Autopsy Season 2017 - What did you like, learn or hate?

Craze

Premiership Player
Aug 7, 2013
3,513
7,925
AFL Club
Richmond
Other Teams
Steelers
Liked: 11th flag for the Tiges. Some of the lesser-lights playing roles in the GF, especially Townsend, Graham

Learnt: Why Hawthorn supporters love taking the p155 out of the Geelong Football Club

Hated: The Olympic-standard sooking by Geelong supporters, about ... everything
 
May 3, 2007
35,999
20,766
Parts Unknown
AFL Club
Fremantle
Other Teams
Man City, Valencia, Lazio, Panthers
AFL wise...

Liked: A good home and away season with a lot of close games
Hated: all but one game in the finals were one sided
Learnt: Premiership standard of scorning 100 points a game and conceding 85 is Bull****. Tigers won the flag scoring 90 conceding 76

Fremantle wise
Liked: Youf oicy coming through. good1st half of the season. Zac Dawson wins a premiership.
Hated: the 2nd half of the season
Learnt: Freo are in rebuild but in a better shape age wise compared to 2008
 

MightyTiger

Norm Smith Medallist
Jun 21, 2010
8,816
8,703
AFL Club
Richmond
AFL wise...

Liked: A good home and away season with a lot of close games
Hated: all but one game in the finals were one sided
Learnt: Premiership standard of scorning 100 points a game and conceding 85 is Bull****. Tigers won the flag scoring 90 conceding 76

Fremantle wise
Liked: Youf oicy coming through. good1st half of the season. Zac Dawson wins a premiership.
Hated: the 2nd half of the season
Learnt: Freo are in rebuild but in a better shape age wise compared to 2008
Pretty sure GF score was 108-60.

Edit: or do you mean average over our three finals or average over the year?
 
May 3, 2007
35,999
20,766
Parts Unknown
AFL Club
Fremantle
Other Teams
Man City, Valencia, Lazio, Panthers
Pretty sure GF score was 108-60.

Edit: or do you mean average over our three finals or average over the year?

Average over the home and away season.

Tigers scored 1992 points in those 22 games and average of 90.5 points a game. They Conceded 1684 games in those 22 games or 76.5 points a game.
 

emuboy

Premiership Player
Dec 17, 2006
4,359
4,600
The Southern Hemisphere
AFL Club
Collingwood
Other Teams
South Fremantle, Sturt
If comparing AFL seasons to movies, 2017 would be something close to 'Battlefield Earth', 'Jack and Jill' or 'Zoolander 2'. To paraphrase the late Roger Ebert in his review of 2001 shock comedy 'Freddy Got Fingered':

'This AFL season does not scrape the bottom of the barrel. This season isn't within the bottom of the barrel. This season isn't below the bottom of the barrel. This season doesn't deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence as barrels.'

Why did I hate season 2017 so much? Poor standard, scrappy and boring games were the norm throughout the season by 18 teams with wildly inconsistent form all of whom were guilty of blowing it in games when it really mattered. Sure there have always been and always will be inconsistent teams, but when all of the teams show wild inconsistencies in their form week in week out, it becomes tiresome very quickly. If this is what an even season is supposed to be like, forget it.
 
Average over the home and away season.

Tigers scored 1992 points in those 22 games and average of 90.5 points a game. They Conceded 1684 games in those 22 games or 76.5 points a game.

and in finals, they both scored more and conceded less in each game (AVG 101 V 57), and when it comes to 'premiership standard' I think finals far matter more.
 

VictorianCrow85

Premiership Player
Jul 22, 2016
3,398
5,186
AFL Club
Adelaide
We beat Port on there home ground this year, we've consistently beat them at there home ground and you at your home ground as well, what happened on the weekend has nothing to do with travelling or the MCG factor, it could have been played on the moon and Adelaide wouldn't have won, 8 goals you lost by, MCG doesn't make us an 8 goal better team over our opponents.
You are correct it makes you about 2-3 goals better imo, problem Adelaide has is we are about 5-6 goals worse on the ground compared to our home as you can tell by the type of margins and results there over the year. People can say what they want but even predictive algorithims that factored home ground advantage this year were by far the most accurate which isn't some coincidence, it's a reflection of a closer competition where any edge is amplified more. I'm not posting this to be disrespectful to Richmond, they deserve their premiership and played exceptional football at the right time of year. In fact if you check my posting history I was one of the people who rated them a legit shot a while out from finals and listed them as my biggest fear though of course a large part of why (beyond their form looking good at the right time) was the MCG factor and the fact my side (or Sydney, GWS, Geelong for that matter) aren't so great there. Still it is what it is, we lost and we know finals are going to be played there so I would be hoping from a Crows perspective they will stop hiding behind a decent overall record for away games and try get creative on working out how to get that '5-6 goals' worse down to just a couple though I honestly have no idea how that gets done as it's mostly just a familiarity and comfort thing. Either that or I guess if we challenge again I'll just have to pray we don't run into an MCG tenant come grand final day. Again I'm really not trying to devalue Richmond's premiership, they certainly deserve it but it would be nice to think that any side can arrive on grand final day without a handicap to success.
 
