Analysis How the state of the game has evolved, is the increased rate of injuries a result of of the evolution

[Gizza]

Maybe but if you cull the interchange you will get more one on one match ups as coaches won’t kick a winning score if they implement a flood tactic plus the reason why the 07 cats were so dominant was because they were the first team who broke through the flood with their tsunami type football and it was great to watch. The best part was they kept a full forward roaming the forward 50 the whole time. It’s a shame that the game has lost the greatest position in football due to this rolling maul



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The average number of interchanges in 07 is about what they've now already capped it to though. So surely by your own argument, if interchanges are the problem, it should already be resolving itself.

 

[JohnnyFontane90]

To me, trying to improve the game by inducing more fatigue by reducing rotations is the dumbest thing i've ever heard

 

[shaqsuns]

The average number of interchanges in 07 is about what they've now already capped it to though. So surely by your own argument, if interchanges are the problem, it should already be resolving itself.

It was around 50 in 07. it wasn’t until Collingwood tried it against Geelong in round 8 2008 and won by 80 points that clubs started using it to set up their defensive zones.


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[kickazz]

To me, trying to improve the game by inducing more fatigue by reducing rotations is the dumbest thing i've ever heard

Why is that?

Some of the most entertaining footy is near the end of close games, often when players are tired and can't run as much

 

[Macpotata]

Just think. One day you too will be "old". The game you like so much now will have changed to the point you don't really like it as much as you used to. You continue to watch because it's difficult to change the habits of a lifetime.

You will begin to reflect on how the game isn't as good as it used to be when you were younger, simply because you don't enjoy it as much. If you dare to make any comment along those lines, some young smartarse will remind you of the fact you're an old fart and therefore not entitled to an opinion. You will certainly not be allowed the luxury of thinking the likes of Buddy Franklin or Dustin Martin were as good, if not better than any of the stars of the day.

You will be annoyed by the comment "the game has never been better" when you know in your heart that's rubbish, and something they say to help selling an ailing product to new markets.

And don't fool yourself by thinking it won't happen to you. I most certainly will.

Good post. As still reasonably young, I've witnessed several transitions in the game of AFL.

It used to be better.

 

[JohnnyFontane90]

Why is that?

Some of the most entertaining footy is near the end of close games, often when players are tired and can't run as much

that's because of the suspense of the impending result. Entertaining is not synonymous with quality. the end of the geelong vs melbourne game this year springs to mind. i think 3 players kicked it out on the full in a row.

 

[the harry]

It has probably already been mentioned, but eliminating the bench as many in this thread have called for would just lead to drafting more athletes than burst players.

Main issue is people have forgotten how much s**t football was played in the 90's and before that most weren't televised.

 

[Bicco]

It has probably already been mentioned, but eliminating the bench as many in this thread have called for would just lead to drafting more athletes than burst players.

Main issue is people have forgotten how much s**t football was played in the 90's and before that most weren't televised.

Who from Freo would you take? Sheridan or Neale?

 

[shaqsuns]

It has probably already been mentioned, but eliminating the bench as many in this thread have called for would just lead to drafting more athletes than burst players.

Main issue is people have forgotten how much s**t football was played in the 90's and before that most weren't televised.

I would disagree it would lead to drafting more Sam Mitchell types because you would need good skills late in the games and X factor type players to help create chances for your team. Currently now they draft athletes and try and turn them them into footballers


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[StillAtLarge]

Docklands and Tassie are responsible for most of the s**t games that fans suffer through each year.
The grandstands in Tassie don't provide adequate wind protection whilst the atrocious surface (and tiny playing dimensions) at docklands turn many games into error riddled flood fests

 

[NoobPie]

I would disagree it would lead to drafting more Sam Mitchell types because you would need good skills late in the games and X factor type players to help create chances for your team. Currently now they draft athletes and try and turn them them into footballers


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That statement is just wrong

Sam Mitchell was overlooked in 2000 draft - "peak AFL" in many people's minds apparently - despite winning the best and fairest (for the second year in a row) in the team that came runners up in the TAC cup.

Can you not see the face slapping illogic here?

Sam Mitchel wasn't drafted in 2000 because of the combination of lack of height and pace. He would now be a top pick.

It was the late 1990s to mid 2000s where "athletes" were being picked ahead of "footballers"

Seriously, name one top 20 pick from the last decade who wasn't a champion junior footballer?

 

[the harry]

Who from Freo would you take? Sheridan or Neale?

