Analysis How the state of the game has evolved, is the increased rate of injuries a result of of the evolution

[Surely Paul]

Yep, never seen the likes of you before, to be 3 and 1 after 4 rounds is unprecedented.

Frank reminds us all, us all, of why we're here. And we thank him for that.

 

[Frank Gallagher]

Frank reminds us all, us all, of why we're here. And we thank him for that.

And not even a drink for ole Franky boy.

 

[SdKfz 181]

Talent pool is fine, it’s the rules and the fact that the coaches manipulate them to their advantage.

 

[Frank Gallagher]

I don't see a problem, gotta say though they aren't making things easy for the umpires, i think the pushing in the back rule needs a rethink.

IMO if you have the ball you shouldn't receive a free for a push in the back unless it becomes a dangerous tackle.

Soft/incidental high contact to go as well.

Below the knees rule gone unless the ump deems it as a deliberate tactic to take someone out of the contest.

 

[Paratus78]

It's rubbish compared to the 90s but it's better than rugby or soccer will ever be.

 

[Eastern Rangers]

is pretty average at best these days. This round alone barring Richmond and Collingwood thus far the skill level and standard of play is absolutely horrendous. There hasn't been that many good games 4 rounds in.

Footys going backwards. It's just about pace and clogging up the field rather than skill. The dogs-swans game was close but frantic. Nothing else. Just frantic. Even arguably the games best player was kicking like s**t.

The Richmond game was an absolute stinker mate. Low skills and poor ball movement from both sides.


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[Dom PC]

When i was introduced to AFL, pretty much losing possession of the ball other than through a kick or handball resulted in a free kick.

These days most tackles result in illegal disposal and the vast majority of the time nothing gets paid... that obviously contributed to this scrum we have today.

 

[JackFlash]

Too many teams and to much of a divide between them all. We already have a season that will be decided by just 5 teams, What's the point of a final 8?
2018 is all about the Tigers and which poor saps they flog in the Grand Final? Swans, GWS, Port or Demons? Forget the rest, they are just making up the numbers and while one or two will put in an encouraging performance every now and again, they won't get far in September this year!

Not only does the AFL need to revamp the stadiums, they may have to cull the competition itself. I give it about ten years before we lose a couple of Victorian clubs...I still don't think the Suns will last either. If Lynch goes to Punt road they're screwed! 16 teams including one from Tassie is my bet by 2030. A 30 round season is possible with an increase in lists to manage players through it all? Maybe a shorter game? 15 -18 min QTRs? The AFL are not going to have hundreds of $millions spent on stadiums, the MCG and the Docklands precinct to reduce the season to 17 rounds!
If anything it will be clubs that get the chop and an increase with everything else for those that survive. If you look at this year's calendar you could start March 1st, have a BYE June 2 weekend and finish September 29th/30th. Finals in October with GF on October 27th. They will probably increase the Women's game in Feb/March.
It's all pie in the sky stuff with the state of the game at the minute, but the AFL will have something up its sleeve with this new development and not every fan is going to like it. The AFL also have no interest in what anyone over 40 thinks.... Never mind the apocalypse or a dystopia or a looming American police state. You see all that crap in the movies. This is about the weird football changes that Gil's "terrible ten" will be making in your lifetime that somehow takes precedence over Trump's war on Putinism!
Whatever it is, we're going to see more football not less in coming decades!

 

[Cincinnatus]

The root cause of all of this is the AFLs neglect of grass roots footy across the country.

There simply isnt an oversupply of talent to justify the amount of teams.

I think 20 (2 conferences) is the right number for the sport to be honest and the solution isnt to reduce the number of teams, it shoyld be to increase the talent pool.

Football in Tasmania is dying. If Tasmania gets an ALeague licence AFL will be dead. AFL has made almost no progress in Qld and NSW so is losing out to rugby and soccer still.

WA and more particularly, SA governments are broke and the AFL rather than doing anything to help the local game would rather just tell the clubs to lobby the government for money they dont have. Less and less talent is coming from SA and WA.

NT is a source of untapped talent thanks mostly to the AFL turning a blind eye to any indigenous player that isnt a small crumbing forward they can put on a highlight reel.

The problem is is that there is a huge pressure on Victoria to churn out the overwhelming majority of talent which is being spread across 18 teams.