Jun 7, 2015
6,971
13,676
AFL Club
Port Adelaide
Learnt:
- It is going to be very difficult to beat Victorian sides in a GF and the AFL should allocate additional tickets to non-Victorian sides as an attempt to address the imbalance (and provide Victoria with more tourist dollars)
- Team Defence is king, unfortunately, although it does reduce the numbers of adverts per quarter
- I can live without fox footy, particularly the vic-centric commentary
- Whatever age your kids are, it's one of life's greatest joys to have them cheering alongside you at the footy
 
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JPetro83

Premiership Player
Sep 25, 2014
4,815
3,371
Adelaide
AFL Club
Adelaide
Other Teams
Sturt, Adel United & Leeds United
Hated: We blew a massive chance to break our 19 year flag drought. Took us 19 years to get back to a GF.. now I wonder will we take even longer to get back there again.
 
Dec 19, 2007
2,945
2,996
perth
AFL Club
West Coast
Other Teams
soccer rugby union and le
Dislike horrible finals series
Dislike AFL becoming more rugby than rugby
Dislike the demise of handball.Its now get rid of the ball any way you can in the name of faster and faster footy.
Dislike the lop sided draw.Start the season and just follow the bloody draw.Next year start where you left off last year.
Dislike that im not even missing footy reference above.
 
Oct 17, 2012
4,600
14,015
Midland
AFL Club
Brisbane Lions
Other Teams
Chicago Bulls
Liked: An even competition year, so many close clashes, another premiership for a long suffering club and fan base.

Learnt: AFLW is an exciting product, hopefully the AFL doesn't get too 'creative' with the format.

Hated: The ruck rule, trigger happy umpiring, Only one exciting finals match.

Club Specific:

Liked: We won 1 Reserves premiership, plus the AFLW team made the grand final.

Learnt: There's light at the end of the tunnel, dark days are coming to an end.

Hated: How our AFLW team was screwed out of a home Gabba GF because of an egotistical groundskeeper...arsehole (The Gabba pitch better be good this year, the Ashes are on the line).
 

catscratchfever

Captain Goodvibes
Aug 16, 2008
3,360
3,909
The Edge Of Reality
AFL Club
Geelong
Other Teams
Space Cadets
Liked: Jack & The Killers

Learned: Absolutely nothing it would appear as all my predictions turned to crap

Hated: The semi and prelim beltings, duh; stupid pre-season rule changes; and especially always the AFL Commission
 
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Chubberson

Cancelled
BeanCoiNFT Investor
Apr 12, 2011
1,721
1,893
radelaide
AFL Club
Hawthorn
Liked: The grand finalists.
Learnt: The rules committee and Gil need to be scrapped.
Hated: AFL spin on everything, houlis normy, the saga. Journalists/footy media.
 
Nov 11, 2010
2,851
8,001
Punt Rd End
AFL Club
Richmond
If comparing AFL seasons to movies, 2017 would be something close to 'Battlefield Earth', 'Jack and Jill' or 'Zoolander 2'. To paraphrase the late Roger Ebert in his review of 2001 shock comedy 'Freddy Got Fingered':

'This AFL season does not scrape the bottom of the barrel. This season isn't within the bottom of the barrel. This season isn't below the bottom of the barrel. This season doesn't deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence as barrels.'

Why did I hate season 2017 so much? Poor standard, scrappy and boring games were the norm throughout the season by 18 teams with wildly inconsistent form all of whom were guilty of blowing it in games when it really mattered. Sure there have always been and always will be inconsistent teams, but when all of the teams show wild inconsistencies in their form week in week out, it becomes tiresome very quickly. If this is what an even season is supposed to be like, forget it.

