Is this the worst season of AFL in many a long while?

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Consolaçao said:
For me, Adelaide’s win against Essendon in Melbourne after Draper cheated in the Adelaide leg was speeeecial. Loved it like i haven’t loved a win in a while.
For me, that was a genuine highlight in a bad year for AFC, though i accept these things will always be subjective.
For you, as a supporter of a team that won 2 games, i can understand highlights would be hard to find.
Do you think the fact your team had statistically the worst season since GWS in 2013 might be contributing to your view?
Click to expand...
No. I've seen every top contender this year get smashed at some stage.
The only finals game I'm interested in is Bulldogs V Hawthorn.
Port v Geelong will be a boring game won by Port.
Brisbane beat Carlton who don't deserve to be playing finals. Brisbane were rubbish at the start of the year.
Sydney v GWS shapes as 'who cares' game.
There's not many champion players in this final series like in years gone past.
Bont stands out but who is second? Heeny, Neale, Hogan, Weddle, T.Green?
 
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Aristotle Pickett said:
I still say this season sucks. This pre-finals bye just adds to the mediocrity of the season. At least play a game of some sort this round.
No great marks or goals this season apart from the N.Daicos goal.
No dominant team.
The best teams are imo Bulldogs and Hawthorn in 6th and 7th.
Click to expand...
The pre finals bye has been around since 2016. You should have been complaining about mediocrity much earlier
 

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BigVic said:
or worst a Hawthorn-GWS Grand Final will make it an anti-climactic finale to the season.
Click to expand...

The last 4 times these teams have met the margins have been 2, 13, 6 and 2.

Why on Earth, as a neutral, is that a nightmare of a Grand Final match up?

Both teams stack up extremely evenly.

Is it the Gold vs Orange visual?
 
For what originally looked like a certain Sydney premiership, we are now at the pointy end and it's actually a fantastic finals series on paper that's a lot more even now than what it looked like it was going to be a few months back.

Every team has something going for them and something against them right now.

Sydney, finished first but limped there at times, will they be able to hit peak form at the right time and not run into a team hitting peak form?

Port, just kept banking the wins and somehow finished second. Never reached a Grand Final under Hinkley, could this finally be their year?

Cats, won the flag only a couple of years ago, but have they got enough left in the tank with the players they have to pinch this one? Question marks over whether they are a true contender despite finishing third.

Giants, full of belief, got a rough assignment againt Sydney but don't need to travel. If they lift to a new level in the finals then look out.

Brisbane, last year's runner up. Started weakly then went on a great run of form to almost be top 4. Stumbled at the wrong time. With the right patch of form they could easily make it to the Grand Final again.

Doggies, so much talent, also has an massive run of good form. Beveridge has done it before. You wouldn't want to face them if they get past Hawthorn.

Hawthorn, belief has gotten them this far, how much further can they go? No one's giving them a chance and that could be what makes them most dangerous.

Carlton, finished on 13 wins and playing finals this week.
 
Aristotle Pickett said:
No. I've seen every top contender this year get smashed at some stage.
The only finals game I'm interested in is Bulldogs V Hawthorn.
Port v Geelong will be a boring game won by Port.
Brisbane beat Carlton who don't deserve to be playing finals. Brisbane were rubbish at the start of the year.
Sydney v GWS shapes as 'who cares' game.
There's not many champion players in this final series like in years gone past.
Bont stands out but who is second? Heeny, Neale, Hogan, Weddle, T.Green?
Click to expand...


A ‘who cares’ game because YOU don’t care.

That doesn’t mean other people don’t. How the f**k does that relate to the quality of the season?

You realise there are past seasons in which gun sides have been smashed right? Yeah ok Geelong didn’t win in 2008 but we were pretty bloody good and we got spanked by 15 goals by Collingwood.
In 2019 in the first 7 rounds Richmond had 3 losses by 7-8 goals.

Oh ok so that must have meant you were a shit side going into the finals based on your assessment of the current Brisbane side and their start to this year. Nevermind that midway through the same season you also lost 3 in a row by 33, 67 and 37. Literally by round 13 of one of your flag years you had suffered 6 heavy defeats 😂

In 2017 you copped 76 and 67 point defeats as well. Can’t have been much chop those years either, I guess.
 
