Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
WA teams not relinquishing home advantage
Perth's new multi-purpose sports stadium will be shorter and wider than Subiaco Oval, but West Coast and Fremantle insist they will not lose their home-ground AFL advantage.
The Western Australian government has announced the new 60,000-seat stadium, which is due to be completed in time for the 2018 AFL season, will be 165m long and 130m wide.
Subiaco Oval is the longest in the competition at 175m by 122m.
In comparison, Melbourne's Docklands is 159.5m by 128.8m, while the MCG is 160m by 141m.
Although the dimension of Perth's new stadium will bring it more in line with other venues around Australia, the Eagles and Dockers are not concerned their home-ground advantage over rival teams will be diluted.
"It's still one of the longest grounds in Australia and that suits both West Australian teams," Fremantle chief executive Steve Rosich told reporters on Monday.
"The fact teams have to get on the plane for four and a half hours to play us will be the major advantage."
West Coast chief executive Trevor Nisbett pointed to his team's good record at Docklands this season as proof that a good team will win anywhere.
"I don't think (the new dimensions) bothers (coach) John (Worsfold) too much. I think his position is wherever you play, you just have to adapt," Nisbett said.
The new stadium, which is to be built at Burswood, will have an initial capacity of 60,000, but future expansion could see the capacity rise up to 80,000.
Nisbett revealed West Coast had a current waiting list of around 9,000 for new memberships, and said the extra capacity would allow a new generation of fans to watch the game.
The stadium will have an east-west orientation, which meets the requirements of the International Cricket Council for international cricket.
AAP
Tags: australian-football-league, sport, perth-6000, wa, australia First posted May 07, 2012 20:02:12Monday, June 6, 2011
Home Field Advantage #3 (Backyard Sports)
The Backyard Sports kids are kicking off soccer season with a tournament. But before the kids know it, the tournament has become bigger than their little field can handle. They need to find a new field and fast! Will the kids be able to fix up a new field, organize the tournament, and still enjoy playing together? Or will all of the stress of planning such a big event tear their team apart?Price: $3.99
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Woosha wants old advantage rule back
The advantage rule was tweaked before the start of this season to give players, instead of umpires, the choice as to whether to take the advantage from a free kick.
But the slightly-altered rule has caused mass confusion this year, with Collingwood robbed of a crucial goal in last week's loss to Geelong when Magpies midfielder Scott Pendlebury was not allowed to play on despite his team being awarded a free kick.
In other instances, players have unwittingly taken the advantage by disposing of the ball at the instant the whistle was sounded, allowing them no time to make an informed judgement.
Worsfold says the law in its current form is not providing an adequate advantage to the team awarded a free kick.
"From what I've seen, I don't think the players in a lot of situations know if they've got the advantage or not, as in should I take it or should I stop?" Worsfold said.
"It seems to be by the time they take one step the advantage is called and they then haven't got the ability to say 'well no, that's not really an advantage'.
"Out of contested situations, players don't always know which way the free kick has been paid and quite often they're ready to dispose of the ball even by the time the free kick's paid.
"And then the advantage is called so I don't think the player has made a decision on whether to take it or not, it's just the flow of the game.
"My gut feel is that we changed it because we felt the umpires were under too much scrutiny to try and get it right.
"But they did a better job than the players are doing in terms of knowing if there was an advantage or not."
Worsfold has ordered his players not to take the advantage near goal unless they were certain it would lead to a goal.
As expected, the Eagles named Andrew Embley (hamstring) and Daniel Kerr (adductor) in their extended squad for Sunday's home clash with the Bulldogs.
But the pair will have to pass a fitness test on Saturday in order to take their place in the side.
The Bulldogs' chances of victory suffered a major blow when midfielder Adam Cooney was ruled out due to a knee injury, but forward Barry Hall and Shaun Higgins could make their returns after being named on the extended bench.
- AAP
Tags: sport, australian-football-league, perth-6000