Preview AFLX: Essendon vs Hawthorne & St Kilda, Docklands, Friday 16/02/18 @ 6:40 PM

[efcboy]

Been thinking of AFLX - there could be a place for it. Could allow some older players to continue their career. I'd liken it to Big Bash which saw stars like Warnie, Gilchrist, Hayden etc come out to play. It would work well if they allowed an AFLX list separate to primary list - if it is just the standard AFL list then I don't think it will work. But if it allows for clubs to retain some legends then it will gain interest. For example looking at EFC we could bring Fletcher as a defender amongst others. It would be a good way to have some youngsters play with legends - I don't think any club will want to risk their current stars but could be a way to get some experience into young players whilst entertaining crowds with some legends. Could see a lineup (7 players) as such:

FB: Dustin Fletcher
HB: Jordan Ridley
Midfield: Sam Draper, Kobe Mutch, Jayden Laverde
HF: Aaron Francis
FF: Matthew Lloyd
Interchange: Brent Stanton, Jake Long, Josh Begley

Lure Fletcher and Lloyd as the drawcards, presuming Stanton retires I'd think he'd be keen to get involved and then get some games into our development players.

 

[SherbertLemon]

No

 

[Lore]

Been thinking of AFLX - there could be a place for it. Could allow some older players to continue their career. I'd liken it to Big Bash which saw stars like Warnie, Gilchrist, Hayden etc come out to play. It would work well if they allowed an AFLX list separate to primary list - if it is just the standard AFL list then I don't think it will work. But if it allows for clubs to retain some legends then it will gain interest. For example looking at EFC we could bring Fletcher as a defender amongst others. It would be a good way to have some youngsters play with legends - I don't think any club will want to risk their current stars but could be a way to get some experience into young players whilst entertaining crowds with some legends. Could see a lineup (7 players) as such:

FB: Dustin Fletcher
HB: Jordan Ridley
Midfield: Sam Draper, Kobe Mutch, Jayden Laverde
HF: Aaron Francis
FF: Matthew Lloyd
Interchange: Brent Stanton, Jake Long, Josh Begley

Lure Fletcher and Lloyd as the drawcards, presuming Stanton retires I'd think he'd be keen to get involved and then get some games into our development players.

Do they need to be associated with Essendon at all? Or can we pick depth players off random VFL lists or wherever? In Big Bash they all move around, Bushrangers play for the Heat and Blues play for the Hurricanes. I don't really get the rules of AFLX, I think they said you'd play AFLX if you didn't make finals, but if it's a completely separate list I don't see why you can't field a team in both. If it's a hybrid list with say.. the standard AFL list including rookies, plus 3 "marquee"/"veteran" type players? Maybe only players that have played a certain number of games for the club?

So many variables. I can see some merit to it, but playing AFL and playing finals at AFL level should be a priority.

 

[eth-dog]

There's also teams that have qualified for state league finals. As it stands 8 of the 10 sides outside of finals are in their respective state league finals. Teams wouldn't risk their star players so as it stands the only players that would be there are the Collingwood reserves and the Gold Coast reserves.

 

[TheGrizz]

I reckon for once we should take a leaf out of the NRL's book. They have an Auckland 9's comp before their warm up matches basically.

I reckon we scrap the NAB challenge, and have two weeks of round robin AFL X games after the AFL W say in late Feb-Early March. Give young guys and a smattering of veterans a chance to impress and whet the appetite of fans with 2 or 3 matches over the two week period. Because they are shorter the TV channels can fit two or three of them in per night. Youngsters also get a chance to show off to fans and veterans on the fringe can impress as well. Could you imagine this board if we saw Josh Begley one out in AFL X?

Then, we have just club organised praccy matches (two I reckon) against other AFL clubs as our actual warm up matches for the older guys and to get team structures sorted. Removes the need for interstate clubs to do excess travelling above what they want (like the Eagles this pre season...Ouch).

The AFL get their money-TV grab, clubs avoid large travel for meaningless matches and there are less, shorter games so guys are less likely to get injured. Simple.

