Home Field Advantage
Make home field advantage in the finals a fixed reward for finishing higher on the ladder. On top of this, the home team’s members would be able to buy a ticket plus one guest ticket 3 days before opposition members (one extra), followed by a 5-hour break to the general public. I don’t understand the AFL publics obsession with thinking that going to a game is somehow a right. Seeing your team play finals is a privilege, one earned by your team during the regular season. (I would let a team switch home grounds if they requested it, i.e. to fit more of their members in, e.g. a team moving from Etihad to MCG, but they would have to request it and the same ticketing rules would apply).
Rule Changes by Committee/Democracy.
I am not actually against rule changes. Sometimes they need to occur as the game changes, safety concerns are raised or even tactics change that introduce an element not desired. When this happens, the game may need rule tweaks. My problem is how the rules are currently changed, the new system would work something like this:
Rules could be suggested by medical personal (AFL medical body – club doctors, etc.), umpires, players and coaches.
They would then be assessed by the rules committee which would write the relevant law to ensure it fitted in with existing laws.
The rules would then be submitted to the AFLPA, AFLCA and clubs. If they passed a vote of 75% in all three, they are trialled in that year’s pre-season.
There is then a second vote and if they again pass by 75% they become law.
To be honest I would be happy to tweak the percentages (but would want to be a large majority) and perhaps add in the umpires and perhaps move the players or clubs to more of a veto system than a hard vote. Really the point is to have a system that removed the AFL from deciding rules and instead has it done by the medical staff, umpires (who must adjudicate these rules), players and clubs/coaches who are the true custodians of the game. If they think it is right, then it probably is – and won’t instead be knee jerk or for purely commercial reasons.
(controversy) Reduce the Length of the Season.
The who read the rule changes probably thought – hang on, isn’t that pretty much how the NFL does it – yes, it is based on their model. Today, as I watched the Pats and Steelers play in the NFL I had one of my yearly thoughts. Why is it that the AFL has very few meaningful regular season games?
Now I know that AFL fans will think it does but they rarely have huge consequences. Next year, at round 14, take a snapshot of the ladder and ask yourself, "if the finals started 3 weeks, what would the next 3 rounds of football have in store". I can tell you there will be matchups with consequences that have teams finishing from 1st to 6th, from 5th to 13th. The NFL, NBA, NHL and even European football (to a degree) have all manufactured this into their sports. The length of the season and structure mean that there are more important games where the consequences are huge (some people have already switched off as they think our game is wholly unique and that we shouldn’t take anything from foreign sports – which are both laughably incorrect and a touch ironic!)
I know there are football tragics who would play every week of the year (who coincidentally the ones that would have their club in a never ending rebuild – “play the kids” – but shortening the season would:
Something like three preseason games. Everyone plays each other once. Top 6 week one finals bye. 7th vs 10th and 8th vs 9th for the last two finals spots. Then a regular freaking bracket to get into finals with top teams havin the home ground advantage throughout!
I guess the first two will probably get some support, with the third getting shouted down. But they are what would happen if Scotty was King. What would you do….
Make home field advantage in the finals a fixed reward for finishing higher on the ladder. On top of this, the home team’s members would be able to buy a ticket plus one guest ticket 3 days before opposition members (one extra), followed by a 5-hour break to the general public. I don’t understand the AFL publics obsession with thinking that going to a game is somehow a right. Seeing your team play finals is a privilege, one earned by your team during the regular season. (I would let a team switch home grounds if they requested it, i.e. to fit more of their members in, e.g. a team moving from Etihad to MCG, but they would have to request it and the same ticketing rules would apply).
Rule Changes by Committee/Democracy.
I am not actually against rule changes. Sometimes they need to occur as the game changes, safety concerns are raised or even tactics change that introduce an element not desired. When this happens, the game may need rule tweaks. My problem is how the rules are currently changed, the new system would work something like this:
Rules could be suggested by medical personal (AFL medical body – club doctors, etc.), umpires, players and coaches.
They would then be assessed by the rules committee which would write the relevant law to ensure it fitted in with existing laws.
The rules would then be submitted to the AFLPA, AFLCA and clubs. If they passed a vote of 75% in all three, they are trialled in that year’s pre-season.
There is then a second vote and if they again pass by 75% they become law.
To be honest I would be happy to tweak the percentages (but would want to be a large majority) and perhaps add in the umpires and perhaps move the players or clubs to more of a veto system than a hard vote. Really the point is to have a system that removed the AFL from deciding rules and instead has it done by the medical staff, umpires (who must adjudicate these rules), players and clubs/coaches who are the true custodians of the game. If they think it is right, then it probably is – and won’t instead be knee jerk or for purely commercial reasons.
(controversy) Reduce the Length of the Season.
The who read the rule changes probably thought – hang on, isn’t that pretty much how the NFL does it – yes, it is based on their model. Today, as I watched the Pats and Steelers play in the NFL I had one of my yearly thoughts. Why is it that the AFL has very few meaningful regular season games?
Now I know that AFL fans will think it does but they rarely have huge consequences. Next year, at round 14, take a snapshot of the ladder and ask yourself, "if the finals started 3 weeks, what would the next 3 rounds of football have in store". I can tell you there will be matchups with consequences that have teams finishing from 1st to 6th, from 5th to 13th. The NFL, NBA, NHL and even European football (to a degree) have all manufactured this into their sports. The length of the season and structure mean that there are more important games where the consequences are huge (some people have already switched off as they think our game is wholly unique and that we shouldn’t take anything from foreign sports – which are both laughably incorrect and a touch ironic!)
I know there are football tragics who would play every week of the year (who coincidentally the ones that would have their club in a never ending rebuild – “play the kids” – but shortening the season would:
- Mean a fairer draw, each team playing each other once.
- Make for more fun head to head deciders - why have percentage be the next decider, why not head to head splits? Who cares who smashed X s**t team by the most? Having that win against the arch enemy means even more!
- There are more weekly permutations at the back end of the season.
- You get less late season garbage games as teams become disinterested, put players in for surgery, have injuries stack up, etc.
- There would be fewer injuries - between weeks 17 and 23 each year there are multiple teams that go from contenders to dead because the injuries pile up. More teams heading into the finals on a role is better.
- More is less. For one, I enjoy the offseason and its length, there are plenty of other things and I want football in winter running into spring.
Something like three preseason games. Everyone plays each other once. Top 6 week one finals bye. 7th vs 10th and 8th vs 9th for the last two finals spots. Then a regular freaking bracket to get into finals with top teams havin the home ground advantage throughout!
I guess the first two will probably get some support, with the third getting shouted down. But they are what would happen if Scotty was King. What would you do….