Blackhawk42 said:
The last 4 times these teams have met the margins have been 2, 13, 6 and 2.

Why on Earth, as a neutral, is that a nightmare of a Grand Final match up?

Both teams stack up extremely evenly.

Is it the Gold vs Orange visual?
Click to expand...
Yep. The colour-blind and the fact that GWS' last GF appearance was an 89-point loss to Richmond then we know what happened the next year.
 
Blackhawk42 said:
I beg you to go and watch some games from the 90's on YouTube, like I've been doing lately when off work crook.

I grew up as a kid during that time and have always viewed it through rose-coloured glasses. However, you could insert 2 or 3 country footballers from 2024 into those games and you wouldn't even be able to tell the difference.

The game is of FAR better quality now than it was during that 'golden' era.
Click to expand...
There’s a Fitzroy vs Footscray game in 93 (can be seen on Kayo) where you could insert 25 country footballers from 2024 and there’d be no difference. Standard was junk compared to today and neither of those sides were awful that season (both won 10-11 games).

Also a large amount of battlers getting around for the Dogs, Saints, Crows etc over 97-98 and they were teams that went deep over those years.
 
The worst season in recent times has to be 2019 right?

  • Best team won in a blowout grand final.
  • Worst team finished last.
  • Not a compelling top 8 race.
  • Only two close finals and only one of a decent standard (GWS beating Brisbane).
  • Unamazing Brownlow winner came from the 13th-placed team
  • There were 5 coach changes but 3 of them have already been sacked (Teague, Shaw, Ratten) and the other two are Longmuir and Nicks so a good chance that nothing of consequence happened with a club appointing their next Premiership coach
  • Trades and player movement all made largely redundant short term by the covid season the following year
  • Nine of the top 10 picks in the draft were made by non-Victorian clubs, and today only one of the top 12 picks in that draft plays for a Victorian club

The only noteworthy or somewhat remarkable things that happened were Marlion Pickett making his debut in the grand final and Dustin Martin winning the Norm Smith Medal. But both those things happened in one of the worst grand finals of the 21st century/AFL era.
 
Aristotle Pickett said:
Sydney v GWS shapes as 'who cares' game.
Click to expand...
How so?

Game quickly sold out, ratings will be decent, it’s a hard one to pick, and plus it’s a local derby, which hasn’t happened much in finals*. And you certainly don’t have to be a local to enjoy that when it happens.

Mate your postings on the politics threads are so much better argued than this codswallop.

*Just looked it up, and this will only be the fifth local derby final in AFL history.
 
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Outtatym said:
The pre finals bye has been around since 2016. You should have been complaining about mediocrity much earlier
Click to expand...
Pre-season bye only added to the special seasons of 2017, 2019 and 2020 according to Aristotle Pickett
 

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Consolaçao said:
For me, Adelaide’s win against Essendon in Melbourne after Draper cheated in the Adelaide leg was speeeecial. Loved it like i haven’t loved a win in a while.
For me, that was a genuine highlight in a bad year for AFC, though i accept these things will always be subjective.
For you, as a supporter of a team that won 2 games, i can understand highlights would be hard to find.
Do you think the fact your team had statistically the worst season since GWS in 2013 might be contributing to your view?
Click to expand...
Lol. How did he cheat?
 
Aristotle Pickett said:
What are the highlights of this steller season then?
Click to expand...
I wouldn't even judge a footy season by its "highlights", even though there were plenty in 2024

This season was incredibly entertaining because of it's unpredictability and just the overwhelming number of thrilling games every weekend. I can't remember another season like it. That to me, is the single biggest plus that a game (and a season) of footy can have... Turning up or tuning into a game and not having a clue who is actually going to win.

Gameplans that leaned on methodical, slow build-up, possession footy were not particularly effective. The teams who did well were those who took risks and played fast attacking footy. Excellent.

Most of the AFL pundits and jaded ex-player/commentators had similar things to say. Just about everyone it seems loved the 2024 H&A season. Everyone that is, except for the fans whose teams lost the plot and played shit footy. Funny that... 🤣





Were you even watching the games that didn't involve the lowly Tigers? Judging by their poor crowds, it appeared as though most Richmond fans had checked out very early on in the season. My guess is most of them probably didn't bother watching the footy in 2024.

