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10Dulkar

10Dulkar

Club Legend
Veteran
Jun 3, 2013
2,559
2,586
Lara
AFL Club
Adelaide
Hi all

I'm a new AFL fan from just outside Belfast. I am into quite a lot of sports including football, cricket,rugby league, snooker and F1 and stumbled upon AFL by accident really. I like listening to the radio from Aus/NZ at nights and having left it on overnight, I woke up expecting to hear commentary of an NRL game but instead it was Collingwood/Essendon on ANZAC Day. I then decided to investigate AFL to see just why it is so popular in Australia, started to watch a few games on You Tube [love the video about 100 years of history, especially EJ Whitten's goodbye], took a week's subscription to AFL TV and then loved it so much I bought a full subscription.

I don't have a favourite team as such but I do quite like the Adelaide guernsey. My favourite player, just from watching old clips, is Gary Ablett Snr but his son isn't bad either - even my mother is into it now after watching Jnr kick an incredible goal last weekend. I also like Ron Barassi not just for his achievements as a coach but for his vision in wanting to create a truly national league.

Why do I love AFL all of a sudden? I can't really put my finger on it. It's exciting, I like the different types of skills, the size of the field adds depth to the game and I think it's good bang for your buck. As well as what takes place on the field, I enjoy the discussions about expansion, the structure of the competition, the advantages handed out to the newer sides, mergers/relocations such as Fitzroy/Footscray, Brisbane Lions, Swans etc and the stadia situation. I do have one question: is the draw completely random or is it slightly "fixed" to ensure the big games take place twice a season?
 
10Dulkar said:
Hi all

I'm a new AFL fan from just outside Belfast. I am into quite a lot of sports including football, cricket,rugby league, snooker and F1 and stumbled upon AFL by accident really. I like listening to the radio from Aus/NZ at nights and having left it on overnight, I woke up expecting to hear commentary of an NRL game but instead it was Collingwood/Essendon on ANZAC Day. I then decided to investigate AFL to see just why it is so popular in Australia, started to watch a few games on You Tube [love the video about 100 years of history, especially EJ Whitten's goodbye], took a week's subscription to AFL TV and then loved it so much I bought a full subscription.

I don't have a favourite team as such but I do quite like the Adelaide guernsey. My favourite player, just from watching old clips, is Gary Ablett Snr but his son isn't bad either - even my mother is into it now after watching Jnr kick an incredible goal last weekend. I also like Ron Barassi not just for his achievements as a coach but for his vision in wanting to create a truly national league.

Why do I love AFL all of a sudden? I can't really put my finger on it. It's exciting, I like the different types of skills, the size of the field adds depth to the game and I think it's good bang for your buck. As well as what takes place on the field, I enjoy the discussions about expansion, the structure of the competition, the advantages handed out to the newer sides, mergers/relocations such as Fitzroy/Footscray, Brisbane Lions, Swans etc and the stadia situation. I do have one question: is the draw completely random or is it slightly "fixed" to ensure the big games take place twice a season?
Click to expand...

Welcome! I am a new AFL fan as well - from Canada. Fascinating sport, I have become hooked on the game and have been watching AFL games instead of playoff hockey games as of late. For a Canadian who is passionate about hockey, that is saying a lot. Great sport, wish I had discovered it years ago.

In Canada they show a game a week (sometimes two) on TV and I record them as they are typically in the middle of the night here. Are you able to watch games at different times on AFL TV or do you have to watch them live?
 
Thanks!

We have three options here in the UK for watching:

1) Subscribe to ESPN who show some games live [I only have Sky Sports so not sure of the exact details]
2) Eurosport, who show edited highlights of all 9 games in an hour long show then show extended highlights of a selected game straight after
3) Subscribe to AFL TV at http://afltv.com.au

I watched the shows last night on Eurosport just to get a taste of all the matches and so my mother could watch as well.

As for AFL TV, I have a full subscription, which works out at just under £80 for the entire season, including NAB Cup games. I can watch any game that has already taken place this season whenever I want, as well as watching the games live with the full Aus TV coverage minus ads of course.

I also like listening to the shows on ABC and the odd podcast. "Crackers" Keenan is a good laugh.
 
10Dulkar said:
I do have one question: is the draw completely random or is it slightly "fixed" to ensure the big games take place twice a season?
Click to expand...


