2014: The worst season in a generation

[blitzer]

You can't make everybody happy all of the time. There will never be a time when everyone enjoys the game equally. That's perfectly acceptable.

I reckon its been a pretty good season and even at this late stage there is still a fair bit of interest from a good portion of the comp. This time of year will always lose a few people to lack of general interest. This finals series shapes up as one of the most intriguing in many years - with lots of potentially exciting and unpredictable matchups.

Also maybe number of wins isn't everything but the fact that no team has less than 4 wins is terrific at this stage of the year. No team is really unwatchable the way that say Melbourne were in previous years. Basically every team is either a top team or have had an 'upset' win over a team a fair bit higher than them. Lots of games have come down to the final few minutes and generally the standard has been pretty good.

 

[JackFlash]

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?

In Victoria it is the number one daily football issue.....it goes on and on and on and on and on.....

 

[Modified Dog]

So do AFL look at this as a fail?

Grammar fail

 

[PTizzle]

I have watched less footy this year but I haven't found the season significantly worse than the last couple. I guess life has just been a bit busier. The low scoring is the only thing that has really not been as enjoyable for me.

The Dons stuff is annoying because it won't go away - just don't click on articles and discuss it if it annoys you. It'll finish up eventually like all scandals do. I do wish they'd never discuss any of it during games, but I haven't had trouble blocking it out and just enjoying the game.

There are crap games every year. Footy goes through phases and if you can't be bothered sticking this one out then that's a personal issue.

Stuff like the Saints on the weekend do well to remind me how stirring footy can be.

The sookery on here has definitely gone up a notch in 2014.

 

[Eastern Rangers]

I like the brand of football Sydney play TBH, pretty complete team (apart from work horse KPD's and Ruck) which plays a balanced brand of football. Certainly less defensive than previous iterations of Roos/ Lyon football.

Only a little concerned that we could be entering an era where Sydney dominate for some time to come.

 

[AstroboyUK]

We need an 'old man yells at cloud' board where we can put all these.

stop signs are s**t, lets all shout at them.

 

[Rainfall]

What about 1997 ? Nothing can and will ever compare to this again

 

[Freomaniac]

Just because it is competitive doesn't mean that it is any good. This season has been definitely one of the most unwatchable I can remember. Roving mauls, decreasing levels of skills and a negative mindset from many coaches (not just Roos & Lyon).

The arguement of being competitive just because of wins and the way it showson the ladder is completely useless when discussing the standard of football, which is what the OP was talking about.

To put it another way, would you rather sport where the skill levels are high but the result lopsided or a poor quality game that is close. I think you'd find a lot of people (I'm one of them) who'd rather watch the game with a high level of skill than one which is crap but close.

If we keep seeing this continue into next season and beyond the AFL will inflict a lot of self harm. Unfortunately though I don't hold out on skill levels improving as the talent pool just isn't there with 18 teams.

Im glad you brought this up....

Are you a boxing fan? Ever heard of Iron Mike Tyson? Go look back at his 1st 37 fights when he won all but a couple with knock outs. People would pay to watch Mike Tyson fight with his boxing skills even it results in Tyson slaughtering an opponent in the 1st round, some guys got smashed with in 1-2 minutes. Im using that as an example.

Yep people paid to see one guy absolutely belt another with viciousness in the 1980s and 1990s.

 

[Freomaniac]

What about 1997 ? Nothing can and will ever compare to this again

Interesting that there was only a 7 win difference between 1st and 15th.

Any other average year, the top side would get 17-20 wins while the 2nd to last side gets 3-5 wins.

 

[Kickin_Goals]

You can't make everybody happy all of the time. There will never be a time when everyone enjoys the game equally. That's perfectly acceptable.

I reckon its been a pretty good season and even at this late stage there is still a fair bit of interest from a good portion of the comp. This time of year will always lose a few people to lack of general interest. This finals series shapes up as one of the most intriguing in many years - with lots of potentially exciting and unpredictable matchups.

