YES
In a time when equality among AFL clubs is a vital issue, this is an absolute no-brainer. Eastern states clubs, particularly those based in Victoria, complain constantly about travelling interstate when Fremantle and West Coast travel 10 times each season.
No club comes close to clocking up the frequent flyer miles like the two WA teams do. The shortest trip is a three-hour flight to Adelaide while the long-haul monsters to Brisbane, Gold Coast and Tasmania are five hours minimum.
Collingwood, Essendon and Geelong will be the least travelled teams in 2015, leaving Victoria just five times each.
To put the travel time into perspective, Collingwood will spend an estimated 20 hours flying this season compared to West Coast's 77 hours and Fremantle's 74 hours. The toll that travel takes on the body across a career is significant and it is little surprise that only one player from a West Australian-based side has played in excess of 300 games.
Having one more game at home, one less week of travel for the WA sides, is not a big imposition on the competition and it is certainly not an advantage. It would bring the two clubs in line with Hawthorn. The Hawks travel nine times in 2015, the most of all Victorian clubs. Four of those trips are to Tasmania, which is the equivalent of Fremantle or West Coast travelling to Kalgoorlie to play. – Alex Malcolm
NO
It might be an era of equalisation, but not everything can be equal.
There's no doubt the travel factor has shortened the careers of some WA-based players and it challenges Fremantle and West Coast's recovery between games, but they're not alone. The Brisbane Lions and Gold Coast don’t' travel as far as often, but what's to prevent them requesting an extra home game too? How does the AFL decide what's fair and unfair? Only Matthew Pavlich has played more than 300 games for a WA club, but Simon Black and Marcus Ashcroft have been the only two players to reach that milestone after playing their entire careers based in Queensland.
Besides, focusing only on the travel burden is to forget the advantages the Dockers and Eagles can reap from their geographical position. When they are playing well, there's arguably no more formidable home ground advantage in the competition. Collingwood plays 11 'home' games in Melbourne next season, but eight of those matches are against Victorian clubs.
Furthermore, travel has never prevented the WA clubs from finishing high up on the ladder or performing when it counts – in finals. West Coast has won three flags, while Freo defeated Geelong on the road in finals in 2012 and '13. Experience playing good teams in hostile environments, especially at the MCG – and the camaraderie that comes from that - can be more advantageous than an extra home game. – Travis King
