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Opinion If you had control of the AFL, what would your key objectives be?

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Doctor Feel

Doctor Feel

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Mar 30, 2009
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I won't add a poll to this as I feel like that limits discussion.

If you had control of the AFL, what would your top 10 or so (doesnt need to be 10) things that you would want to address as a matter of urgency?
The aim is to discuss what you think are the primary areas of concern in the AFL, and what your solutions would be. As well as casting an eye over what you feel would radically improve the product.

Try list them in order of your preferred priority.

Try not to get bogged down in the whether something is watertight in terms of feasability, but more discuss the "what", "why" and "how".

Mine would be:

1) Grand Final at Neutral Venues, all grounds to have action plans for if they are selected to increase capacity etc, with agreements in place for suppliers etc. To execute temporary capacity increases etc.

2) Umpires become fulltime over the next 3 years or so, with salary compensation appropriate for a role that is so critical to the quality of the game. Structured training in place and very strict conflict of interest rules.

3) Wind up one of St. Kilda or North Melbourne. With a new team established in Tasmania as a completely new entity.

4) Drastically improve game coverage, providing home and away commentary teams. Choice to turn off/on commentary, umpires etc. Viewer interactivity for player/coach/assisant of the day etc. Strict training on play by play commentary, professionalism and knowledge of players names, backgrounds, training habits etc. Less what school they went to and who they might be porking, more what they do to train for their role.

5) Complete restructure of the AFL, trimming the fat and increasing the quality. Establishing AFL HQs in each state, representing the interests of the clubs. More focus on highly qualified people with football backgrounds rather than simply "he played footy once"

6) Establish national AFL Reserves competition.

7) Increase the bench to 10, with 5 active ay any one time, and 5 substitions to be used at any time for any reason.

8) Throw out a bunch of rule changes and return to a more core product with extensive publised input from fans and players.

9) Overhaul the points system to include 'game within a game' type things to improve spectacle and encourage scoring more than just percentage. Things such as points over X gets a point and, winning half gets a point or something. So games can be like 5 points to a winner and 2 to a loser because they gave it a good shake.

10) significantly reduce the leagues association with betting.

Honorable mentions i couldnt squeeze in to the 10:

Fixing the ****ing guernsey clash issues,
MRO fixes, restructuring the brownlow to have an award for defender/mid/forward + league MVP or something along those lines, fixture balancing.

Fire away. Keen to see where peoples key priorities sit.
 
I'll add invest in better scoring review tech or get rid of it completely.
Stop all of the constant rule changes each year and interpretations that happen during the season by the umps.
and let all clubs control their own boards and be elected by the members to hold them more accountable.

oh and i forgot Sack Hinkley
 
1. Get rid of head high contact. No exceptions made for players when it would produce a favourable outcome (Cripps last year, Cotchin in 2017).

2. End rule changes unless they relate to point one. Roll back a lot of the stupidest rule changes brought in lately like the stand rule.

3. Get the umpiring consistent. Make things clear and umpired the same way for all quarters all season long. No changes to interpretation mid-season.

4. I'd probably slash a lot of the pointless roles at AFL house. Run a tighter ship and pass those savings on to families on game day, and to paying umpires more.

5. Fold Norf.
 
I don't know about 10 things but my biggest focus would be to enforce a greater emphasis on embracing a 'national' competition. The grand final being at the MCG will be a thing for a while so I wouldn’t change it straight away, the first thing I'd do is survey the players, not the supporters and ask them if they'd prefer to play at the MCG every year or share it around. If the players are okay with it, then it's a tradition I could live with until the current contract is over. But if the majority think it should be shared around then I would try and reach a fair compromise.

Fox footy media as by far the biggest Australian football media company would be pressured in to making it a truly national coverage if they want full access, they would fund football shows in each state and focus on every team equally.

This goes hand in hand with the fixture where every team is represented in every time slot equally throughout the year. The AFL is not a national competition if Carlton is playing every second week on Friday night. The financial aspect of this decision would most likely result in a drop in profit in the short term, but I'm taking a longer term focus and working on fan satisfaction across the league. The only reason Carlton/Collingwood/Richmond are built up in to big crowds is because of the media influence and coverage of these teams. I believe that in 20 years after each team is treated the same with fixtures and time slots, the competition as a whole will be much stronger and exciting, no matter who you support.

The hardest thing about getting to this point is that the stronger clubs dominate and have more influence and will press hard against this, solely because of the money aspect. The AFL NEEDS to sacrifice their profits for a few years to benefit in the long term. You keep building up the big Victorian teams every year and regurgitating their stories in the media, pumping up their star players while embarrassingly knowing next to nothing about the clubs outside of Victoria, outside of Lachie Neale, Nat Fyfe, Rory Sloane, Taylor Walker, Charlie Dixon and Travis Boak while looking past the interstate clubs then everyone loses. The VFL expanded in the first place because they couldn't support themselves.

Commentators need to be rotated around to every team equally so they know each team equally. The commentator roster would work every teams games am equal number of times. That's the only way they're going to learn about each team and comment fairly. How can BT for example expect to know our team when he watches maybe 3 games of ours a year?

