BringBackTorps
Club Legend
- Jan 5, 2017
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Bartlett has one of the most astute minds in AF. He played 400+ games, got plenty of B & F & Brownlow votes when RFC had many champions, has coached, was on the Laws C'tee, has been a highly regarded & often quoted media commentator for c. 30+ years. In 30+ years, it is easy to "cherry pick" & find some wrong or ill considered views.Its funny how anyone looking at this through the lens of some sort of qualified commercial / technical expertise thinks its a good idea (here's another one https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/aflx-a-stroke-of-sport-marketing-genius-20180214-p4z0az.html), where as the stick in the muds like bartlett[?] and those like Richard Hinds who channel soccer paranoia for a taxpayer funded living are against it[Agree] (ie those engaging at purely an emotional level)
Hinds' comments were appalling. He is also a hypocrite.
AFLX, an experimental game (barely 4 hours old!) being played in summer, is attracting greater Ratings (& often crowds) than the 12 y.o. A League. Why does he fail to mention this, if he thinks AFLX is so bad that it is not worth watching? Why doesn't Hinds say the A League is, therefore, also not worth watching?
Perhaps Hinds doesn't want to make this "watchability" comparison with the poorly performing A League -because he might then need to address/analyse (which he hasn't) the extraordinary comments of:-
. Archie Thompson, who indicated the NSL had a higher standard than the A League (FourFourTwo 18.1.18 "...I still believe the NSL quality of player was better...").
. Cahill, who said 2.2.18 on abc.net.au "I want to go there and be competitive, and its very tough to be competitive (in the A league -my words) if you're just going through the motions". This could imply other A League players are "just going through the motions", the standard is poor.
. C. Foster, Aust.'s chief soccer spruiker, who told L.Zelic/M.Rudan on 8.2.18 in a SBS World Game podcast, "I'm actually EXTREMELY (my emphasis) worried about the game at the moment. I am as worried, if not more worried, as I was 18 years ago". (This is in a year when Socceroos have triumphantly made the WC! Thus, I assume his comment was motivated by the dire state of the A League).
Hinds wrote (in contradiction to the above amazing 3 views) on abc.net.au 2.2.18 "... the standard of the A League and drama of the games themselves has steadily improved..." -yet the A League crowds & Ratings are in freefall!
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