The Health of Australian Rules Football Across the Land

[kymhodgemansmo]

Many of us rate the strength of our game by the widespread success of the AFL.

But what of local footy, those of us who have become just everyday footballers kidding ourselves having a kick on the weekend.

Is the game healthy, is it nurturing people to love the game or are the Junior Squads, the VSFL, alienating many young kids from footy if they are not up to the top grade.

Having played int he Under 18 comp myself I still play the game, but there are many that quit because they weren't cut out to make it to the top.

What is the state of play in your area with regard to grassroots footy???

 

[CURVE]

The ACTAFL is supposed to be one of the stronger local comps in the Australia, definitely in NSW, but gets no TV airtime whats so ever. The last story I heard regarding the ACTAFL was Ross Smith being appointed Ainslie coach (1997).
The Swans get the monoploy of aussie rules airtime in Canberra and it sucks...f***in sucks

Kill the Swans
Carn the Roos

Are We Not Men
We are DEVO


DEVO

 

[Bloodstained Angel]

The SFL (or AFL Sydney I think it is called these days) remains easily the nations worst local competition.

However there is cause for optimism because the local league has gone through some big changes over the last few years and is well on the way to catching up with the rest.

1) Local powerhouse club Campbelltown has come back to the SFL after a brief sojourn in the ACTFL, they originally left because the SFL was too easy for them and they couldn't get any decent opposition ?

2) East Sydney have allied themselves with the University of NSW team to form the East Sydney-UNSW Bulldogs. Hasn't made much of a difference though, they are still hopeless !

3) The Swans Reserves now play in the SFL. Much like the Lions do in Brisbane. To even it up a little the Swans play a man short - but still win by 20+ goals.

4) North Sydney are now the North Sydney Bombers, have formed a strategic alliance with Essendon, wear the Essendon strip and now play their home games at the beautiful, famous and conveniently located North Sydney Oval. - With the change of home ground and the resources of Essendon behind them, the new look North Sydney is a huge fillip to the game on the Lower North Shore.

5) Same thing has happened with two other old Sydney clubs. Saint George has cuddled up to the Adelaide Crows and Balmain have got into bed with WCE and changed their name to the Esat Coast Eagles !

6) I also believe that Campbelltown is getting closer and closer to the Kangaroos every day. When (and of course if) the big re-location comes, Roos reserves maybe running around for Campbelltown, and using the great facilities at Monarch Field as a training base. But that is purely conjecture at this stage.

So the SFL is finally starting to get its act together. Strategic alliances with big southern clubs is good because the Sydney club benefits from expertise and resources, the sonsoring club benefits by having a whole new source of recruitment open up to them.

So thats the sate of play with regard to the SFL. As to the general health of the code here in Sydney - hmmmm maybe I'll leave that for now, this post is already quite long enough !

Do have lots to say about that too - but not here.

cheers

 

[croode]

BSA,

Good on the local Sydney comp and the clubs for being progressive and attempting to build up their profile and hopefully standard of their competition.

But what I think is of far more interest is the standard of junior footy in Sydney and it's environs. Despite the Swan's presence for what 20 years now, it dosen't appear to produce quality AFL standard players. At least Brisbane has contributed to the player pool regularly incl 1st pick plus 4 others in the recent national draft.

So, do you know how junior footy has progressed in Sydney in the time the Swans have been there? Despite the recent talk about the sucess of the Swan and their future being secure, I believe the success of the Sydney venture should be measured by a proportionate contributin to the player pool.

Croode

 

[BUBBALOUIS]

I think one of the biggest concerns for AFL is in its heartland in Victoria, this may sound sexist but a major problem is the lack of male teachers in primary schools, female teachers dont seem to have the same passion and find it easier to promote Basketball, Netball and other sports. AFL players seem to also be asking for alot of money to make guest appearances at schools whereas other sports such as the Melbourne Storm are happy to attend. I know Waverley is a dead duck issue but that has not helped development in the crucial SouthEast corridor of Victoria (bigger population than Adelaide, we have Optus,Colonial,MCG and Kardinia Park all on the other side of town!

 

[Darky]

Originally posted by Bloodstained Angel:
The SFL (or AFL Sydney I think it is called these days) remains easily the nations worst local competition.

I'm looking for a club BSA. Any SFL club looking for a fat forward pocket with abysmal fitness, a reluctance to run and a complete inability to jump?



------------------
Other bands play, Manowar KILL !!!!!!!!!

 

[Bloodstained Angel]

Thanks Coode

Its a pretty good situation actually.

Australian Rules is now played in twice as many schools as 5 years ago.

The Auskick program is also an outstanding success, numbers of registered players has doubled every year for the last 3 years.

A special kind of game, played on a rectangular field with 15 players a side has been very successful in schools that don't have a suitable oval to play on.

There are now more registered Australian Rules players (at all levels) in NSW than there are Rugby Union and Rugby League players put together.

Progress has been very impressive in most areas of junior development. BUT massive hurdles remain.

