New ground bounce: Can North defy history to beat the Gold Coast in the Barossa?
An in-depth analysis of how clubs perform in the first game at a new stadium
You’ve heard of the new coach bounce, but what about the new ground bounce?
The AFL world heads to Adelaide this week for the third year of Gather Round, where all nine games will be played across three different grounds: the Adelaide Oval, Norwood Oval, and Barossa Park (also known as Lyndoch Recreation Park).
The last of these grounds, located in a regional town in the Barossa Valley, will become the 51st different venue to host a V/AFL game, with North Melbourne playing the Gold Coast on Saturday afternoon before Richmond plays Fremantle the following day.
One of the quirks of Gather Round is that the seven involving non-South Australian teams will be played at neutral venues, with home team designation – dictating which team has the choice of what uniform they wear, the change room they access, and the order they run out onto the field – being decided by a coin toss.
North Melbourne is the designated home team in their clash against the Suns. And while normally home field advantage is a good thing…