The H&A season was one of the most unpredictable and closest ever. Was a awesome season for a neutral viewer. The finals were the opposite - the top 4 teams blew the others away and the eventual winner blew away the other top 3.

I would suggest that your perspective of the season may have been tainted somewhat by the way your club performed.....just like mine was glorified
 
Liked: The feeling of disbelief I still feel. Happy you ask? Sooo HAPPY!!

Learnt: I don't really understand footy. I thought he small forward line was vulnerable to slick ball movement and taller players. I had no idea. Worked out what Dimma and Co were doing in the finals and the light bulb went on. Genius. Also learnt that this only works because Jack does an incredible job. Without Jack the forward line wouldn't probably work. Possibly a new take on how to be a great KPF.

Hated: Stupid AFL with their last round bye, weird ever changing rules and tone deaf idiocy. (The AFL still makes the NRL and Union look like complete idiots - so that tells you a lot about the quality of footy leadership they have)
 

dean33

Brownlow Medallist
Oct 10, 2007
12,351
18,398
melb
AFL Club
Richmond
The MCG grand final is only 1 component.
A few others that immediately spring to mind are:
Travelling every 2nd week
Our best young players getting raided every year
Biased umpiring

You guys grabbed your opportunity and played really well. I'm not trying to put you down. I'm merely lamenting at how farqing hard it is for us to win a flag.
What about on the flip side you get 10 games a year where you have a massive home ground advantage compared to Melbourne sides who only get an advantage when playing interstate sides? No way eagles make the 8 if they were a Melbourne side, home ground advantage got them enough wins to make the 8. Geelong wouldn’t have made the top 4 if they were a Melbourne side. Interstate sides and geelong have a massive home ground advantage through the year that pushes them a few spots higher then they wouldn’t otherwise been.
 

Bokonon_

Cancelled
10k Posts
Nov 23, 2016
10,558
7,069
AFL Club
GWS
The H&A season was one of the most unpredictable and closest ever. Was a awesome season for a neutral viewer. The finals were the opposite - the top 4 teams blew the others away and the eventual winner blew away the other top 3.

I would suggest that your perspective of the season may have been tainted somewhat by the way your club performed.....just like mine was glorified
Given the the Cats and us had a chance at both grand finalists I'd suggest the was a bit of a gap for the grand finalists as well. The top 4 weren't equal outside the Tigers. It was a very traditional finals series in the end.
Definitely a tumultuous home and away season though.
 

Final Siren

Mr Squiggle
Aug 18, 2009
4,229
17,495
AFL Club
Richmond
The MCG grand final is only 1 component.
A few others that immediately spring to mind are:
Travelling every 2nd week
Our best young players getting raided every year
Biased umpiring

You guys grabbed your opportunity and played really well. I'm not trying to put you down. I'm merely lamenting at how farqing hard it is for us to win a flag.
Geez you guys have short memories. These are the same conditions every non-Vic side has faced since the inception of the national league, and it didn't stop plenty of them (including two Adelaide teams!) from upsetting Victorian sides in Grand Finals.

People are up in arms because there's been a run of Vic sides defeating a higher-ranked non-Vic side in the Grand Final over the last few years, but look at the historical context:

1991: Hawthorn (2nd) def West Coast (1st)
1992: West Coast (4th) def Geelong (1st)
1996: North Melbourne (2nd) def Sydney (1st)
1997: Adelaide (4th) def St Kilda (1st)
1998: Adelaide (5th) def North Melbourne (1st)
2001: Brisbane (2nd) def Essendon (1st)
2003: Brisbane (3rd) def Collingwood (2nd)
2012: Sydney (3rd) def Hawthorn (1st)
2013: Hawthorn (2nd) def Sydney (1st)
2015: Hawthorn (3rd) def West Coast (2nd)
2016: Western Bulldogs (7th) def Sydney (1st)
2017: Richmond (3rd) def Adelaide (1st)

It's an even 6-6 split in all Grand Finals between Victorian and non-Victorian teams where the lower-ranked team won.

There were four non-Vic teams upsetting Vic teams in a row from 1997-2003, and there's been four in row the opposite way from 2013-2017. But on balance, it's completely even.
 