Just like 100 years ago, the biggest impediment to the widespread adoption of the code remains the steadfast refusal of the top Colleges and High Schools to put the code on their sports curriculum. These elite schools are still staunchly Rugby and seem to remain so for the forseeable future.

for sombody who doesn't live here, its hard to convey to you the depth of malice and paranoia felt by the Rugby people towards us Aussie Rules types. To them, we are the deadly enemy to be resisted and fought against at every turn.

So its hard - but progress has been impressive - and there is still a long, LONG way to go.

If we keep going like we are, you will certainly see more players from NSW make their way into AFL ranks, but again I stress its a long, hard slog.

cheers

 

[Sydneyfan]

Originally posted by Darky:
I'm looking for a club BSA. Any SFL club looking for a fat forward pocket with abysmal fitness, a reluctance to run and a complete inability to jump?

Probably any club in Sydney will take anyone whose keen enough to have a go. There's 9 (I think) Sydney AFL clubs and a further 8 or so clubs in the Sydney Football Association, which is a lower standard than the Sydney AFL.
Probably the best team to try out for is the team closest to you and if they don't give you a go, go for the next closest. Most clubs have at least 3 teams a Seniors, Reserves and Colts.

 

[Bloodstained Angel]

Darky - you're perfectly qualified for a great career in the SFL

 

[Dan26]

Australian Rules Football will always be healthy.

it is a great spectacle, and has natural advantages over most other sports, purely in terms of the spectacle, itself.


One thing I have noted, is that when Australian Football expands into a new twrritory, the crowds ALWAYS follow. Even last year, 15,000 saw Melbourne vs Sydney (I think it was Sydney) in Auckland.

The Sydney Swans crowds have always been very good. Even when they were gettign wooden spoons, and the crowds were low, this was to be expected. Whi would want to watch a team who hasn't won a game ! The crowds were always similar to Rugby crowds, and thses days the Swans have had to cap their membership !

Brisbane is a similar story, with crowds bigger than the Broncos.

Aussie Rules will always be healthy in relative terms because there is no other sport in the country which can match the spectacle. It's great to see the growth in NSW, but as BSA pointed out, the gutless atitude of high schools, regarding putting the sport on the curiculum is frustrating.

 

[Mags]

Darky Im Pretty Sure Hawkesbury Will Take Ya! They have alot of ppl that sound like u!

Even in the junior leagues! They have good player stuff out that way too!

 

[Bloodstained Angel]

Just a clarification on those NZ games Dan24

The game you had in mind was actually the 1998 Ansett Cup fixture between Sydney and Melbourne and it was in Wellington, not Auckland. Game was held at the Basin Reserve which is a small, but picturesque Cricket Oval in downtown Wellington. That crowd figure is right however and it was a great roll-up for a small ground that could hold about 20,000 max.

Last year Western Bulldogs played Hawthorn, again in Wellington but this time at the Big, Brand spanking new Westpac Trust Stadium.

23,000 showed up (about 55% capacity) and this was an OUTSTANDING result, given it was freezing cold with driving rain and these two clubs are virtually unheard of in NZ.

I agree - the crowds will come, rain hail or shine just to see the spectacle. During the 92-94 horror years at the Swans, our crowds were still 9000-15000's worth, pretty bloody good considering we won 6 out of 66 in those years and still comfortably ahead of an average Rugby League attendance.

cheers

 

[kymhodgemansmo]

Dan 24,

That is not the big picture though.

The big picture is at grassroots level, where sides seem to be folding, merging or whatever as time goes on.

This doesn;t augur well for football because it can alienate people from the game.

You need a foundation to build on and so much emphasis is placed on AFL football, that when someone doesn't make it, they are often lost to the game forever.

A 16-18 year old kid that goes throught the VSFL program will often give the game away, there is no path for them if they aint up to AFL standard and it is almost suggested that if you can't play AFL, why play.

We need kids to have local role models as much as we need them to have idols at AFL level.

They need to be able to have a kick with adults who they look at as being heroes, like I did in Country Victoria as a kid.

AFL is not the be all and end all, we need to do something to keep people playing the game and encouraging kids to play the game.

I dont believe this happens in the manner it should

 

[James2]

Too true Devo.

What is paticularly frustrating, is listening to the local journos describe a game.

"KICK OFF is at 2.30."

As for the Swans; there is this perception, that people in Canberra will support the Swans. This is wrong. To assume that people in Canberra will support the Swans, because there the "local" team, is arrogant and misleading.

In conclusion,

I don't want to watch a Swans game, when there is a better game that could be broadcast.

I don't want to receive another Swans membership form, with the family name spelt incorrectly!

Cheers.

------------------
"Be not afraid of greatness."
Shakespeare, Twelfth Night.

[This message has been edited by James2 (edited 12 January 2001).]

 

[James2]

As for the health of the game, I heard someone say recently, that junior football is now just an assembly line for the AFL.

The AFL take all the good young footballers, without compensating the local clubs for the loss.

To sum up:

"Why should people contribute to the grass roots, to the foundations of the game, when everything's directed at the top end?"


------------------
"Be not afraid of greatness."
Shakespeare, Twelfth Night.