I have a few Richmond mates and NONE of them watched much footy this year - not Richmond, nor many of the other "neutral" games. Anytime I tried talking to them about the AFL, it was met with negativity, complaints and cynicism. With them also telling me how AFL footy is shit and how the "NRL is better" 🤣 looooool

The thing is, I can totally relate... I also thought AFL footy sucked when the Hawks slid down the ladder in Clarkson's final 3 or 4 years. We went from winning premierships and embarrassing the opposition with our incredible skills & talent to playing the most awful, dour, defensive footy.

Perfectly dry, sunny, mid-winter arvos at the MCG with a typical 3/4 time score of 4.7 (31) to 8.10 (58)... BORING!!! Clarko was basically using smoke and mirrors to prevent a 10 goal thrashing (before the opposition would inevitably blow the game wide open with a 5 goal blitz.)

We somehow dodged the wooden spoon. We only finished in the bottom 4 once - the 2020 Covid year. (We also finished 16th last year with Mitchell as coach, but it was a promising 7-win rebuild season from the kids.) But we may as well have been classed as cellar dwellers under Clarko. We were a bad team full of ageing premiership players who were well past their use-by date, with a bunch of try-hard journeyman rejects from other clubs

It's hard to be interested in the AFL when your team scales the mountaintop, stays perched there for 6 or 7 years, but then disintegrates into a struggling, shitty team.

Richmond fans always prided themselves on their passion and loyalty, even in the bad times. But this season has proved (with a few recent flags under their belt) that their fans are just the same as everyone else. No different.



tl;dr... suck it up, Tigers fans... AFL footy isn't shit... Richmond are shit...
 
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Back One Out said:
I wouldn't even judge a footy season by its "highlights", even though there were plenty in 2024

This season was incredibly entertaining because of it's unpredictability and just the overwhelming number of thrilling games every weekend. I can't remember another season like it. That to me, is the single biggest plus that a game (and a season) of footy can have... Turning up or tuning into a game and not having a clue who is actually going to win.

Gameplans that leaned on methodical, slow build-up, possession footy were not particularly effective. The teams who did well were those who took risks and played fast attacking footy. Excellent.

Most of the AFL pundits and jaded ex-player/commentators had similar things to say. Just about everyone it seems loved the 2024 H&A season. Everyone that is, except for the fans whose teams lost the plot and played shit footy. Funny that... 🤣





Were you even watching the games that didn't involve the lowly Tigers? Judging by their poor crowds, it appeared as though most Richmond fans had checked out very early on in the season. My guess is most of them probably didn't bother watching the footy in 2024.

I have a few Richmond mates and NONE of them watched much footy this year - not Richmond, nor many of the other "neutral" games. Anytime I tried talking to them about the AFL, it was met with negativity, complaints and cynicism. With them also telling me how AFL footy is shit and how the "NRL is better" 🤣 looooool

The thing is, I can totally relate... I also thought AFL footy sucked when the Hawks slid down the ladder in Clarkson's final 3 or 4 years. We went from winning premierships and embarrassing the opposition with our incredible skills & talent to playing the most awful, dour, defensive footy.

Perfectly dry, sunny, mid-winter arvos at the MCG with a typical 3/4 time score of 4.7 (31) to 8.10 (58)... BORING!!! Clarko was basically using smoke and mirrors to prevent a 10 goal thrashing (before the opposition would inevitably blow the game wide open with a 5 goal blitz.)

We somehow dodged the wooden spoon. We only finished in the bottom 4 once - the 2020 Covid year. (We also finished 16th last year with Mitchell as coach, but it was a promising 7-win rebuild season from the kids.) But we may as well have been classed as cellar dwellers under Clarko. We were a bad team full of ageing premiership players who were well past their use-by date, with a bunch of try-hard journeyman rejects from other clubs

It's hard to be interested in the AFL when your team scales the mountaintop, stays perched there for 6 or 7 years, but then disintegrates into a struggling, shitty team.

Richmond fans always prided themselves on their passion and loyalty, even in the bad times. But this season has proved (with a few recent flags under their belt) that their fans are just the same as everyone else. No different.



tl;dr... suck it up, Tigers fans... AFL footy isn't shit... Richmond are shit...
Click to expand...

Oh but they can beat it like it owes them money because they turned up to watch Martin’s 300th 😂😂

While I do find that impressive in its own way it’s almost even worse. Watching an individual en masse and then abandoning the rest of the team week after week.
 