Slightly fixed - every team plays each other once, and then has 5 additional matches, which allows the league to add in "blockbuster" matches twice a year and to, if they so choose, give the struggling teams an easier run (for instance, of last year's bottom four - Western Bulldogs, Melbourne, Gold Coast, GWS - only one of them played a team from last year's top four (Hawthorn, Adelaide, Sydney and Collingwood), and that was GWS v Sydney, which are the two NSW-based teams).

In addition to answering your question, welcome to the sport and to the forum - enjoy!
 

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The fixture is fixed.

Clubs get to table a few requests every year.

So every team will play their major rivals twice.
Carlton and Richmond is round 1.
Collingwood and Essendon is always played on ANZAC Day.
West Coast and Fremantle play in Adelaide twice a year
etc
 
10Dulkar said:
Hi all

I'm a new AFL fan from just outside Belfast. I am into quite a lot of sports including football, cricket,rugby league, snooker and F1 and stumbled upon AFL by accident really. I like listening to the radio from Aus/NZ at nights and having left it on overnight, I woke up expecting to hear commentary of an NRL game but instead it was Collingwood/Essendon on ANZAC Day. I then decided to investigate AFL to see just why it is so popular in Australia, started to watch a few games on You Tube [love the video about 100 years of history, especially EJ Whitten's goodbye], took a week's subscription to AFL TV and then loved it so much I bought a full subscription.

I don't have a favourite team as such but I do quite like the Adelaide guernsey. My favourite player, just from watching old clips, is Gary Ablett Snr but his son isn't bad either - even my mother is into it now after watching Jnr kick an incredible goal last weekend. I also like Ron Barassi not just for his achievements as a coach but for his vision in wanting to create a truly national league.

Why do I love AFL all of a sudden? I can't really put my finger on it. It's exciting, I like the different types of skills, the size of the field adds depth to the game and I think it's good bang for your buck. As well as what takes place on the field, I enjoy the discussions about expansion, the structure of the competition, the advantages handed out to the newer sides, mergers/relocations such as Fitzroy/Footscray, Brisbane Lions, Swans etc and the stadia situation. I do have one question: is the draw completely random or is it slightly "fixed" to ensure the big games take place twice a season?
Click to expand...




Welcome, start your education here.





 
The Reaper said:
The fixture is fixed.

Clubs get to table a few requests every year.

So every team will play their major rivals twice.
Carlton and Richmond is round 1.
Collingwood and Essendon is always played on ANZAC Day.
West Coast and Fremantle play in Adelaide twice a year
etc
Click to expand...


I think you might have meant Perth there...
 
The Reaper said:
No. Both West Coast and Fremantle will travel to Adelaide to play Port Adelaide and the Crows every year.
Click to expand...


In 2013, Fremantle has just one match against Port Adelaide, and it is at Patersons Stadium... besides which, it's not been a rule in years past - in 2010, West Coast had one home and no away match against Adelaide. So I'm not sure what you're basing that claim on.
 
hcd199 said:
In 2013, Fremantle has just one match against Port Adelaide, and it is at Patersons Stadium... besides which, it's not been a rule in years past - in 2010, West Coast had one home and no away match against Adelaide. So I'm not sure what you're basing that claim on.
Click to expand...

Both clubs request it though.
 

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10Dulkar said:
Hi all

I'm a new AFL fan from just outside Belfast. I am into quite a lot of sports including football, cricket,rugby league, snooker and F1 and stumbled upon AFL by accident really. I like listening to the radio from Aus/NZ at nights and having left it on overnight, I woke up expecting to hear commentary of an NRL game but instead it was Collingwood/Essendon on ANZAC Day. I then decided to investigate AFL to see just why it is so popular in Australia, started to watch a few games on You Tube [love the video about 100 years of history, especially EJ Whitten's goodbye], took a week's subscription to AFL TV and then loved it so much I bought a full subscription.

I don't have a favourite team as such but I do quite like the Adelaide guernsey. My favourite player, just from watching old clips, is Gary Ablett Snr but his son isn't bad either - even my mother is into it now after watching Jnr kick an incredible goal last weekend. I also like Ron Barassi not just for his achievements as a coach but for his vision in wanting to create a truly national league.