Soccer is the highest participation sport in the country, the AFL have just let that happen and seem to only care about the top tier level.

Add to that the evolution of the game into being one where fast and fit is the trump quality (unless you play for the crows) and you see a further dilution of skills at the top level.

The most ridiculous thing is that the AFL want to grow international when they don't even have it right domestically.

 

[kickazz]

is pretty average at best these days. This round alone barring Richmond and Collingwood thus far the skill level and standard of play is absolutely horrendous. There hasn't been that many good games 4 rounds in.

Footys going backwards. It's just about pace and clogging up the field rather than skill. The dogs-swans game was close but frantic. Nothing else. Just frantic. Even arguably the games best player was kicking like s**t.

I always judge the state of the game by how much I enjoy watching games that don't involve my team.

Compared to say ten years ago, it doesn't even get close now. Used to love watching Friday night footy but often don't bother now.

It's all about running and getting a spare bloke somewhere somehow. Getting rotations right. Structures. And also a bit of a race to the bottom as to who goes in harder.

 

[kickazz]

It's a s**t sport compared to what it used to be. It's either repeat entries into a clogged 50 until a free kick or a scrappy snap or the team rebounds and has a 3-1 at the other end where a running race occurs before someone dribbles it over like from the goalsquare with no one within 50m.

.

So much this. It just seems to be a bit random at times. The players seem to all be the *en same.

 

[fake tyrone]

I feel the game has been over-officiated so far this season, there are too many free kicks going all over the place: on the ball, off the ball, behind the play, in the stands. I hope the umps swallow their whistles at some point. I feel for them though, they have so much interpreting to do and so many players crowding around the ball. Some rules like push/hands in the back aren't being enforced and others, like that below the knees rule, just baffle me. Players are being penalised for going hard and putting their heads over the ball.

The deliberate rule is also a farce. Players are disguising rushed behinds and out-of-bounds with ridiculous frequency. The AFL should consider what the SANFL has done in regards to that.

 

[Cosmic Energy]

The interchange debate is a complex one - going to 4 on the bench which the likes of Collingwood used to increase rotations to allow players to apply pressure and crowding all over the field may be irreversible. As in even if you reduce the interchange or remove it completely, some or all coaches won’t just revert to positional structure for some players, but may go even harder to get endurance runners who can go all day to apply the structures the coaches want. Which may further push stay-at-home players out of the game at the top level.

Mind you we’ve had super fit blokes in all eras who could run all day.

The Menzel finals situation last year sums it up for me. We have a guy who is an absolute freak one on one with limited opportunities, but our coaches couldn’t design a game plan to make the most out of it, so they tipped him out of the team in favour of players who can perform more ‘structural’ tasks, and we lost anyway.

 

[shaqsuns]

I must admit I tried to watch Sunday afternoon and ended up turning off discussed and started watching VFL AFL 20th century history photos videos memories on Facebook. (Give it like or a follow it’s brilliant if you love your footy history) and the only way I see the game going back to its former glory is by eliminating the interchange and getting rid of the runners during live play.


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[Blackhawk42]

All of you saying 'remove the interchange' are just making me cringe. The bench is completely necessary and used FAR better than it ever was in the past. People look at the 80's and 90's with rose coloured glasses. Guys would sit on the bench for almost an entire game, playing sporadically depending on how the game was unfolding. We saw how ludicrous this was in a modern game when the sub rule was introduced. Guys would play half a quarter of football (quite often having no impact), then be stuck out on the field post-game doing a training session so their conditioning wasn't thrown off.
Strength and conditioning science has come a long way in 20 years. Eliminating an interchange or capping one so far that players barely get a run will have worse negative consequences than positive.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

is pretty average at best these days. This round alone barring Richmond and Collingwood thus far the skill level and standard of play is absolutely horrendous. There hasn't been that many good games 4 rounds in.

Footys going backwards. It's just about pace and clogging up the field rather than skill. The dogs-swans game was close but frantic. Nothing else. Just frantic. Even arguably the games best player was kicking like s**t.

Been happening for ever. Coaches.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

All of you saying 'remove the interchange' are just making me cringe. The bench is completely necessary and used FAR better than it ever was in the past. People look at the 80's and 90's with rose coloured glasses. Guys would sit on the bench for almost an entire game, playing sporadically depending on how the game was unfolding. We saw how ludicrous this was in a modern game when the sub rule was introduced. Guys would play half a quarter of football (quite often having no impact), then be stuck out on the field post-game doing a training session so their conditioning wasn't thrown off.
Strength and conditioning science has come a long way in 20 years. Eliminating an interchange or capping one so far that players barely get a run will have worse negative consequences than positive.