Also maybe number of wins isn't everything but the fact that no team has less than 4 wins is terrific at this stage of the year. No team is really unwatchable the way that say Melbourne were in previous years. Basically every team is either a top team or have had an 'upset' win over a team a fair bit higher than them. Lots of games have come down to the final few minutes and generally the standard has been pretty good.

A whole 4 wins,
GWS, St Kilda, Melbourne, Brisbane, Carlton, Richmond WCE and WB have been un-watchable for long periods of the season. Recently Port has been terrible, Port vs Melbourne was atrocious.

That in a few games Adelaide could be 6 after being very poor this year, not for teams being competitive but for losing to those teams it's generally just been an easily observable lack of effort from teams like North vs Brisbane it's not a testament to competitiveness.

 

[BobaFett]

What about 1997 ? Nothing can and will ever compare to this again

Ah yes, 1997. 2014 has a similar feel

 

[Slax]

Im glad you brought this up....

Are you a boxing fan? Ever heard of Iron Mike Tyson? Go look back at his 1st 37 fights when he won all but a couple with knock outs. People would pay to watch Mike Tyson fight with his boxing skills even it results in Tyson slaughtering an opponent in the 1st round, some guys got smashed with in 1-2 minutes. Im using that as an example.

Yep people paid to see one guy absolutely belt another with viciousness in the 1980s and 1990s.

I am a boxing fan and can say I sat and watched some of those fights, whilst short watching a guy at the top of his game with speed and skill never seen before in boxing destroy people was actually good. Have even more enjoyment of watching some of the middleweights (and around that division) as the skills at the top level are amazing. It's a bit like the 2007 GF, if you actually want to watch a team execute the skills of the game perfectly then watch it, if you want to watch a close contest then grab the 2005 & 06 ones, but as an exhibition of top class footy not on the same level. We deem a close result a good game when most of the time it is actually a different story.

 

[Pessimistic]

They are big on information gathering trips they should go have a look at brazilian soccer. Once much much bigger than AFL with huge crowds its now beaten by the A league. Totally alienated their audience and teams being sent to play in the boonies while fifa venues were built has been the last straw

 

[Piss Poor]

I think a lot of this being the worst season for me is to do with the way it's been broadcast, channel 7 and fox have gone downhill by a lot and they make it very hard to sit through a game not involving your team, actually even involving your team it's hard, it's time for fox/seven to dump the axe on these old boring commentators and bring in some fresh faces preferably not ex AFL players.

 

[The 747]

Agree footy was much better to watch when we beat everyone by 10 goals.

It's a bit of an indictment on the other clubs, that our declining team is still sitting second on the ladder. Have only seen Hawthorn and Sydney really moving the game forward.

 

[rumply]

#hirdsfault

 

[Macca19]

The standard of football has been poor, but its the closest season in a long time. 5 legit chances at a flag and even a 6th in North have beaten all the big names this year

 

[Kram]

Interesting that there was only a 7 win difference between 1st and 15th.

Any other average year, the top side would get 17-20 wins while the 2nd to last side gets 3-5 wins.

Freo blew their chance to make finals for the first time losing to spooners Melbourne in the last round. Mind you iirc we had some ridiculous amount of injuries and would of got murdered the next week, think there was something like only a couple of spare fit players left on the entire list..

 

[clogged]

Ah yes, 1997. 2014 has a similar feel

It isn't even close to that in evenness.

The only reason this season feels more even is that there is no one or two super dominant clubs (thought lets see how Sydney vs Hawthorn goes) as there have been in seasons like 2007-2011.

 

[FootyJunkie]

Ah the weekly whinge about the state of the game thread.

Victoria

 

[kirbatron]

Cant say I've seen alot of great footy this year...

 

[Rainfall]

The standard of football has been poor, but its the closest season in a long time. 5 legit chances at a flag and even a 6th in North have beaten all the big names this year

Yeah I think a 5th or 6th this year will knock out someone in the semi finals placed 1-4 because it's that even

 

[Davo23]

There is no doubt that the AFL as a competition has taken a serious turn for the worst in the last 2 years. But this year has been an all time low.

