Club, code or competition?

[SJ]

Where is your ultimate passion and, in order, which of the three would you hate most to see die?

1. Club - First and foremost, you love and care greatly for the health of your supported football club.
- The code of football (and its rules) your club plays could change (either drastically or marginally) and it would still be your number one.
- Your club (and others) could move competitions (even be removed from the top league in the land) but your supported club would still be your greatest passion.

2. Code - First and foremost, you love and care greatly for the health of Australian Football (note this does not necessarily mean the style or how the game is played at AFL level).
- Clubs can come, go or be merged at any rate, as long as 'a game of our own' benefits and you have access to it.
- Leagues and competitions (including the elite competition) could be continually restructured, removed or created at will, as long as Australian Football prospers.

3. Competition - First and foremost, you love and care greatly for the health of the AFL (or your preferred league).
- The code of football (and its rules) adopted by the league could change (either drastically or marginally) and but the league would still be your favourite.
- Clubs can come, go or be merged at any rate, as long as the league benefits and you have access to it.

 

[Monkey King]

Interesting poll

Code-club-comp for me.

I love my footy, so that's first cab off the rank for me. I don't like where the code is going though, or the rule changes filtering down to lower leagues, particularly over the last decade. Still, that doesn't stop me talking our game up to foreigners every chance I get or taking the Sherrin with me on overseas jaunts.

The club doesn't come too far behind the code and depending on my mood, these two may be interchangeable. If my beloved Blues were to disappear from the earth, I would continue to kick the footy around, but my interest in any footy competition would diminish significantly. Not sure I would ever pick up another club, but maybe my passion for seconds teams in other comps may rise. Footy without Carlton though wouldn't be the same.

Lastly comes the comp. It's hard to have passion for something that barely resembles the league you started following decades ago; between the new teams, finals systems, rule changes etc, it's virtually a new product. Aside from a couple of key opposition clubs, you could supplant the entire league with new sides and it would hardly bother me beyond the notion of traditionalism. The AFL's autocratic style and penchant for treating supporters like brain-dead morons doesn't exactly foster loyalty either. If the Blues joined a breakaway I'd ditch the AFL in the blink of an eye.

 

[SJ]

I'm in the same camp, Monkey King. Didn't want to put my spin on it in the OP though. Code and club way before the competition (and actually I am getting to a point of disliking the AFL and everything it stands for).

 

[Monkey King]

... and actually I am getting to a point of disliking the AFL and everything it stands for.

I've reached the same point mate. I don't like what the AFL do, or how they go about it. They've mistaken their custodian role as having the right to irrevocably change the game on the back of flimsy reasoning and then forcing those changes down the throats of loyal supporters. If a break-away league could take my club from the AFL, I would bail with it gleefully in double-time.

 

[MadBomberman]

For me it is Club - Competition - Code.

I used to hate the Code and Competition, but liked Essendon. I could only bear to watch an Essendon game. Then, I started getting into the whole rivalry aspect of the competition. I started watching the big 4 games, plus things like grand final replay etc. Eventually, I liked the code too

 

[MiloStedman]

For me I went code-club-competition. I guess I have a different perspective since I play the game. But don't test me on my love for any of them

 

[Papa G]

Easily club.

Then Code. I love footy. Not AFL, footy. Australian Rules Football is a great game

Competition distant last. AFL has highjacked the game for mainly Victorian interests. This is not parochialism it's just the truth. Common sense seems to have gone out the window in many of it's rulings. Could go on but won't bother.

 

[Engimal]

Club, code then comp.

North easily one of the most important things in my life. (Not even a joke, they're just behind family and only a minuscule amount behind friends.)
Don't go much on the AFL sometimes, but I love the sport.