2014: The worst season in a generation

[JackFlash]

'Gilligan' has his work cut out for him and he must make sure this Essendon saga comes to an end sooner than later, it has caused untold damage to the AFL. Price of admission, fixture and scheduling and the standard of play are all in question. People are not going and the interest is waning, 2 years ago the AFL were well out in front as the most popular sporting code in the country, this gap has narrowed. The A League are hot on their tail with a game that would make watching concrete set exciting. The NRL will have a sell out State of Origin at the MCG next year and the AFL are experiencing their worst downturn in attendances in their history. Gilligan needs a Professor to help him fix this boat!

 

[Roobs321]

Honestly, I've barely paid any attention to the Essendon saga this year, it personally hasn't had much impact on my 2014 experience. Maybe it's been more noticeable in Victoria, or among newspaper readers?

 

[Alberton]

Perhaps people have wised up to the fact that they are paying to watch every game twice (Foxtel & at the gate).

Perhaps its the quality of commentators...

I'm looking forward of 3 of this weekends games, not so interested in Friday night (although might watch to see whether Sinclair is now a solid #2 ruck).

I've enjoyed the year, but that has a lot to do with PAFC. I have been surprised by some of the Victorian crowds.

Is it time to bite the bullet and merge 4 of the Vic clubs into 2

 

[BombaMan]

Its weird crowds are down in Victoria but interstate crowds especially Sydney,Adelaide and Gold Coast are all up. So do AFL look at this as a fail? or a success because of the crowds non vic teams are getting.

 

[lmach]

No Richmond,no AFL!

A year of watching minions play off in the finals.

Yep, exactly like the last three decades.

 

[estibador]

Its weird crowds are down in Victoria but interstate crowds especially Sydney,Adelaide and Gold Coast are all up. So do AFL look at this as a fail? or a success because of the crowds non vic teams are getting.

I imagine a big chunk of the reduction in crowd numbers in Victoria can be traced back to the fact that the Richmond bandwagon is drawing half as many people to games every week as they were last year.

 

[Kickin_Goals]

Draft sanctions on Adelaide sure as hell didn't help the competitiveness of the comp.

 

[boncer34]

I've found a lot of the games to be rather boring and have often tuned out of Friday night footy as the game was done by HT.

10 from 19 Friday night games have been less then 24 points at HT and 2 of those 9 that were resulted in the team behind coming back and being done by less then 2 goals.

So 12 from 19 not done by HT.

Probably would've noticed this if you hadn't tuned out.

 

[Roddy]

Dear oh dear, another day on BF, yet another epic whingefest. I have asked the mods to start up a new sub-board called the 'Whinge Board'. But I actually think that's inadequate. They should change this entire forum's name to BigWHINGE instead. Tag line: 'Come on here to sook relentlessly about football like a bunch of whiny teenage schoolgirls'.

If you don't like the sport, find something else to do with your time. There's plenty of other options around, just look.

 

[domsheed]

Just because the mighty eagles haven't done that well

 

[Kram]

 

[Docker Alyssa]

Geelong fan just upset that the dominant era of his team is over. They are still a really good team but he has not yet come to terms with the fact that they are no longer a team that the other clubs fear.

Pretty much. He goes on about up to 2012 even it was good football.

Maybe he means up until the 2012 where Fremantle pants'd the cats, Elimination final at the MCG in Ross Lyons FIRST year coaching the team?

I'm sure since then it has felt like football wasn't as fun to watch as 2007-2011

 

[Soul_Pie]

Can we wait till it's over before we make a decision on it?

I gotta say even though I'm not enjoying all of the matches there are some intriguing match-ups coming up. The top four and top eight are still being decided and it doesn't seem like there are as many easy beats as compared with last year. Plus, this last week of footy threw up some crazy results.

Only thing I'm not too happy about this year is the scheduling, some woeful timeslots being used and the twilight matches are being abused badly.

 

[MarkCatsFan]

Pretty much. He goes on about up to 2012 even it was good football.

Not at all. 2012 was a great season, enough so that my own team being subpar didn't effect my enjoyment.

Geelong have been a top 4 side this year and the enjoyment has been lessened by a lot of sh*tty football all around the league.

 

[MarkCatsFan]

What most people are basically saying is that if I changed my team of choice to Hawthorn or Sydney my opinion would be somehow more valid.

Typical BF

 

[Kim Hagdorn]

Worst in a generation The season has been fine, some people will just complain about anything.

 

[Is Don Is Good]

That is because results are no longer based on talent and simply based around who tries harder/gets the rub of the green from the umpires not to mention who has the best drugs program to run out a full game.

Its boring because winning means sfa, it simply means they tried for once but you can't take confidence from it because the following week they might not lift a finger. It will remain this way until the interchange caps drops down to 40-60 making these 200m repeat sprints unsustainable for 4 quarters.

Those 200m repeat sprints will be sustainable for those clubs with the best drugs programs ...

 

[Vankri]

Its weird crowds are down in Victoria but interstate crowds especially Sydney,Adelaide and Gold Coast are all up. So do AFL look at this as a fail? or a success because of the crowds non vic teams are getting.

Crowds are significantly down in Melbourne, where most teams in the league live. Since 2000, most premierships have been won from non-Melbourne teams, with the 01, 02, 03, 05 and 12 premierships won on the back of unfair AFL concessions to promote the game in regions where no one cared about it beforehand.

After a while, people get tired of the unfairness and unevenness of the competition. Add in the fixture issues which cripple small Melbourne clubs more than anyone, and you understand why passion for footy has been somewhat tamed in Melb lately. And with the crazy concessions to GC and GWS, it's only going to get worse before it gets better.

