Adelaide Crows premiership coach Malcolm Blight says Geelong’s home ground worth four goals

CROWS premiership coach Malcolm Blight has explained why Geelong has such a strong home ground advantage.

Simonds Stadium is worth four goals to Geelong says Malcolm Blight.

FORMER Adelaide and Geelong coach Malcolm Blight believes the reasons Kardinia Park is such an enormous home-ground advantage are both plain and hidden.

It ticks every box of other venues that heavily favour home teams — and then adds another couple.

The most obvious reason Simonds Stadium, as it is now known, is different is its shape.

At 117m wide, it is the narrowest ground used in the AFL despite being longer than most — including the MCG and Adelaide Oval.

It has played a part in making Geelong unique in the way it plays and the club that has won the most games in the modern era.

Blight reckons playing there is worth about a four-goal advantage for the Cats.

But other factors have played part in it becoming a fortress, some of them obvious, others unique.

Among them are:

GEELONG has been an outstanding team for more than a decade, which makes going to their ground a challenge in itself

INTERSTATE teams are faced with two rather than one trips when they go there: first they have to make their way to Melbourne, then Geelong

PLAYERS get to stay in their own beds, arrive rested and to familiar surroundings, much like other teams with home-ground advantage

GEELONG is one of the few teams that train on their home venue, whereas teams who call Adelaide Oval, the MCG, Subiaco Oval or Etihad Stadium are restricted in how much they can train at their venues and have headquarters elsewhere, and

OPPOSITION supporters don’t tend to travel there en masse the way they do for a game at the MCG, the SCG or Subiaco Oval.

“Part of it is the ground because you just don’t get the space like you do on every other ground,” Blight told The Advertiser.

“Secondly, I think the history of Geelong, in the last 35 years ... they’ve been very, very good teams.

“And what happens, and I’m a still a big believer in this, is that there’s about a four-goal advantage when you play at home.

“Sleeping in your own bed, doing your normal stuff still has an advantage.

“Unless you’re a great team. Great teams seem to get over that but there aren’t many great teams.

“They’re great after the grand final but during the season ... (there aren’t that many great teams).

“We all have a favourite spot. Then you add the ground dimensions to it.

“Also there are two trips for interstate clubs to get down there. There are all these little boxes that seem to favour them, which they’ve earnt.”

The fact that the Cats train where they play shouldn’t be underestimated.

Players have spoken about the advantage of having the ground to themselves — rather than sharing it, like the Crows and the Power do Adelaide Oval.

The argument is that if you do all of your summer training and drills and set up your structures at the ground you’re about to play, you know it that much better.

Then there’s the ability to squeeze a side because of the lack of width.

Adelaide assistant coach Scott Camporeale recognised the challenge in the lead-up to tonight’s match.

“They play it really well,” Camporeale said.

“It’s obviously narrower, by pure dimensions, but they structure up really well defensively and particularly there.

“It’s a field position game. It’s very hard to score, to get it out of your back half if you get locked in there.”

Originally published as Adelaide Crows premiership coach Malcolm Blight says Geelong’s home ground worth four goals