Aristotle Pickett said:
Not sure if it's just me but this season has been average in my opinion.
Not that many great marks or goals, not many high quality games. No real superstars apart from Bontompelli and Curnow .
Sydney seem to have a superior list to everyone else but they don't play an attractive brand.
Most of the teams in the top 8 are just ok teams.
Click to expand...
It’s just you, but get used to it.
 
Back One Out said:
I wouldn't even judge a footy season by its "highlights", even though there were plenty in 2024

This season was incredibly entertaining because of it's unpredictability and just the overwhelming number of thrilling games every weekend. I can't remember another season like it. That to me, is the single biggest plus that a game (and a season) of footy can have... Turning up or tuning into a game and not having a clue who is actually going to win.

Gameplans that leaned on methodical, slow build-up, possession footy were not particularly effective. The teams who did well were those who took risks and played fast attacking footy. Excellent.

Most of the AFL pundits and jaded ex-player/commentators had similar things to say. Just about everyone it seems loved the 2024 H&A season. Everyone that is, except for the fans whose teams lost the plot and played shit footy. Funny that... 🤣





Were you even watching the games that didn't involve the lowly Tigers? Judging by their poor crowds, it appeared as though most Richmond fans had checked out very early on in the season. My guess is most of them probably didn't bother watching the footy in 2024.

I have a few Richmond mates and NONE of them watched much footy this year - not Richmond, nor many of the other "neutral" games. Anytime I tried talking to them about the AFL, it was met with negativity, complaints and cynicism. With them also telling me how AFL footy is shit and how the "NRL is better" 🤣 looooool

The thing is, I can totally relate... I also thought AFL footy sucked when the Hawks slid down the ladder in Clarkson's final 3 or 4 years. We went from winning premierships and embarrassing the opposition with our incredible skills & talent to playing the most awful, dour, defensive footy.

Perfectly dry, sunny, mid-winter arvos at the MCG with a typical 3/4 time score of 4.7 (31) to 8.10 (58)... BORING!!! Clarko was basically using smoke and mirrors to prevent a 10 goal thrashing (before the opposition would inevitably blow the game wide open with a 5 goal blitz.)

We somehow dodged the wooden spoon. We only finished in the bottom 4 once - the 2020 Covid year. (We also finished 16th last year with Mitchell as coach, but it was a promising 7-win rebuild season from the kids.) But we may as well have been classed as cellar dwellers under Clarko. We were a bad team full of ageing premiership players who were well past their use-by date, with a bunch of try-hard journeyman rejects from other clubs

It's hard to be interested in the AFL when your team scales the mountaintop, stays perched there for 6 or 7 years, but then disintegrates into a struggling, shitty team.

Richmond fans always prided themselves on their passion and loyalty, even in the bad times. But this season has proved (with a few recent flags under their belt) that their fans are just the same as everyone else. No different.



tl;dr... suck it up, Tigers fans... AFL footy isn't shit... Richmond are shit...
Click to expand...
100%

As disappointing as my team has been, the Hawks have been great to watch.

They are indeed, IMHO the highlight of the season.
 
TP86 said:
The worst season in recent times has to be 2019 right?

  • Best team won in a blowout grand final.
  • Worst team finished last.
  • Not a compelling top 8 race.
  • Only two close finals and only one of a decent standard (GWS beating Brisbane).
  • Unamazing Brownlow winner came from the 13th-placed team
  • There were 5 coach changes but 3 of them have already been sacked (Teague, Shaw, Ratten) and the other two are Longmuir and Nicks so a good chance that nothing of consequence happened with a club appointing their next Premiership coach
  • Trades and player movement all made largely redundant short term by the covid season the following year
  • Nine of the top 10 picks in the draft were made by non-Victorian clubs, and today only one of the top 12 picks in that draft plays for a Victorian club

The only noteworthy or somewhat remarkable things that happened were Marlion Pickett making his debut in the grand final and Dustin Martin winning the Norm Smith Medal. But both those things happened in one of the worst grand finals of the 21st century/AFL era.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what you mean by not a compelling top 8 race, it was super even and everyone was pumping up the Giants before the Grand Final.. then they didn't show up.
 

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Is this the worst season of AFL in many a long while?

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