Opinion Is the game dead?

[rumply]

Have the combined efforts of overly defensive coaches & a meddling AFL killed the game as we know it? Boring as hell games for 3 quarters until the shackles are thrown off for a last quarter mad rush to victory is getting old real quick.

67, 63, 76, 66, 58, 44, 31, 71, 55 - the majority if scores kicked so far this weekend in mostly fine football weather. This nonsense cannot continue.

 

[eaglespremiers]

Cue the inevitable 80s and 90s comparisons.

 

[Checkered]

You're so right my dude great hypothesis

 

[raskolnikov]

No score with 5 minutes gone in the Melbourne Carlton game.

 

[Duskfire]

We complain about the AFL but really the fault is with the coaches. There’s just no incentive anymore to play fast attacking football because rebounds are too punishing. Bulldogs and Richmond showed that high pressure trumps skill in a lot of cases, and Eagles played a very deliberate high kick game.

 

[NaturalDisaster]

I think it could be to do with the amount of wildly inconsistent teams as well.

Dogs
Port
Freo

Etc

Too many teams that play like a bottom four side one week, contenders the next..

More often than not, in every game there’s one team that plays well than another that plays dogshit.

When was the last time we had a game where both teams played genuinely well for four quarters?

 

[Cmarsh]

No score with 5 minutes gone in the Melbourne Carlton game.

Quick, someone make a thread about it.

 

[iBeng]

Games evolve, this period will change as well.

Its what makes the game interesting.

 

[Sedat!]

It's not dead, it is just being run by morons. The game is so easy to fix and it doesn't need a competition committee.

1. Get rid of prior opp - all the congestion, stoppage and low scoring problems have evolved from this crap rule about 20 years ago. Why should a player have a god given right to just hatch it because he got to the ball first?

2. Get rid of ruck nominations - it wastes time and creates additional numbers around the ball. Umps should just throw it up immediately there is a ball up.

3. Reduce rotations down to 10 per qtr. Tired legs will promote more positional play.

4. Last possession out of bounds is a free to the opposition. Make the rule black and white. It will promote corridor footy and less throw ins will reduce stoppages and congestion.

Constant ball movement is the key. Remove all obstacles that allow coaches to block the game up and slow it down.

On SM-G930F using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Duskfire]

I think it could be to do with the amount of wildly inconsistent teams as well.

Dogs
Port
Freo

Etc

Too many teams that play like a bottom four side one week, contenders the next..

More often than not, in every game there’s one team that plays well than another that plays *******.

When was the last time we had a game where both teams played genuinely well for four quarters?

I thought the Brisbane/Port game was quite good in the regard. It’s just so hard now because coaches are more interested in applying pressure and limiting score then playing well for the whole game. It’s so common now for a team to get out far ahead and just play conservative after that.

 

[Benny78]

The state of our game!

 

[mxett]

We complain about the AFL but really the fault is with the coaches. There’s just no incentive anymore to play fast attacking football because rebounds are too punishing. Bulldogs and Richmond showed that high pressure trumps skill in a lot of cases, and Eagles played a very deliberate high kick game.

Absolutely. The AFL can't be blamed for these low scoring slogs in perfect conditions. The AFL want exciting, high scoring, fast paced games. The coaches, on the other hand, only want to eke out a win no matter how low the score. They have absolutely no regard for the way the game looks. Every effort the AFL has made to free up play and increase scoring has been met by more and more defensive tactics. There is just no incentive to score, only to win. I think we are now approaching a time where the AFL may need to incentivise scoring, such as a bonus point. I literally cannot bare watching sides slowly kick their way through defensive zones, then kick backward rather than forwards, then switch across the ground, then stop and do it all again.

 

[mxett]

Games evolve, this period will change as well.

Its what makes the game interesting.

you could say that about every sport. Yet games like cricket and basketball have required significant rule changes to keep the balance between offense and defense. Left to evolve on their own defensive tactics begin to ruin the spectacle.

 

[NaturalDisaster]

Absolutely. The AFL can't be blamed for these low scoring slogs in perfect conditions. The AFL want exciting, high scoring, fast paced games. The coaches, on the other hand, only want to eke out a win no matter how low the score. They have absolutely no regard for the way the game looks. Every effort the AFL has made to free up play and increase scoring has been met by more and more defensive tactics. There is just no incentive to score, only to win. I think we are now approaching a time where the AFL may need to incentivise scoring, such as a bonus point. I literally cannot bare watching sides slowly kick their way through defensive zones, then kick backward rather than forwards, then switch across the ground, then stop and do it all again.

The coaches have never cared about how it looks though.