Anyway, that's all I got for now, I'm a few beers deep but I might continue on another time
 

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I would watch doctor feelFL

I agree with a bunch but I'd also cull GWS and GC. They're boring, pointless with no fans they never will have any. I hate their neutral games and I don't even like playing even though we always beat GC.
 
1. Boot North, St. Kilda, GC & GWS.
2. Tassie Team.
3. Full H/A season.
4. Everyone has two byes.
5. Remove the pre finals series bye.
6. Abolish arm over the shoulder rule.
7. Proper clash guernsey for EVERY team.
8. No stand rule.
9. Ressies comp.
10. Change GF venue each year.
 
Swimming and ****.

Jokes - 11 priorities (not necessarily in order):

  • decentralising the administration of the AFL from Victoria
  • umpires to be full time, with constant review of and accountability for their performance
  • remove umpire voting from any kind of award
  • all clubs to come up with clash guernseys (looking at you, Collingwood)
  • thorough review and clarification of the rules of the game, with a slowdown on changes to rules each year
  • anyone who has ever been employed by the AFL or an AFL club is barred from being involved in the match review/tribunal system.
  • 3 year waiting period between leaving a position at an AFL club, and taking up employment in the AFL administration.
  • neutral venues for Grand Finals in line with Doctor Feel's suggestions.
  • North Melbourne, St Kilda and Gold Coast removed from the league, with a Tasmanian team set up. This leaves the number of clubs at 16.
  • AFL reserves competition
  • Reduce association with betting
 
One thing I would prioritise is ending the ridiculous stranglehold on in-game stats that the AFL via Champion Data hold, and which they only make available to clubs and the media.

At the moment all you get is the basic stats, and the only way you get the more interesting ones is if some journo from AFL media writes an article and requests the stat from CD, which usually only skims the surface and is more designed to get clicks.

Otherwise things get trickled out through Triple M releasing a 'Champion Data says these players are elite' graphic without anyone being able to verify or look deeply into those claims.

There could be so much more in-depth analysis if more of the stats collected were publicly available, and heaps of the dinosaur jokers in the media would get shown up as the cretins they are.
 
Good thread.

1. Get rid of the sub and just increase the bench.

2. Get rid of the rookie list and increase squad list.

3. Actually invest money into score review technology.

4. Rotate Grand Final venue.

5. Recognise more pre afl greats - Fos and Jack should be legends however it won’t happen given the weighting to a non Victoria club.

6. Stop changing the rules.

7. Heavily $ incentivise clubs for finishing top and top 4.

8. Reserves comp.
 
  • Affordable ticket pricing as possible, as many games on free to air as possible.
  • Scrap GWS and GC. Both dumb experiments that went exactly as predicted
  • Team in NT. Team in Tassie. If that's the Tassie Kangaroos even better
  • Strongly support women's football - would a game immediately before the mens games be a way to go to increase exposure?
  • Remove all ties to sports betting in the same way all ties were removed from smokes. Still legal, but you're not using our game as a platform to increase societies misseries for your profits
  • Mix up draft to remove any incentives to tank
 

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Cam1870 said:
  • Affordable ticket pricing as possible, as many games on free to air as possible.
  • Scrap GWS and GC. Both dumb experiments that went exactly as predicted
  • Team in NT. Team in Tassie. If that's the Tassie Kangaroos even better
  • Strongly support women's football - would a game immediately before the mens games be a way to go to increase exposure?
  • Remove all ties to sports betting in the same way all ties were removed from smokes. Still legal, but you're not using our game as a platform to increase societies misseries for your profits
  • Mix up draft to remove any incentives to tank
Click to expand...
I can’t speak for the GC however the GWS wasn’t a dumb experiment, grassroots footy in western Sydney amongst the kids is very healthy. As for the GC, well it is the GC!
 
Some good suggestions so far.

Mine would be to endeavour to make the Showdown a national event in line with the ANZAC Day game, Easter Monday game, Queen’s Birthday game and the like, with all the commercial opportunities and exposure that would mean for players, the two clubs and the wider industry alike.

In its 25-year history it’s arguably been the competition’s premier fixture in terms of sheer entertainment and bang for everyone’s buck.

Regardless of mutual ladder position, you’ve got a blood feud of a rivalry, bumper crowds, biffo (legal and otherwise), epic comebacks, stellar performances by celebrated Hall of Famers, last minute/second victories, the works.

And how many times has it ever enjoyed the spotlight of national free-to-air coverage, let alone the prestige of being a standalone fixture that isn’t playing second fiddle to f#%king North Melbourne-Freo or some other mid-table snoozer?

If the AFL was truly serious about its status of ‘national competition’, it’d be hyping it to the clouds.

Had they had the forethought to do so decades ago, it’d be considered a blue riband event every bit as celebrated and looked forward to as South Australians tune in to watch Coll/Ess on ANZAC Day or West Aussies tune in to Geel/Haw on Easter Monday.

But they’ve just let it play out in virtual darkness, a regional oddity thrilling just one province, with a general external reputation of ‘oh yeah, they hate each other huh’ more in-keeping with Celtic-Rangers or Newcastle-Sunderland.