 

[efcboy]

I am not endorsing this but my understanding is the AFL are wanting AFLX to fill a void towards the end of year. The AFLW is then early in new year followed by NAB challenge before season proper. The players agreement states they require a minimum 6 weeks leave at seasons end. So if they are looking for afl listed players to play AFLX it would have to leave enough time for players to have six weeks off with no official games or training.

 

[efcboy]

Do they need to be associated with Essendon at all? Or can we pick depth players off random VFL lists or wherever? In Big Bash they all move around, Bushrangers play for the Heat and Blues play for the Hurricanes. I don't really get the rules of AFLX, I think they said you'd play AFLX if you didn't make finals, but if it's a completely separate list I don't see why you can't field a team in both. If it's a hybrid list with say.. the standard AFL list including rookies, plus 3 "marquee"/"veteran" type players? Maybe only players that have played a certain number of games for the club?

So many variables. I can see some merit to it, but playing AFL and playing finals at AFL level should be a priority.

The AFL are still working out the details - I don't like the idea of current listed players running around for other teams. But anyone not listed should be up for grabs - a marquee player list is a good idea for guys like fletcher, Brent Harvey etc. I think they will get a better crowd response if clubs do roll out legends that were fan favourites. I'd think a concept such as - selection can come from:
- AFL primary listed players
- AFL rookie listed players
- AFLX marquee players (3)
- AFLX supplementary list (3)
So say an extra 6 AFLX players per team to use for selection? Something like this could work.

 

[DapperJong]

No

Maybe

 

[Kakkle]

I reckon we scrap the NAB challenge, and have two weeks of round robin AFL X games after the AFL W say in late Feb-Early March. Give young guys and a smattering of veterans a chance to impress and whet the appetite of fans with 2 or 3 matches over the two week period. Because they are shorter the TV channels can fit two or three of them in per night. Youngsters also get a chance to show off to fans and veterans on the fringe can impress as well. Could you imagine this board if we saw Josh Begley one out in AFL X?

This is basically what the pre-season already is?

 

[Pweter]

I can't stand the concept and hope it never takes off.

 

[Eleven 38]

It just sounds terrible. Though it'll happen because the AFL will put up a million or 2 in prize money. Theyll probably fixture it in a way to try stop tanking in the back end of the year if it's for teams who don't make finals.

It definitely won't be a pre season thing. Clubs want pre season to be about trying new game plans. Can't do that on a soccer field.

 

[TheGrizz]

This is basically what the pre-season already is?

Not really. The NAB challenge is a 3-4 week process where clubs travel large amounts to play games that are an eye sore to watch half the time.
The Auckland 9's in the NRL literally lasts for two days, the entire competition is done that quickly. It whets the appetite of the fans really well, and some gun kids have shone in that mini comp and earned spots in the rotation during the season.

So instead of travelling to play a full meaningless game, in the process risking serious injury in a game that doesnt matter, we could do an equivalent of the Auckland 9's with AFL X. Have a two weekends of round robin somewhere in Australia where splitting the 18 teams into two groups and have a mini comp there.

That way any full praccy matches can be organised by the club, and they can choose to do Intra club if they rather or organise with other clubs (for example, Freo and WCE could choose to organise one and not have to travel 8000 odd kilometres like the Eagles had to last year).

Limits trvel, fans get a chance to see young guys and shorter games mean less injuries in theory. Very different to current structure of three full games which clubs are dieing to get over and done with with least injuries as possible.

 

[Pweter]

Can't reinstate and won't consider reinstating OO, can try and get a crapshoot of a game up and running instead.

Please AFL, just stop.

If Doss can't take to T20 cricket which is played on the same size oval with the same size ball on the same size pitch with the same number of players, only that the game is shorter leading to a different mindset when playing, I'd really like to know what he thinks of the AFLX concept.

 

[Milanista28]

Prize should be an end of 1st round priority pick, All 10 clubs could field a team that could win the comp, Would be a fierce comp then IMO.

