults]

In the 19th century the VFA clubs would send a representative to a meeting at a cafe in East Melbourne where the match arrangements for the season would be worked out between them all. It could hardly have been a fixture. The schedule of matches published before the start of the season seems not to have been necessarily followed with all sorts of extra marches appearing or ones originally scheduled not being played.

In 1896 when Collingwood and Sth Melbourne couldn't be separated at the top of the ladder and it was decided to play a 'grand final' to decide the premiership, there were still 3 or so scheduled matches played after the 'grand final'.

The VFA was still somewhat pre-modern.

I wonder if the 'draw' was ever really that the order of matches was random and literally 'drawn out of a hat'? Between 1914 and 1924 in seasons when a bye was needed, Geelong asked for and got round 1 as a bye each season.

Between 1897 and 1978 before regular Sunday matches were played, Melbourne played 76 matches on days other than Saturday (public holidays) and Collingwood 51.

Between 1925 and 1969 before each team in the 12 team competition played every other team twice in a 22 round competition there were still some anomalies but some evidence of trying to even things out.

Here's Collingwood's match-ups 1925-1969

Fitzroy       78
Melbourne     77
Sth Melbourne 76
Hawthorn      76
Richmond      75
Carlton       75
Nth Melbourne 73
Essendon      73
Geelong       72
St Kilda      70
Footscray     68

Luck of the draw that Collingwood played Fitzroy 10 more times than Footscray or for most of period did the Magpies have a preference for strolling down to Brunswick Street for a match rather than making their way over across the other side of town to the wastelands of the Western Oval?

Note that Geelong was absent for the 1942 and 1943 seasons and that St Kilda was eliminated after 10 matches in 1943. As well in 1942 some teams played 14 matches and the others 15.

 

[RogersResults]

There is a table here of each team's most and least frequent pairings from 1997 to 2010 in the Home and Away fixture.

 

[tazaa]

The AFL singlehandedly killed the 90s rivalry between North and Essendon.
Local rivals, long history, played ripper contests and left at that.

 

[Doss]

The AFL singlehandedly killed the 90s rivalry between North and Essendon.
Local rivals, long history, played ripper contests and left at that.

North seems to play Collingwood twice in a season quite often, but rarely Carlton and never Essendon. It really does beggar belief that it's been ten years since we've played each other twice.

 

[VFA1877]

In 1896 when Collingwood and Sth Melbourne couldn't be separated at the top of the ladder and it was decided to play a 'grand final' to decide the premiership, there were still 3 or so scheduled matches played after the 'grand final'.

In 1896 the top two clubs (Collingwood and Sth Melb) finished on equal premiership points and it was known a play-off would be required after the second last round played on 19 Sep 1896 had been completed. There were four games to be played on 26 Sep 1896: PM vs NM, Rich vs St K, Will vs Carl, Geel vs Ess. None involved Collingwood or Sth Melb, so these clubs assumed there would be no objection to their play-off for the premiership occurring on the 26th. However a special meeting of the VFA was held on Tues 22 Sep 1896 where the eight clubs involved in regular season fixtures vetoed the Grand Final being played on the 26th for fear their gates would be reduced. Thus Collingwood and SM had to cool their heels and wait until the regular season had finished to play their decider on 3 Oct 1896. This decision to delay the Grand Final was met with consternation by the leading clubs and accelerated the breakaway movement from the VFA. A meeting of six leading clubs occurred on the eve of the Grand Final which led to the creation of the VFL.

 

[MadBomberman]

The AFL singlehandedly killed the 90s rivalry between North and Essendon.
Local rivals, long history, played ripper contests and left at that.

I definitely agree. Essendon Vs North always got a decent attendance figures during the 90s and early 2000s at the G. I dont understand why they stopped the 2 games a year. The amazing comeback in 2001 would have definitely intensified the rivalry had they kept with the fixtures. Does it make sense that the 2001 comeback game was the last time Essendon played North twice? Another thing i have noticed is that we play port mostly once a year. Maybe we struggle against teams that we only play once a season (Port, North and Geelong at a stage).

Can't speak for other Essendon supporters but I still find North rivals (as I hate losing to them more than say melbourne, St Kilda, or even Richmond).

 

[tazaa]

You had the marshmallow final in 98.
The shootout between Carey and Lloyd in 99 where it was one of the best games of all time.
The Preseason Granny in 00 where it was as close to a silverware match both sides ever got.
The 00 final where you announced yourselves as one of the best ever.
The 01 comeback.
It was all happening and then NOTHING.
One game a year from 02 till now.
And North has had the record over you winning 8 of 10.
Could you imagine the return leg had we played you twice with your club looking for redemption instead of having to wait 12 months??
AFL sucks big time.
Growing up the two best Vic sides were always North and Essendon.
Archer and Hird.
Everyone fought over number 18 to wear Duck or Lloyds number.
AFL is a disgrace with the fixturing getting worse and worse year after year.

 

[Doss]

Since 1987 (when Brisbane and West Coast joined, making it impossible for every team to play twice in a twenty-two round season), Essendon has played North twice in a season the following years, not counting the finals of 1998 and 2000:

1988
1989
1991*
1992*
1997
1999
2001

*1991 and 1992 were twenty-four round seasons, although every side still only played 22 games. In 1993, coversely, every side only played twenty games, which made return contests between sides more unlikely.


So it was never especially common for the two to clash twice in a season, but at least it happened some of the time. The complete lack of a return fixture between the clubs since 2001 is a disgrace. I'd like to think it might be rectified in 2012, but then, I'd bet my bottom dollar that, yet again, we'll be drawn to play once yet again. It's becoming a fait accompli.