Soccer seems to manage.

 

[Blackhawk42]

Soccer seems to manage.

Soccer cannot hold to a candle to the uniqueness and beauty of Australian rules football. The repeat collisions, tackles, bumps etc are the most exhausting aspect of the game, and the one thing soccer doesn't have. To compare them or even attempt to isn't fair in this argument.

 

[shaqsuns]

All of you saying 'remove the interchange' are just making me cringe. The bench is completely necessary and used FAR better than it ever was in the past. People look at the 80's and 90's with rose coloured glasses. Guys would sit on the bench for almost an entire game, playing sporadically depending on how the game was unfolding. We saw how ludicrous this was in a modern game when the sub rule was introduced. Guys would play half a quarter of football (quite often having no impact), then be stuck out on the field post-game doing a training session so their conditioning wasn't thrown off.
Strength and conditioning science has come a long way in 20 years. Eliminating an interchange or capping one so far that players barely get a run will have worse negative consequences than positive.

You don’t go to the football to watch the bottom 6 play, you go to watch the top end talent dominate the game.. unfortunately in the last 5 to 8 years the top players have been given no room to move and show us their best skills. All I’m saying is the game survived 140 odd years without the over use of the interchange and then all of the sudden Collingwood used it against the Cats in a round 8 Game in 08 which was so effective that every team copied and has now turned Ariel ping pong into a rolling maul with an over use of hand balling and tackles. When I was a kid people were excited to see the one on one contest within a contest match ups. Now kids turn up to the footy and get to see Scott Selwood make 16 tackles a game, “how exciting” said no one ever.


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[HTT]

The game needs to be overhauled to make it consistent. There needs to be a massive rules overhaul - strip the game bare and start again. Pretty much black and white rules only
Basic Rules: Holding the ball, high contact, push in the back, incorrect disposal, out on the full. Get rid of deliberate anything.
Then LEAVE IT ALONE
And have full time umpires. It's ridiculous that they aren't. Pay them well so that a lot of people want to be one. Then we'll get the very best.

Then we'll have some consistency, and players will be able to actually adjust and learn how to play the game properly. There won't be any confusion. It'll be brilliant, and the game can evolve naturally.

 

[SBD Gonzalez]

The game is in terrif shape and modern players have exceptional skills speed power, and the team strategies are fascinating. Not that previous eras were better or worse...I like the evolution and surprising turns the game style takes.

Me too. Still lovin' it.

 

[SBD Gonzalez]

It's rubbish compared to the 90s but it's better than rugby or soccer will ever be.

This. Still the best game in the world.

 

[Tas]

Lets be realistic, with the current rules, even the wooden spooner this year would annihilate an 80s or 90s era team premiership team, they would be so slow and rely so much on one-on-one footy that even Carlton would look like the most dominant team ever by comparison.

The rules have evolved to favour athletes over footballers and it is much easier for coaches to develop defensive strategies than offensive ones; zones, presses, webs, etc are all defensive strategies to restrict the oppositions ability to move the ball and it takes significant endurance and speed to execute well.

We are seeing what is the outcome of professionalism, especially in coaching. The game may look uglier, but it is a lot harder to execute.

 

[shaqsuns]

Lets be realistic, with the current rules, even the wooden spooner this year would annihilate an 80s or 90s era team premiership team, they would be so slow and rely so much on one-on-one footy that even Carlton would look like the most dominant team ever by comparison.

The rules have evolved to favour athletes over footballers and it is much easier for coaches to develop defensive strategies than offensive ones; zones, presses, webs, etc are all defensive strategies to restrict the oppositions ability to move the ball and it takes significant endurance and speed to execute well.

We are seeing what is the outcome of professionalism, especially in coaching. The game may look uglier, but it is a lot harder to execute.

The game is what we have to sell to the world and when the game doesn’t look good it’s virtually impossible to get new supporters to our game.


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[Tas]

The game is what we have to sell to the world and when the game doesn’t look good it’s virtually impossible to get new supporters to our game.


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I couldn't care less about how the rest of the world sees the game.