They believe the cards are stacked against them on several levels and notably in terms of trade and free agency with the ''go-home’' factor favouring Victorian teams. Rubbing salt in the wounds was the April Victorian Government stadium $500 million funding package announcement, which also guaranteed an extra $100,000 a game to the MCG home clubs and the two-decade extension of the grand final arrangement. A Collingwood victory on Saturday would further empower the debate at the next meeting of the competition committee. The 2018 grand final marks the fifth year in succession that a higher-placed non-Victorian team takes on a Melbourne-based side at the MCG. From 2014-2017 the lower-ranked team won, with only the Western Bulldogs in 2016 not being an MCG home team. Hawthorn also defeated Fremantle in 2013 while finishing above the Dockers on the ladder.

Cognisant of the lengthy MCG contract — a deal extended in April through until 2057 — and determined not to appear a sore loser, Pyke still remains convinced that the system is unfair. He told Brayshaw he supports the best-of-three grand finals still championed by Ireland. Although Ireland is soon to depart as Sydney CEO he remains on the competition committee and sees the issue as central to the equalisation strategy. However the best-of-three structure has been strongly opposed by the AFL Players Association, with the view that more than one grand final would be too physically and emotionally taxing on the two teams involved. Ireland’s successor Tom Harley has also raised the prospect of a reconfigured MCG favouring the shape and size of the home ground of the higher-ranked side. Under the Harley proposal the traditional home of football would present on grand final day with a re-marked boundary in the shape of the SCG or GMHBA Stadium should Sydney or Geelong be the higher-placed contender.

Significantly, despite some pressure to design the new Optus Stadium in the same long, thinner shape of Subiaco, the new home ground of the Eagles and the Dockers more resembles the shape of the MCG with one of the two adjoining training grounds the exact size of the grand final venue. Under the Ireland proposal the players’ concerns would be placated by either a bye before the first grand final and/or a shorter home-and-away season of 20 games. He has argued for a 20-game season in the interest of a more equal competition given that every team would play each other once (17 games) with a further three to include various blockbusters and derbies and distributed under the top, middle and bottom six divide adopted over recent seasons. The first grand final would be played at the home of the top-placed team — in this year’s case Optus Stadium in Perth — with the second always scheduled at the MCG to honour the long-term contract with the AFL and the Victorian Government.

Should the games be split one-all at that point the decider would revert to the home ground of the higher-ranked team. Supporters of the radical proposal argue that the series would also prove a financial windfall for the competition. The representing coaches on the competition committee — Fagan and North Melbourne’s Brad Scott — have discussed the proposal with AFLCA chief Brayshaw, who is supporting the Pyke push and Fagan is expected to be armed with substantial historic data. But Eagles chief Trevor Nisbett remained lukewarm on the best-of-three concept and said he was more pragmatic concerning the AFL’s geographical inequalities. ‘‘It’s the only 100,000-seat stadium we’ve got,’’ he said, ‘‘and everybody knows to win the premiership you’ve got to come and win that last game at the MCG. ‘‘It’s one brutal two hours of football and that’s our great tradition.’’ Back in 2015 West Coast was forced to accept second choice of change rooms, grand final night-function venue and was even placed beneath Hawthorn on the MCG scoreboard despite finishing ahead of the Hawks on the ladder. The AFL even pushed the Eagles to wear their clash jumper with the white background but the club refused.