[This message has been edited by James2 (edited 12 January 2001).]

 

[kymhodgemansmo]

So you purport to pouring money in the top end and completely neglecting local football, which is the foundation of all football.

I dont quite understand your angle James2.

 

[James2]

I used the quote, because I believe it sums up what is occuring in junior football.

I don't support injecting millions into the elite whilst neglecting local football.

I believe that my intial post may not have been that clear.

Cheers.

------------------
"Be not afraid of greatness."
Shakespeare, Twelfth Night.

 

[Daphne]

We have a small business and have been approached by one of the Eastern suburbs teams to sponsor a player he is seventeen and the (cant remember if it is $150 or $200) money we give him buys his jumper and shorts etc for the season, wish I had known about this before as it not a bad way to help out with the future of Aussie rules up and coming, I think it is a tax deduction but who cares, if he turns out to be an AFL player which he says he wants then it will be good to know that we helped just a little bit, it will be even better if he plays for the Roos.

 

[Port Adelaide 1870]

Originally posted by BUBBALOUIS:
I think one of the biggest concerns for AFL is in its heartland in Victoria, this may sound sexist but a major problem is the lack of male teachers in primary schools, female teachers dont seem to have the same passion and find it easier to promote Basketball, Netball and other sports. AFL players seem to also be asking for alot of money to make guest appearances at schools whereas other sports such as the Melbourne Storm are happy to attend. I know Waverley is a dead duck issue but that has not helped development in the crucial SouthEast corridor of Victoria (bigger population than Adelaide, we have Optus,Colonial,MCG and Kardinia Park all on the other side of town!

Bubba,

Humour me....What is the population of the 'South East corridor ' ?

Interested..PA1870

 

[BUBBALOUIS]

PA1870, I was wondering how long it would take for someone to ask me that! Ddepends on your definition of SE Corridor i suppose, 1.5 million would be my guess, before you have a go at me yes its only a guess!

 

[Peter P]

At the risk of sounding like a nut I've been hounding the AFL for the last few years on the topic of junior and grass roots footy.

I have three main points:

The game is the biggest team ball sport in the world. Vast field, multitudes in each guernsey, amazing feats and long kicks etc etc. That's its attraction but also its Achilles heel. Footy desperately needs an offical respected and widely played mini-version.
9-a-side has been around for 10 years, it fits neatly onto any soccer or Rugby or Gridiron field and could be a model for internationalising the game. But more urgently it should be the version played by primary kids for the first few years:
*can get enough classmates for a team
*the coach can see them all
*the umpire can see who's got the ball
*the kids get twice the footy for the time
*the play is more open (zoned) and forces teamwork - only 3 forwards can score.
*parents can transport team in 3 vehicles
*parents can see their darling getting more of the footy..and they can see him instead of looking for him in the roving muddy pack.
*rules are modified tackling.
..the 'soccer or basketball is safer and easier to organise' would no longer hold.

Second...sorry I know I'll get flack...but the game needs to further soften the rough aspect. It's OK on a big AFL salary with all medical costs paid to be on crutches or nursing ribs, shoulder, head.....but no longer so for many amateur and semi-pro players who have livelihoods to protect and on whom the whole structure of the AFL stands. The AFL has cut concussion rates by strict policing of the "too high" rule. They need to go further with the charging rule and make it the same as in Gaelic or International Rules...ie tough hip and shoulder is fine but ONLY between two players both going for the ball and ONLY shoulder to shoulder..ie no shirtfronts. No Troy Simmonds coming within millimetres of a wheelchair before the sickened eyes of millions of Australians including lots of parents of potential AFL stars. By making this rule clearer the thug "take em out" element could no longer be disguised as "fair play" - which counts for a lot on a suburban, school or country oval with no video cameras.

Thirdly the TV coverage of AFL should have lots more segments like the Footy Show has about local teams and all AFL players should have their previous teams highlighted in their stats...reinforcing that Australian Football is a nationwide community game of which the AFL is an important and elite part..not the only part.

If you've got through all this, thanks and give it some thought. If you've got primary kids who can't get a game cause they and their mates fall short of team numbers..so the 10 of them play soccer or basketball instead...then talk to your local school and AFL development officers about organsing a 9's comp. for them. It'll be more fun to watch them play too.

 

[Ms.Storm]

Rugby Union and League and even soccer are far better games than AFL (DON'T JUMP DOWN MY THROAT i USED TO SUPORT afl)

Why can't you enjoy all codes for the good things they bring to sport.

As for those figure in Sydney in the early days, I went to a few afl games there, and they were giving away tickets, then stating they got 9,000 people there. Blind Harry could see that barely 4,000 attended.

As for NZ first time is a novelty for all to behold and you will usually get good crowds in that instance.
NZ's love their Union and will NEVER SWITCH TO AFL - AT LEAST YOU CAN PLAY IT INTERNATIONALLY.

 

[Jethro Q Walrustitty]

Originally posted by Ms.Storm:
Why can't you enjoy all codes for the good things they bring to sport.

Because they're so freakin' boring compared to Australian Football. Why would we want to settle for (distant) second best?