Let’s be honest, they aren’t there to entertain fans, they are there to get the best out of their team and put them in the best possible position to win games.

 

[rumply]

The idea of some level of bonus for scoring has never appealed but what is the alternative? The coaches are too smart for HQ & will simply work around any changes to interchange etc.

We seem to be getting backed into the 'there needs to be an incentive (other than to win the ******* game) to score' corner.

 

[Jibroni]

It's not dead, it is just being run by morons. The game is so easy to fix and it doesn't need a competition committee.

1. Get rid of prior opp - all the congestion, stoppage and low scoring problems have evolved from this crap rule about 20 years ago. Why should a player have a god given right to just hatch it because he got to the ball first?

2. Get rid of ruck nominations - it wastes time and creates additional numbers around the ball. Umps should just throw it up immediately there is a ball up.

3. Reduce rotations down to 10 per qtr. Tired legs will promote more positional play.

4. Last possession out of bounds is a free to the opposition. Make the rule black and white. It will promote corridor footy and less throw ins will reduce stoppages and congestion.

Constant ball movement is the key. Remove all obstacles that allow coaches to block the game up and slow it down.

On SM-G930F using BigFooty.com mobile app

I think your option 3 and having only 10 rotations a quarter will drag the game down further.; if players tire quickly the skills will follow suit. Drop the total rotations to about 70 per team would be reasonable.

I agree with option 4, works great in the SANFL.

 

[mxett]

The coaches have never cared about how it looks though.

Let’s be honest, they aren’t there to entertain fans, they are there to get the best out of their team and put them in the best possible position to win games.

I can undertand that it isnt their job to make the game attractive. That is the responsibility of the custodians of the game, the AFL. Yet every time the AFL attempt to counter the defensive style smothering our game the fans say "leave it alone".

Fitness levels, almost endless rotations, and a failure to regulate player positioning on the ground has resulted in a congested mess in basically every game. The game has de-volved alarmingly, and it isnt going to correct itself unless there are some significant changes forced on coaches so defense and pressure isnt their first and second priority.

 

[Rabman]

Freedom of the game has become its greatest Achilles hill. At stages watching the showdown yesterday every player was in the defensive 50. The amount of congestion in the game has gone overboard.

 

[The 747]

No need for a rule change, just enforce incorrect disposal. You have to get rid of the ball by hand or by foot or it is a free kick. Only if the opposition player knocks the ball out of your hands it is play on.

 

[mxett]

The idea of some level of bonus for scoring has never appealed but what is the alternative? The coaches are too smart for HQ & will simply work around any changes to interchange etc.

We seem to be getting backed into the 'there needs to be an incentive (other than to win the ******* game) to score' corner.

listening to DOn Pike talk about the reaction to the recent 6 6 6 and kick out changes shows how far the coaches will go to control scoring against them. He basically said they introduced even more defensive tactics this year because they felt scoring would be easier. No matter what the AFL do the coaches will work a way to shut it down. Time to lift the value of scoring rather than trying to make it easier.

 

[mxett]

Freedom of the game has become its greatest Achilles hill. At stages watching the showdown yesterday every player was in the defensive 50. The amount of congestion in the game has gone overboard.

Agree. Aussie rules is unique in that there is no off-side rule or similar to dictate where players can go. While this was fantastic in the past the coaches have now used this to their advantage to clog the game up and create turnovers. Even the best most skillful sides are now made to look bog average because there just isnt enough time or space to hit a target. Turnover city or ultra-conservative short-passing like Hawthorn are basically the only two styles we see now.

 

[iBeng]

you could say that about every sport. Yet games like cricket and basketball have required significant rule changes to keep the balance between offense and defense. Left to evolve on their own defensive tactics begin to ruin the spectacle.

Which is why the AFL adjusts rules and then people scream, shout and whinge about how they keep changing the game too much.

They literally cannot please everyone.

 

[Heater39]

The players are so fit now, 18 on the field is too many. I’d like to see it reduced to 16, not that I think it will ever happen...

 

[V_23]

Remove percentage and make 'points for' the tie-breaker.

 

[Zarrix]

This round has been a new low. Where facepalms and cursing at turnovers have become the norm for neutral games.

Lower interchanges seems to be the best way to combat this, or even the introduction of a subs bench (allow 10 changes per game) seem like the best way forward. But it wont solve everything.

Bonus points on a nominal score basis are impossible to implement unless we put rooves on all our stadiums because this disadvantages teams that play more games in wet weather. But even so, teams with less ability would still implement ultra defensive tactics to get the base win.

Our great game is suffering a bit of an existential crisis right now.