Why do I love AFL all of a sudden? I can't really put my finger on it. It's exciting, I like the different types of skills, the size of the field adds depth to the game and I think it's good bang for your buck. As well as what takes place on the field, I enjoy the discussions about expansion, the structure of the competition, the advantages handed out to the newer sides, mergers/relocations such as Fitzroy/Footscray, Brisbane Lions, Swans etc and the stadia situation. I do have one question: is the draw completely random or is it slightly "fixed" to ensure the big games take place twice a season?
Click to expand...

Fascinating, isn't it!
I love hearing about stuff like this from people who are new to the game.
To answer your question, there are 22 games played per club each season. Decades ago this worked, and it's stuck. In the past, it's because there were 12 Victorian teams, and they would play each other twice - once home, once away. The number stuck because it seemed to coincide with the end of cricket season and the last day in September, our traditional Grand Final Day.
Now each team plays each other team once, but some clubs have sides they generally play twice.
If there are 2 sides in a state, they will play their local derby twice.
Some of the bigger rivalries typically take place twice, usually the Victorian ones, such as Geelong-Hawthorn and rivalries between all of Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon and Richmond.
There's no doubt the draw is rigged to some degree, but it usually works out pretty well for most sides. The AFL runs a pretty tight and even competition, ignoring the expansion clubs, Gold Coast and GWS, where they're investing in the future by playing a lot of young talent.
The biggest issue is probably the TV exposure the bigger clubs get as opposed to what smaller clubs like the Western Bulldogs, North Melbourne and St Kilda get.
 
Thanks for the warm welcome everyone and for answering my question about the draw. I have read some very interesting threads here about the draw and some posters want it to be changed but as you have explained it, it works quite well I think and the Premier League is not to be followed blindly in how they set up their competition, believe me!

I'm already looking forward to tomorrow morning's (tonight's) blockbuster game between Essendon and Carlton at the MCG - for me the finest stadium in the world.

As a big cricket fan, as you can tell by my username, I find the relationship between cricket and AFL (if I may use that as shorthand) very interesting, given that footy was created to give cricketers something to do in the off-season and is still largely played at cricket grounds. That in turn gave rise to the VFL wanting their own stadium at Waverley Park, which then was a key factor in the whole World Series affair!

There's surely a great ABC documentary waiting to be made comparing how NRL and AFL have tried to expand either side of the Barassi line and go towards a national competition. I happen to think the AFL have got the mix right and I'd be sad to see the likes of the Bulldogs/North Melbourne go/relocate as the origins of AFL (and NRL) make it very special in my eyes.

You've got a bloody good game here Australia!
 
10Dulkar said:
Hi all

I'm a new AFL fan from just outside Belfast. I am into quite a lot of sports including football, cricket,rugby league, snooker and F1 and stumbled upon AFL by accident really. I like listening to the radio from Aus/NZ at nights and having left it on overnight, I woke up expecting to hear commentary of an NRL game but instead it was Collingwood/Essendon on ANZAC Day. I then decided to investigate AFL to see just why it is so popular in Australia, started to watch a few games on You Tube [love the video about 100 years of history, especially EJ Whitten's goodbye], took a week's subscription to AFL TV and then loved it so much I bought a full subscription.

I don't have a favourite team as such but I do quite like the Adelaide guernsey. My favourite player, just from watching old clips, is Gary Ablett Snr but his son isn't bad either - even my mother is into it now after watching Jnr kick an incredible goal last weekend. I also like Ron Barassi not just for his achievements as a coach but for his vision in wanting to create a truly national league.

Why do I love AFL all of a sudden? I can't really put my finger on it. It's exciting, I like the different types of skills, the size of the field adds depth to the game and I think it's good bang for your buck. As well as what takes place on the field, I enjoy the discussions about expansion, the structure of the competition, the advantages handed out to the newer sides, mergers/relocations such as Fitzroy/Footscray, Brisbane Lions, Swans etc and the stadia situation. I do have one question: is the draw completely random or is it slightly "fixed" to ensure the big games take place twice a season?
Click to expand...
Do you like chess?
 
STP18 said:
Hello dulkar from Aus.
Click to expand...