Now if you're just judging the season, it's been great. Very close, quite a few upsets, a wide variety of teams playing great football for large chunks of the season, top 4 not set early on, no one sitting on 1 or 2 wins, etc.

 

[Kim Hagdorn]

Crowds are significantly down in Melbourne, where most teams in the league live. Since 2000, most premierships have been won from non-Melbourne teams, with the 01, 02, 03, 05 and 12 premierships won on the back of unfair AFL concessions to promote the game in regions where no one cared about it beforehand.

Is that you Eddie?

 

[Vankri]

Is that you Eddie?

Hey Kim, it's not Eddie. I'm actually not Australian and had no idea of who Eddie was when I first got into the game, and even then I found it absolutely insane that the main administration of the game rigs it to fit its marketing purposes, creating an uneven competition just to sell its product into new territories. Straight out of the mind of a Procter and Gamble yoghurt marketer trying to conquer new markets. I found it equally crazy that the administration decides who plays who rather than everyone playing each other as it introduces a whole new level of rigging into the equation.

So if you're trying to suggest that I was in some way influenced by Eddie in my opinion, you've got it wrong.

 

[SterlingArcher]

I maintain the biggest threat to the AFL is the AFL itself neglecting the actual game of footy and the fact that their business is a competition.

The AFL is hell bent on stamping out the bump so it doesn't upset Toorak tractor mothers,

I reckon this has more to do with potential lawsuits down the track. The AFL needs to be able to show it took reasonable actions in their duty of care if any player/s (as in the NFL) launch a (massive) lawsuit as a result of concussions sustained. It's not simply to appease mothers and increase Auskick numbers. In fact, half the areas the AFL is trying to increase Auskick numbers in are areas in which league is encouraged and AFL a womans game.

punishing players who 'damage the brand' by going out and having a drink like any other 20-something male, tinkering with the rules each season, playing games in 9 new and exciting timeslots each weekend, expanding the game into SE Qld where no one really cared 20 years ago and Western Sydney where no one really cares now etc. etc.

That's just one aspect... just leave the effing game alone! That being said, I'm still watching footy and don't think 2014 is 'worst. season. ever' or anything like that. I've enjoyed Melbourne being a bit less s**t, Gold Coast's rise, the young Dogs midfield, Sydney and Hawthorn at their best, West Coast ummm, well we kicked 30 goals against GWS so that's something...

Agree with all this though. Sure, a guy like Toby Greene, you can't have assaults and what not, but * me if Tex Walker wants a beer in his downtime watching his mates have a kick he's not doing the world harm. He's not showing kids that "it's ok to drink beer" because every ******* kid will do that when they are 15 anyway!

 

[SterlingArcher]

Not at all. Though it is a good example of how sh*tty the scheduling has been all year among other things.


Don't know why people are jumping on me for being a Cats fan. I'm a football fan, I watch as many games as I can and the quality all around has gone down significantly. Hence the thread.

Well, no, you don't.

Geelong are going ok. This is nothing to do with my feelings towards my own team. I've always been a footy fan first and a Geelong fan 2nd. Used to watch at least 5 games per round. It's down to 2 on a good week now.

I don't see how you can possibly say that this is the worst season ever and be genuine about it if you haven't really watched all or most of the games. Not that I'm trying to say only 9 games a week people are allowed to have an opinion, obviously you're entitled to yours. But I'm confident there's plenty of games you would have missed that have been 'exciting' or 'interesting' or 'free-flowing' or whatever word you want to use.

I myself personally believe part of the reason that people are getting disgruntled is the ******* coverage of AFL. Yeah, sure we all love it, but there's so many ******* ex-player buffoons in the media who have got jobs due to their talent re: kicking a ball, not their talent re: analysing a game/trades/season and writing a decent article about it. You're full of people who can't be impartial such as Tim Watson (not that you expect him to be though, and it is good to have people with more of an inside view to particular clubs, it's not his fault but he's just used as a catchphrase for every single little thing said about Essendon * me), you've got people who sook because Mick and Damien were mean to them (yes they seem to be campaigners but they are coaches not soup kitchen workers), you've got your R-rated commentators (Bruce) and your s**t commentators (Darce, BT, Tommarly, Dwayno, hame, basil) plus don't even get me started on the rags that claim to be the big footballing players. Robbo as chief football writer * me, no wonder people are disillusioned with the game. When ******* Hawthorn trash St Kilda by 145 points on a Saturday afternoon and I'm pretty sure basil zempilas and heych were commentating, well that's going to stick out like dogs balls in the memory of you and many others. Or when Richmond and Sydney never get out of 2nd gear and there's jizz on the cameras because Cotch and only Cotch can get the ball.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

Everyone is talking about how close the comp is but are neglecting the s**t game styles that have been implemented the last year or two. Yes the comp may be close in terms of wins etc. but the umpiring has been a disgrace, the games are boring to watch bar a handful, the game plans of each team is to flood the ball with as many players as possible (which links with the boring games), the Lions are cellar dwellers and Ablett is going to miss out on his 3rd Charlie. No fun to be had watching the majority of games this season.

Just tell yourself that Ablett is the Lance Armstrong of the AFL, then you won't be so upset that he's not going to take home a 3rd Brownlow.

 

[00Stinger]

Wasn't it only 2005-06 people were complaining about the state as well?

 

[joop]

Sure they ladder is even and there has been some unexpected results (as there is every year), but I agree, terrible year of actual football.
And I'm still sitting here watching Damien Barrett talk about essendon and hird, don't like it? Change the Chanel you say? Well I am and have with a lot of footy this year, and gate numbers and tv rating suggest I'm not alone.