Just a modicum of vision, please.
 
bomberclifford said:
View attachment 1638668
Click to expand...
Just what we all asked for!

I cannot fathom that no one so far has carbon neutral listed in their directives. Glad our club has the finger on the pulse on that one.

Seriously though, some common themes emerging, but interesting to see the difference in importance on various issues to everyone.
 
simmo_bc said:
I can’t speak for the GC however the GWS wasn’t a dumb experiment, grassroots footy in western Sydney amongst the kids is very healthy. As for the GC, well it is the GC!
Click to expand...

Yeah, I don’t think the Suns or Giants will ever be able to justify their existence in their own right if viewed solely through the prism of crowds/memberships/sponsors, but the macro value-add of the extra fixture each week, a weekly presence in Qld/NSW, and the outreach effect on youngsters is undeniable.

Queensland’s youth participation numbers are higher than South Australia’s already, and we’re talking a long game of decades.

If in 20-30 years’ time there are as many or more Queenslanders or NSWelshmen coming through the draft pathways as West and South Aussies (and what that naturally means for football’s footprint as a whole), that fruit is worth it.
 
tribey said:
Yeah, I don’t think the Suns or Giants will ever be able to justify their existence in their own right if viewed solely through the prism of crowds/memberships/sponsors, but the macro value-add of the extra fixture each week, a weekly presence in Qld/NSW, and the outreach effect on youngsters is undeniable.

Queensland’s youth participation numbers are higher than South Australia’s already, and we’re talking a long game of decades.

If in 20-30 years’ time there are as many or more Queenslanders or NSWelshmen coming through the draft pathways as West and South Aussies (and what that naturally means for football’s footprint as a whole), that fruit is worth it.
Click to expand...
100% agree with that.

From what I understand through some people involved with grass roots rugby (both forms) in Sydney is that they are well and truly worried about the growth of AFL amongst the kids.
 

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Good thread by the Doctor in a return to form after a period of unrelenting negativity. Here’s my contribution.

1. More free agency but the team that picks up the free agent needs to have their draft capital reduced in line with the compensation provided.

2. Game has turned into a product strictly controlled by head office. We need less homogeneity. The AFL needs to devolve power back to the clubs, and the clubs need to then devolve power back to their supporter bases. This will allow clubs to self determine and recover their unique identities.

3. I would remove the salary cap. There is too much ineffective equalisation. Let the strong prosper and let the weak either find strength in themselves or perish.

4.equitable fixturing - maybe everyone plays each other once over 17 rounds. You then move into a final pool of the top 8 teams playing each other once with the top 4 teams then playing in the semi and winners into the grand final.

5. Get rid of afl house rules about bringing the game into disrepute. Let players and coaches talk freely. If someone wants to have a whinge about umpires that’s on them.

6. Returning to a theme, let expansion teams rise or fall on their own strengths - they should not be propped up indefinitely.

7. Each team have proper home and away and clash strips as a non negotiable.

8. Scrap any number of the AFL house brand and marketing roles and appoint instead a poet laureate of the game.
 
Forgot to mention, clubs own contracts not players. Freedom to trade in/out whoever the **** you want to, and hold onto anyone you want to hold onto. Time for vic metro kids to grow the **** up.
 
Doctor Feel said:
Forgot to mention, clubs own contracts not players. Freedom to trade in/out whoever the * you want to, and hold onto anyone you want to hold onto. Time for vic metro kids to grow the * up.
Click to expand...

this is such a huge bugbear. the AFLPA and individual players crap on about how it’s done in America in terms of what’s coming to them, but they will have none of the bad
 
Solid thread.

Broadly I would want to make the AFL as equal and stable as possible with high levels of integrity and a grass roots, fan and player focus.

Some key areas:
  • establishing each club’s financial independence. This means growing different revenue streams, maybe investment funds and home ground ownership. Doing to same for the AFL
  • ending the addiction to the gambling industry, the fans want it, it’s an really unsavoury part of our industry. No more pokies and get rid of the ads
  • broaden the merchandise and products available. Man United offers credit cards, bank accounts, travel deals, as well as tops, shorts, scarves, etc. As a part of this, we should allow more diverse away strips - ie let Port play in a red or navy or green or whatever top to increase product options
  • manage the climate crisis. It’ll impact weather, ground availability and quality, playing conditions, electricity and water costs, insurance and who knows what else.
  • expand overseas markets. Each team should play a rural and international game
 
Neutral GF Venue
Professional umpires
Improvements to coverage
-Dont just give some ex AFL knucklehead a mic.
-2 commentators and a boundry rider is fine
-If you work in the media you cannot work at an AFL club
National Reserves as a curtain raiser
Each team plays each other once per season
Ditch the sub increase bench size
Suspend on intent rather than outcome (Kozzie, Buddy, McAdams all get 3 weeks in my book)
Cull St Kilda, NM, GC add team in Tassie.
Players get less contractual power. You dont want to play for Port, thats a shame you can go spend the remainder of your contact in the ammos.
 

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Opinion If you had control of the AFL, what would your key objectives be?


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