Biffs, bumps and brawlers...

[bobbity2]

Dining at my local La Porchetta establishment the other night when "biffs, bumps and brawlers" came on the big screen, presumably to encourage a 'family' atmosphere (!) For those who haven't seen it, it's basically a compilation of all the hard hits, king hits and general thuggery that used to go on a few years ago. A lot of it was circa '85-90. I was amazed at some of the stuff that went on even (relatively) recently. Very liberal use of fists, elbows and especially, dangerous kicking/tripping incidents. I was amazed at how prevalent the latter was. Hell, I'm no AFL apologist but IMHO opinion the AFL has done well to cut a lot of the spiteful stuff out. You, on the other hand, may disagree. Comments?

 

[Broadbridge_20]

Originally posted by bobbity2
Dining at my local La Porchetta establishment the other night when "biffs, bumps and brawlers" came on the big screen, presumably to encourage a 'family' atmosphere (!) For those who haven't seen it, it's basically a compilation of all the hard hits, king hits and general thuggery that used to go on a few years ago. A lot of it was circa '85-90. I was amazed at some of the stuff that went on even (relatively) recently. Very liberal use of fists, elbows and especially, dangerous kicking/tripping incidents. I was amazed at how prevalent the latter was. Hell, I'm no AFL apologist but IMHO opinion the AFL has done well to cut a lot of the spiteful stuff out. You, on the other hand, may disagree. Comments?

I will disagree. 85-95 was the best era for football. You used to need guts to play. It used to be a contact sport. It may as well be netball now.

 

[pazza]

Have both videos.

Football today...except in contests like last night, is administered by soft****s.

Time things changed.

 

[Zeke]

Originally posted by bobbity2
Dining at my local La Porchetta establishment the other night...

You're obviously a tight-arse.

 

[Hamburger]

The game has got a lot "cleaner", and some may find that a shame, but there was really no other choice IMO.
Firstly, the coverage of the game means it is extremely difficult for the biffers and brawlers to get away with anything behind the play.
Secondly, and most importantly, it was in everyones financial interest for the game to be cleaned up. For players it is important to have the opportunity to play....and earn a substantial income...without the risk of being kinghit by thug. Given the availability of video evidence it would not have been long before a player sued an opposition player for loss of amenity through assault...whether it be for injuries caused or damage to the players ranking in a game (eg brownlow votes).
Same for clubs.....having their best players taken out illegally by the opposition cannot be tolerated financially where onfield success is becoming ever more vital for survival.
For the AFL marketing success and the future development of the game is built on attracting and keeping fans....and on grassroots support for football in junior leagues. In both areas, thuggery has no place....its not popular with many of the fans, and less so with parents seeking to encourage their children to play a sport.
Lastly from a fans perspective.....cleaning up the game was important to increase the spectacle of the game....and in my view that has happened. Removing the thugs who held their places in the game as enforcers has shifted the emphasis to where it really should be.....on skill and the capacity to play the game according to the rules. As a consequence younger players coming into the game are able to concentrate on playing football, and not looking over their shoulder. The outcome has been a faster game with more emphasis on athletic ability and professionalism.

 

[Richoagain]

I for one am quite happy to see the macho attitudes dying out.

It's a contact sport, you get belted around within the rules - and that's fair enough.

But the sort of bull**** that used to go on, where it was considered perfectly alright to 'accidentally' elbow people in the jaw and such, I certainly don't miss.

Interesting that the culture of the NRL is still where the VFL was in about 1985 with regard to biffs and brawls - and it's starting to cost them.

 

[Adrian Shelton]

Yoy think that tape's rough, in some video shops you might come across a tape called 'Footy Brawls' just a heap of stuff from late 70's episodes of W.O.S that got thrown together. Other 'old school' rough stuff worth searching out is some SANFL vids from the 80's "Crashes and Clashes" plus the rough stuff sections on 'Portrait of Champions'(some proper punch ons here,complete with Wally May commentry that always leaves me in stiches) and 'Way it was 81'(Danny Jenkins getting flat out charged by David Harradine is the hardest shirty i've ever seen) Of course there's the infamous 'Violent Saturday' never seen it myself but if the VFL banned it it must be, ahem, 'good'

 

[Grumpy Bum]

Did they show Stan "the Man" Magro sending Jezza into the middle of next week at Princess Park? My favourite memory, except for when Mike Fitzpatrick "tried" to remonstrate with Stan, and thought better of it after Stan gave him a brief introduction to the crowd by way of throwing him half over the fence. (unfotunately, we lost the game)

 

[Mudholian]

Well when people call the Burgoyne and Pickett bumps thuggery, not to mention a knee contact that was described by the victim as minimal, you have to wonder how they can complain about softc*cks ruining the game.

 

[Chris_Judd]

The game is a lot better now. If you want to see thugs throwing punches instead of playing football go to Jeff Fenech fight night.

When you see the skills from the 80's and compare it to today there is no way you can say it is better to watch.

 

[bobbity2]

Re: Re: Biffs, bumps and brawlers...

Originally posted by Broadbridge_20
I will disagree. 85-95 was the best era for football. You used to need guts to play. It used to be a contact sport. It may as well be netball now.

I love tough footy. Tough is running back with the flight of the ball to take a mark. Tough is putting your head over the ball in heavy traffic. Tripping, spitting, elbowing and king-hitting ain't tough, only cowardly.

 

[Magpie Magician]

Re: Re: Biffs, bumps and brawlers...

Originally posted by Zeke
You're obviously a tight-arse.

good call

 

[Broadbridge_20]

Re: Re: Re: Biffs, bumps and brawlers...

Originally posted by bobbity2
I love tough footy. Tough is running back with the flight of the ball to take a mark. Tough is putting your head over the ball in heavy traffic. Tripping, spitting, elbowing and king-hitting ain't tough, only cowardly.

Running back with the flight of the ball is hardly tough anymore when 95% of the time there'll be no contact involved. And putting your head over the ball doesnt mean much when you know you'll get a free kick for a tap over the ear. There was once a time when you needed courage to do both.

The tripping, spitting, elbowing and king-hitting that used to go on was great and fun, but you can rule that out and still have a hard, physical game. The rules and the way theyre enforced just need to be relaxed. Paying free kicks for shoving a player off the ball is pathetic. As are 3/4 of the free kicks umpires have been paying lately. It's as if theyre trying to eliminate as much contact as possible without making the game unrecognizable.

Apart from a perfectly executed hip and shoulder, there's very little hardness or physicality about the game at all. No bumps or collisions or even potential collisions like there used to be and the game misses it. It adds excitement and interest.

The game will always be great as long as the basics are there but lately it's being administered like an under 9's game.

 

[The Passenger]

I dont mind finding fists flying on rare occasions, and a bit of blood being spilt, but probaly not to the extent during that period.

A nice medium is in order, but it sought of went from one extreme to the other in the space of half a decade.

Football is much softer these days, but as someone above said, it kinda had to happen. There is great competition between the sports to attract juniors, and parents are becoming much more aware of public liability and all that cr@p, so they're looking for a sport with their son/daughter won't get hurt.

 

[bobbity2]

Re: Re: Re: Biffs, bumps and brawlers...

Originally posted by Magpie Magician
good call

Next time I'm hungry, and driving past a pizza joint at 6.30pm on a Friday, I'll give you two a call and check it's ok to eat there. Stick to the subject.