Craig O’Donoghue: Fremantle Dockers and West Coast Eagles will value living at home more than playing at home

If you want to see the true value of Fremantle and West Coast having one extra home game for the next three seasons, look at the way other teams perform after flying across the country. Playing at an away venue is a challenge for teams in every sport, but the challenge of flying across Australia is about more than one game. Across the past two seasons, AFL teams that have played in Perth have had a 15-20 record the following week. They’ve struggled to overcome the challenge of recovering well and then preparing for a match after flying home. If we look at the NBL this season and ignore round one, when every team played in WA, no team has won their next match after playing in Perth. Five have tried. Five have lost. Wellington Phoenix also fell victim to the Perth travel trend when they lost in the A-League on Saturday just one week after being in WA. Flying across Australia for sport is about a lot more than just playing at an away venue. The disadvantage that builds up throughout the season is about lost hours. There’s the rush to get to the airport after the game or after training. There’s the challenge of getting through traffic to get to the hotel and eat after a flight lands. There’s the time away from loved ones and the pressure it places on families. Every away game requires the Eagles and Dockers to be away for about 60 hours. They fly two days before the game to guarantee they get to train at the away venue on the day before the match. Interstate teams can fly here and train on the same day because for them the time difference means they pick up hours in the air. That changes everything in terms of their preparation. But when they lose the hours on the way home, they find it difficult to perform well the following week. Then there’s the lack of quality sleep or soreness generated from being on a plane just hours after playing. Sydney Kings coach Brian Goorjian spoke of the challenge of having to play in WA twice in a short space of time after losing to Perth Wildcats at RAC Arena last week. “This is our second time to come to Perth. We will get back at seven o’clock at night,” he said “Our schedule right now is really difficult. Keeping these guys fresh and competitive is a real challenge.” All eyes will be on the fixture when it is shortly released to see when North Melbourne will travel to WA. But if the AFL wants Kangaroos fans to travel, it would make sense to schedule the games during Victoria’s July school holidays. That would give the WA clubs a bye, a derby and an extra home game in the second half of the season., providing plenty of chances for weary bodies to get refreshed. The advantage won’t be about the home ground, it will be the extra time players can be in their own home.