Swans, Crows not top two: Malthouse
Date August 13, 2012
Jesse Hogan
TRIPLE premiership coach Mick Malthouse has declared Sydney and Adelaide do not deserve to occupy the top two places on the ladder.
The No. 1 and No. 2 teams, which get hosting rights in week one of the finals, are ahead of Malthouse's former club Collingwood on percentage.
While the Swans face two finals-bound teams in Hawthorn and Geelong in the last three rounds, the Crows face three laggards - Brisbane Lions, Melbourne and Gold Coast - and are therefore considered a strong chance to win the minor premiership.
Malthouse said he would be disappointed if Sydney and Adelaide earned home finals in week one at the expense of teams such as Collingwood and Hawthorn, but expected that would occur.
''I just can't get my head around … looking at the ladder and seeing Sydney on top, Adelaide second. I can't get my head around them being the best two sides in the comp - because they're not,'' Malthouse said on 3AW yesterday.
''It's a lot to do with the draw. They're not the best sides.
''If Sydney and Adelaide finish first and second and they knock over [in week one] the next two on the ladder, say it's Collingwood and Hawthorn, then [Collingwood and Hawthorn] will run into Geelong, who've run into some good form, North Melbourne, who've snuck up on people … and West Coast, who are a better side than how they've been playing. You can throw a blanket right over this group at the moment.''
Malthouse said he considered Hawthorn to be ''a far better side'' than Sydney, despite the Swans having convincingly beaten the Hawks in Launceston in round five. He also said Adelaide, drawn to play Gold Coast and GWS twice as well as local rival Port Adelaide, was benefiting significantly from having finished fourth from bottom last season.
''I'm not saying they're a dreadful side, but … I don't think they're the best side, and they can finish on top of the ladder,'' he said.
Former Richmond spearhead Matthew Richardson backed Malthouse's view, declaring the fixture had ''helped one team more than any other, and that's Adelaide''.
''If you look at who's played who and where they should sit, they're probably the only one that's out of whack because of their draw. They're the only top-five or top-six team that's had a favourable draw and they're going to finish on top of the ladder because of it,'' Richardson said on 3AW.
Malthouse lamented that unless there was a fundamental change in AFL fixturing policy, anomalies such as the Crows' generous draw would continue in future years.
''Unless you play each other [only] once or you play each other twice … we've got to cop that [uneven fixturing],'' he said.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/afl/afl-news/swan ... z23Yvy5CQL