Both can run out the game, so athletic ability isn't an issue. From West Coast Rioli, McGovern, NicNat would all struggle without a bench to use.

I would disagree it would lead to drafting more Sam Mitchell types because you would need good skills late in the games and X factor type players to help create chances for your team. Currently now they draft athletes and try and turn them them into footballers


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There simply isn't that many players like Sam Mitchell. Plus, if they're kicking it to someone who is exhausted, say like in the state Paddy McCartin finds himself after a few contests, but obviously later on in the match, I would think the forward would still get beaten despite the skill of Mitchell.

Teams aren't going to name "x factor type players" on the bench in the hope they come on late and are the catalyst for a tight win either when they could name someone like Masten, Gaff, B Hill, Hartung who could come on earlier and run the other team ragged earlier and get a more comfortable win.

As already mentioned, Sam Mitchell was overlooked in 2000 anyway. That's going back 18 years already.

 

[JohnnyFontane90]

That statement is just wrong

Sam Mitchell was overlooked in 2000 draft - "peak AFL" in many people's minds apparently - despite winning the best and fairest (for the second year in a row) in the team that came runners up in the TAC cup.

Can you not see the face slapping illogic here?

Sam Mitchel wasn't drafted in 2000 because of the combination of lack of height and pace. He would now be a top pick.

It was the late 1990s to mid 2000s where "athletes" were being picked ahead of "footballers"

Seriously, name one top 20 pick from the last decade who wasn't a champion junior footballer?

Honestly there are very few gun footballers that have enough talent to overcame athletic deficiencies. I can think of sam mitchell, pendlebury and robbie gray from this era, but they might just be the 3 of the most naturally talented footballers of all time.

funnily enough weitering is considered a bust so far because his major deficiency is leg speed. While charlie curnow's is the next big thing and his athletic ability was never in question but we questioned how well it would translate to football ability. generally speaking athletes are the safer picks.

 

[shaqsuns]

That statement is just wrong

Sam Mitchell was overlooked in 2000 draft - "peak AFL" in many people's minds apparently - despite winning the best and fairest (for the second year in a row) in the team that came runners up in the TAC cup.

Can you not see the face slapping illogic here?

Sam Mitchel wasn't drafted in 2000 because of the combination of lack of height and pace. He would now be a top pick.

It was the late 1990s to mid 2000s where "athletes" were being picked ahead of "footballers"

Seriously, name one top 20 pick from the last decade who wasn't a champion junior footballer?

That’s a subjective question because unless you were there for their whole journey through football how would you know they weren’t? The only evidence you can go by is a the TAC for most young footballers in which the biggest, the fastest and strongest dominant.


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[SBD Gonzalez]

So all of the young kids growing up are playing soccer and the immigrants to Australia find the rules confusing and difficult to understand (as do I) and aren't participating like the Greek and Italian immigrants of the 50's 60's. This alone should be a huge concern for the game going forward.

Firstly I think there is quite the qualitative difference between “rest of the world” (the phrase you responded to) and “rest of Australia” which you’re talking about.

I agree with Tas’s opinion that what the rest of the world thinks of our game really doesn’t matter. Realistically it’s never going to make inroads overseas, and the reason that doesn’t matter is because AFL is a domestically huge comp by any world standards (third-highest per game crowds of any comp anywhere)and that ain’t going to change soon.

But as to your concern, that new domestic converts are being lost forever to other sports like soccer, of course that’s a concern, but I suggest it’s not as big of a concern as you make it out to be.

Don’t underestimate how much Australians, even in the non-footy states, absorb our great game osmotically, just through seeing it on the telly when they’re channel surfing, having a mate who’s obsessed etc. Some statsnerd could help out here but my understanding is that soccer has had the highest participation rates in Oz for at least a couple of generations now, and yet the A-League hasn’t exactly transformed the sporting landscape, has it?

As I’m fond of telling soccer zealots, we’ve been taking immigrants from soccer-mad nations since 1788, but somehow they seem to get their heads around Aussie Rules eventually.

(It’s only one really personal anecdote, but I can say from having followed the Swans since their Sydney beginnings that we now have a significant Asian game-day following, which is great to see. This may never translate into anything much participation-wise; people of Asian descent are generally not built like Lin Jong, but it’s not insignificant in terms of audience.)

Of course I’m willing to concede there may be bigger forces at play (eg the internet) that mean the old certainties no longer hold.