Hi

Since you're a Geelong fan, I might as well ask what were the circumstances that lead Ablett Jr to go to the Gold Coast? I take it he signed initially for Geelong under the father/son rule and was wanted to lead up the new team and be their star player (as well as be well remunerated of course).
 
10Dulkar said:
Hi

Since you're a Geelong fan, I might as well ask what were the circumstances that lead Ablett Jr to go to the Gold Coast? I take it he signed initially for Geelong under the father/son rule and was wanted to lead up the new team and be their star player (as well as be well remunerated of course).
Click to expand...

Yep, pretty much 100% spot on. Loads and loads of cash.
 

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10Dulkar said:
Hi

Since you're a Geelong fan, I might as well ask what were the circumstances that lead Ablett Jr to go to the Gold Coast? I take it he signed initially for Geelong under the father/son rule and was wanted to lead up the new team and be their star player (as well as be well remunerated of course).
Click to expand...

I think you are better off asking a non Geelong person that question as Geelong fans will just state he left for the money.

In my eyes he left for a few reasons, number one I feel he wanted to get away from the fishbowl that is Geelong, he is a person that likes to do his own thing and be left alone and that couldn't happen in Geelong, in the Gold Coast he can walk around and not get hassled as much. Number two is for the challenge of leading a new side. Also when he moved his dad and brother lived on the Gold Coast so that was a reason as well.

Of course money came into it but it wasn't as big a factor as people say.

Welcome to the one of the greatest sports in the world, hope you get to view a game live one day :)
 
RobV said:
I think you are better off asking a non Geelong person that question as Geelong fans will just state he left for the money.

In my eyes he left for a few reasons, number one I feel he wanted to get away from the fishbowl that is Geelong, he is a person that likes to do his own thing and be left alone and that couldn't happen in Geelong, in the Gold Coast he can walk around and not get hassled as much. Number two is for the challenge of leading a new side. Also when he moved his dad and brother lived on the Gold Coast so that was a reason as well.

Of course money came into it but it wasn't as big a factor as people say.

Welcome to the one of the greatest sports in the world, hope you get to view a game live one day :)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the post - you're all welcome to chip in whoever you support. I guess a lot of these arguments are now being repeated with the impending move of Buddy to GWS from the Hawks. What interests me is what role the AFL play - do they have a stake in GC and GWS? I know they already give the new teams salary cap and draft concessions but I think I read they will also top up whatever GWS offer Franklin.

On Ablett Jr himself, even I can appreciate just how good he is. For a newcomer, it's easy to appreciate the guys who kick plenty of goals but Ablett's all round game is a joy to watch - his intelligence, his positioning and awareness of his teammates. He reads the game superbly.

Do the AFL plan to take another game to The Oval in the near future or have NZ usurped us now? ;)
 
10Dulkar said:
Thanks for the post - you're all welcome to chip in whoever you support. I guess a lot of these arguments are now being repeated with the impending move of Buddy to GWS from the Hawks. What interests me is what role the AFL play - do they have a stake in GC and GWS? I know they already give the new teams salary cap and draft concessions but I think I read they will also top up whatever GWS offer Franklin.
Click to expand...

The AFL don't have a direct stake in GWS and GC but they do own them just as they own Sydney and I think Brisbane as well. (Melbourne clubs are all member owned, WA clubs owned by WAFC and SA clubs owned by the SANFL). The reason they help them so much is that they are new markets to Australian Rules Football and the AFL wants them to succeed so Aussie Rules can be their number one sport. As you said the AFL will top up money for buddy just as they topped up for Falou and Hunt.

Basically it comes down to the AFL wants ARF to be the biggest sport in the country so will do what ever it takes for those clubs to be successful, even if it upsets other clubs and their supporters.

On Ablett Jr himself, even I can appreciate just how good he is. For a newcomer, it's easy to appreciate the guys who kick plenty of goals but Ablett's all round game is a joy to watch - his intelligence, his positioning and awareness of his teammates. He reads the game superbly.
Click to expand...

His the best footballer I have ever seen, and by the end of his career will most likely be rated the best ever VFL/AFL player, that's how good he is. His a joy to watch.

Do the AFL plan to take another game to The Oval in the near future or have NZ usurped us now?
Click to expand...

Not sure mate. I think the last game there was a disappointment so might not happen again. Best bet is to email the AFL and ask them.
 

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