Jun 28, 2013
31,751
47,830
AFL Club
Hawthorn
Liked: Dusty. Just a great year and awesome to watch

Learnt: Equalisation is working but footy isn't winning as a result. AFL have too many teams. Academies might increase talent pool term otherwise the game is in trouble long term. (Feeling a bit doom and gloomish this morning).

Hated: The standard of footy in the finals - Tiges aside who were great and not taking away from a well earnt/deserved flag
 
Jun 28, 2013
31,751
47,830
AFL Club
Hawthorn
Geez you guys have short memories. These are the same conditions every non-Vic side has faced since the inception of the national league, and it didn't stop plenty of them (including two Adelaide teams!) from upsetting Victorian sides in Grand Finals.

People are up in arms because there's been a run of Vic sides defeating a higher-ranked non-Vic side in the Grand Final over the last few years, but look at the historical context:

1991: Hawthorn (2nd) def West Coast (1st)
1992: West Coast (4th) def Geelong (1st)
1996: North Melbourne (2nd) def Sydney (1st)
1997: Adelaide (4th) def St Kilda (1st)
1998: Adelaide (5th) def North Melbourne (1st)
2001: Brisbane (2nd) def Essendon (1st)
2003: Brisbane (3rd) def Collingwood (2nd)
2012: Sydney (3rd) def Hawthorn (1st)
2013: Hawthorn (2nd) def Sydney (1st)
2015: Hawthorn (3rd) def West Coast (2nd)
2016: Western Bulldogs (7th) def Sydney (1st)
2017: Richmond (3rd) def Adelaide (1st)

It's an even 6-6 split in all Grand Finals between Victorian and non-Victorian teams where the lower-ranked team won.

There were four non-Vic teams upsetting Vic teams in a row from 1997-2003, and there's been four in row the opposite way from 2013-2017. But on balance, it's completely even.
Agree but a lot of those interstate wins are teams who are getting major leg ups

WC, Crows and Brisbane all had considerable help from the AFL and Swans had COLA

GWS and GC are major disappointments by contrast. If neither pinch a flag they are Freo-like in their loserdom. Not a trolling post. That's a fair cop
 

Final Siren

Mr Squiggle
Aug 18, 2009
4,229
17,495
AFL Club
Richmond
Agree but a lot of those interstate wins are teams who are getting major leg ups

WC, Crows and Brisbane all had considerable help from the AFL and Swans had COLA

GWS and GC are major disappointments by contrast. If neither pinch a flag they are Freo-like in their loserdom. Not a trolling post. That's a fair cop
Major leg-ups that helped them win Grand Finals but not home & away games?

Because these are just the non-Vic sides that managed to upset higher-ranked Vic opponents in a GF. That's separate to cases of non-Vic sides defeating lower-ranked opponents, e.g. Brisbane 2002 vs Collingwood.
 
Jun 28, 2013
31,751
47,830
AFL Club
Hawthorn
Major leg-ups that helped them win Grand Finals but not home & away games?

Because these are just the non-Vic sides that managed to upset higher-ranked Vic opponents in a GF. That's separate to cases of non-Vic sides defeating lower-ranked opponents, e.g. Brisbane 2002 vs Collingwood.
My point is how many interstate teams have beaten vic teams in a GF after either the sweet period of "set up perks" or continuing perks like COLA?

Not many
 

Dank You Steven

All Australian
Oct 19, 2016
682
696
AFL Club
Hawthorn
Hated the Mark of the year top 3.

Howe should have won it, Daniher should have been top 3, but where the hell was Puopolo from R2 v Adelaide?
 

Bokonon_

Cancelled
10k Posts
Nov 23, 2016
10,558
7,069
AFL Club
GWS
Agree but a lot of those interstate wins are teams who are getting major leg ups

WC, Crows and Brisbane all had considerable help from the AFL and Swans had COLA

GWS and GC are major disappointments by contrast. If neither pinch a flag they are Freo-like in their loserdom. Not a trolling post. That's a fair cop
Major disappointment? The aim of the start up concessions was to allow the expansion clubs to be competitive, that's all.

A new club has huge and unique challenges that you can't just brushover by providing an opportunity to build a talented list.
Think about what starting a club from scratch actually entails. The facilities, administration, links and support to the junior level are but a few ifthe challenges Culture is intangible but very real.Onfield success is good but not the main game.

The Only way the expansion clubs are a dissappointment is If you start by applying absurd expectations.
 
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