 

[SBD Gonzalez]

Just think. One day you too will be "old". The game you like so much now will have changed to the point you don't really like it as much as you used to. You continue to watch because it's difficult to change the habits of a lifetime.

You will begin to reflect on how the game isn't as good as it used to be when you were younger, simply because you don't enjoy it as much. If you dare to make any comment along those lines, some young smartarse will remind you of the fact you're an old fart and therefore not entitled to an opinion. You will certainly not be allowed the luxury of thinking the likes of Buddy Franklin or Dustin Martin were as good, if not better than any of the stars of the day.

You will be annoyed by the comment "the game has never been better" when you know in your heart that's rubbish, and something they say to help selling an ailing product to new markets.

And don't fool yourself by thinking it won't happen to you. I most certainly will.

I am an old fart.

I’ve been following the game since 1974, and I reckon the game has never been better.

 

[Macpotata]

It has probably already been mentioned, but eliminating the bench as many in this thread have called for would just lead to drafting more athletes than burst players.

Main issue is people have forgotten how much s**t football was played in the 90's and before that most weren't televised.

Good post. You can't eliminate the bench, that's just ridiculous. The amount of injuries would be insane. There would literally be deaths due to cardiac arrest. I'm assuming they mean the amount of rotations.

There certainly were some s**t football during the 90's but the key word is football.

 

[Macpotata]

*was some s**t football.


And it least it was football

 

[SBD Gonzalez]

AFL has made almost no progress in Qld and NSW so is losing out to rugby and soccer still.

No-one’s pretending it’s Mission Accomplished here, but that’s just wrong.

The Swans have the biggest crowds and biggest membership of any NSW sporting team, and the third-most valuable jersey for sponsorship dollars in Australian sport. Any grand final that the Swans play in breaks ratings records (admittedly, numbers probably swollen by all those Mexicans hoping to see the Swans get smashed).

AND a lot of private schools are now fielding Aussie Rules teams. That is very significant, showing that rugby union no longer has a stranglehold on what the lawyers, doctors and businesspeople play and follow. (Southerners who talk about “rugby” to mean both Union and League, as if they are one and the same, are only displaying their utter ignorance of a major factor at play in the NSW/QLD sporting landscape that is quite absent elsewhere in Oz.)

So there is still much to do, and I’m in no position to comment on QLD, but there’s a lot to be excited by.

 

[SBD Gonzalez]

its not worth watching - look at the round just finished - one sided non competitive junk

Well that was one round, hot on the heels of what I believe was the most competitive season in the game’s history. Pretty sure there was barely a round in 2017 that didn’t see at least one final score decided by a single kick, and sometimes more than one. (Which only reinforces why the finals series was such a crashing disappointment for everyone except Tigers fans.)

 

[BEaston]

The quality of AFL matches has never been better.

The state of the game itself is in a pretty bad place.

 

[Cincinnatus]

No-one’s pretending it’s Mission Accomplished here, but that’s just wrong.

The Swans have the biggest crowds and biggest membership of any NSW sporting team, and the third-most valuable jersey for sponsorship dollars in Australian sport. Any grand final that the Swans play in breaks ratings records (admittedly, numbers probably swollen by all those Mexicans hoping to see the Swans get smashed).

AND a lot of private schools are now fielding Aussie Rules teams. That is very significant, showing that rugby union no longer has a stranglehold on what the lawyers, doctors and businesspeople play and follow. (Southerners who talk about “rugby” to mean both Union and League, as if they are one and the same, are only displaying their utter ignorance of a major factor at play in the NSW/QLD sporting landscape that is quite absent elsewhere in Oz.)

So there is still much to do, and I’m in no position to comment on QLD, but there’s a lot to be excited by.

Supporters diluted amongst the NRL teams. No different to Victoria. Except in Victoria you dont have the same infiltration of NRL.

 

[SBD Gonzalez]

Supporters diluted amongst the NRL teams. No different to Victoria. Except in Victoria you dont have the same infiltration of NRL.

I suspect you won’t be convinced till the Swans and GWS pull combined crowds and membership bigger than combined crowds and membership of all NSW NRL clubs.

Like I said, there a long way to go, but it’s catastrophising just a little to say there been “almost no progress”.

 

[Ron The Bear]

The game has been in decline as a spectacle since the mid-2000's. Paul Roos has a lot to answer for.

 

[footyfan1978]

The game has been in decline as a spectacle since the mid-1990's. The doubling of interchange from 2 to 4 has a lot to answer for.

EFA
You are welcome.