Administration has been part of the problem, umpiring has gone out of control with inconsistency. With the last umpiring coach there was always a 'rule of the week' that got inconspicuously enforced more than usual and it changed every round, and we thought that was bad. The new umpiring is even worse, they're playing to what they think the public wants, 'letting the play go' but the result is the ugliest brand of stop-start, skill-less football we have ever witnessed, Roos' Sydney and Lyon's St. Kilda included.
Just look at any games up to as late as 2012 and there is a huge difference in how the game was played, last year was an ok season skill wise (though not great) and had its moments, including an epic Prelim, but sadly a horrifically bad grand final. But this season has been horrible to watch, I can count the number of genuinely high quality, entertaining games this year on one hand, with a couple of fingers spare.

The biggest problem though is that we are finally starting to see the results of too many uneven drafts in a row. I have never complained or had any complaints about the expansion teams getting priority picks, it needed to happen, but now only 2 teams getting the opening picks from the last few years is making our competition extremely uneven with the distribution of talent at an all time low. This is a probably that can't be fixed on the spot and will get worse before it gets better. I am actually looking forward to the rise of GC and GWS because at least then there will be some quality football to watch.

And of course the Essendon saga continues to cast a monumental cloud over both the AFL as a competition and the club itself. As long as this saga continues, whatever the outcome, it is going to drive more and more fans away. I have a lot of doubts about the competition myself because of it and it leaves me with a very ill feeling towards the highest level of the sport I love. It shouldn't have happened in the first place, but the way Essendon have continued to drag the fallout over 2 seasons is what has eaten at my love of the game, it should dealt with by Round 1 2013, and here we are on the eve of finals 2014 and we are still hearing about the court battles. This needs to end and I don't care how.

I'm sure this sounds like a 'get off my lawn' style rant, but I am a lover of the game and have always been fairly impartial to the AFL administration, I never had any particular vitriol for Demetriou as many here seemed to, but what I see off the field, and more importantly on the field is not the competition we should be seeing.

2014 has been the worst season the AFL has seen in a generation, and I don't see it improving next year. The AFL organisation needs to do something, and I don't mean another rule change.

Apart from the Essendon saga, you've described every year from 1897 to 2014.

The problem is that every game is televised, so we get to see every good game and every bit of dross. And we have more and more radio and televison sports programs droning on and on and on about every minute issue that they can find, only so they can keep their jobs and stay on air.

Take a pill, have a large whisky (no ice), shout at the dog, fight with the missus, and wait for Friday Night Footy to start.

 

[Freomaniac]

I am a boxing fan and can say I sat and watched some of those fights, whilst short watching a guy at the top of his game with speed and skill never seen before in boxing destroy people was actually good. Have even more enjoyment of watching some of the middleweights (and around that division) as the skills at the top level are amazing. It's a bit like the 2007 GF, if you actually want to watch a team execute the skills of the game perfectly then watch it, if you want to watch a close contest then grab the 2005 & 06 ones, but as an exhibition of top class footy not on the same level. We deem a close result a good game when most of the time it is actually a different story.

Well you summed up my thoughts on Boxing and AFL...

Agree footy was much better to watch when we beat everyone by 10 goals.

It's a bit of an indictment on the other clubs, that our declining team is still sitting second on the ladder. Have only seen Hawthorn and Sydney really moving the game forward.

One of the best grand finals I have watched in the last 10-12 years was the 2009 grand final. This is considering 2005, 2006, 2010 draw, 2012 and lesser degree 2013 was close

 

[Freomaniac]

Freo blew their chance to make finals for the first time losing to spooners Melbourne in the last round. Mind you iirc we had some ridiculous amount of injuries and would of got murdered the next week, think there was something like only a couple of spare fit players left on the entire list..

Yep and Andrew Wills got a fair bit of Brownlow votes that year too. Had freo had a full strength side that round, they would of beaten the demons easily.