 

[windyhill]

No thanx

 

[Doss]

Can't reinstate and won't consider reinstating OO, can try and get a crapshoot of a game up and running instead.

Please AFL, just stop.

If Doss can't take to T20 cricket which is played on the same size oval with the same size ball on the same size pitch with the same number of players, only that the game is shorter leading to a different mindset when playing, I'd really like to know what he thinks of the AFLX concept.

I'm currently searching for the gif where Di Caprio is at the bar and then smashes the glass over the other guy's head.

 

[efcboy]

To be honest I don't like the concept either but the AFL will go ahead with it so we may as well try and make the best out of it.

 

[Lore]

As far as I'm concerned it's almost a separate sport, like international rules. Only difference is that the clubs are expected to field teams in this thing (w/risk of injury), and there's nothing prestigious about participating.

They can do whatever as long as it doesn't mess with the AFL clubs/players/season proper too much.

 

[Capt Hindsight]

Really don't want to see AFL listed players risked for this. State league players not on AFL lists go nuts.

 

[efcboy]

As far as I'm concerned it's almost a separate sport, like international rules. Only difference is that the clubs are expected to field teams in this thing (w/risk of injury), and there's nothing prestigious about participating.

They can do whatever as long as it doesn't mess with the AFL clubs/players/season proper too much.

Agree - hence why rolling out some legends like fletcher and Lloyd could have some appeal without the concern of hampering/injuring our season proper players. If they expect clubs to use their listed players only then I don't think it will work.

 

[Lore]

So this is happening...

AFLX pre-season fixture
Pool A, Hindmarsh Stadium, Thursday February 15
Adelaide, Collingwood, Fremantle, Geelong, Port Adelaide, West Coast

Pool B, Etihad Stadium, Friday February 16
Carlton, Essendon, Hawthorn, Melbourne, North Melbourne, St Kilda

Pool C, Allianz Stadium, Saturday February 17
Brisbane Lions, Gold Coast, Greater Western Sydney, Richmond, Sydney, Western Bulldogs

"The decision to hold three individual tournaments during the men's 2018 pre-season period has been chosen to introduce clubs, their players, their fans and the wider public to the AFLX game,” he said.

Each AFLX tournament will consist of six teams, divided into two pools of three.

Teams in the same pool will play against each other once, with the top team from each pool facing off in a Grand Final.

Games will consist of two 10-minute halves with a two-minute break at half-time.

Two field umpires will adjudicate the shorter format, while two boundary umpires and two goal umpires will also be required.

http://www.essendonfc.com.au/news/2017-11-17/aflx-fixture-revealed-

So we play two of Carlton, Hawthorn, Melbourne, North and St Kilda, and then if we make the grand final we play one of the other three teams. 22 minutes for the whole match, 7 games in a day, so 2.5 hours of game and break time. If one game is equivalent to about a quarter of normal footy then it's basically four 20 minute quarters spread out over probably 3-3.5 hours. I wonder if we'll know the times for each game or if you're meant to buy one ticket for the whole tournament and just sit through random games that don't really mean much to us. I guess that's one way to fill Etihad... only need 5-10k to turn up for each club.

 

[eth-dog]

What I'd play in pre-season:

Def: Ambrose, Gleeson
Mid: Draper, Langford, Laverde
Fwd: Stringer, Stewart
I/C: Brown, Goddard, Redman

Good mix of youth and experience, most of them are fairly athletic and Brown can play forward and defence.

 

[CBombers17]

Hope it's a massive flop. Who gives a * about overseas markets? Corporate strapon's looking to line their pockets coming up with some MBA group-think marketing brain dump of an idea so AFL(X) can take over the globe and then they can tell their Dana White story to their Grandkids.

 

[mike14]

Why would any club want their players in this?
At least with a pre-sason game you can work on tactics and combinations

 

[DapperDon]

Yeah this can * right off.

If a single player does a serious injury I'd be telling HQ to fill his bank account to the brim.

Focus on the real thing, not this bullshit