We have got it wrong! NRL vs AFL

[SELGA]

AFL has always been and will always be my first love as far as sports go however I am sports mad and follow several codes accepts the whole year. Watching NRL origin the last two years really highlighted to me just how soft our game has become. Every so often a thread comes up where AFL supporters are quick to throw S@&T at NRL supporters for a variety of reasons but make no mistake at least the hierarchy of their game seems to be keeping the traditions and the physicality of a good contest. The bump is as good as dead and before people assume this is an over reaction to the Franklin saga, it is not. Players are not even allowed to niggle or harass ie the ridiculous Steven baker suspension. What's wrong from a supporters point of view of watching two blokes throw a couple of punches if the sledding gets personal or laying each other out with a bump or god forbid harassing your opponent behind play til he reacts. I mean really what happened to the villains of the game?

I know I'm going to cop it from all sides for this post but I truly believe the game is at stake thoughts

 

[Gainzo]

AFL has always been and will always be my first love as far as sports go however I am sports mad and follow several codes accepts the whole year. Watching NRL origin the last two years really highlighted to me just how soft our game has become. Every so often a thread comes up where AFL supporters are quick to throw S@&T at NRL supporters for a variety of reasons but make no mistake at least the hierarchy of their game seems to be keeping the traditions and the physicality of a good contest. The bump is as good as dead and before people assume this is an over reaction to the Franklin saga, it is not. Players are not even allowed to niggle or harass ie the ridiculous Steven baker suspension. What's wrong from a supporters point of view of watching two blokes throw a couple of punches if the sledding gets personal or laying each other out with a bump or god forbid harassing your opponent behind play til he reacts. I mean really what happened to the villains of the game?

I know I'm going to cop it from all sides for this post but I truly believe the game is at stake thoughts

There is only one professional sport that condones fighting. That sport is ice-hockey and it has been part of the game forever.

The bump is alive and well in Aussie Rules.

BTW: Rugby League is a completely different game as those blokes run straight into each other the entire time.

 

[SELGA]

I never said I condone fighting I did say if occasionally a melee or two blokes are involved in a scuffle I don't think it should be the end of the world! I also didn't say Rugby was the same as AFL I was talking about the physicality of the came and contests. As far as bumping goes I don't remember seeing a player flattened from a bump without a sspension for months. just out of curiosity do you feel there is to much physicality, not enough or just right?

 

[Gainzo]

I never said I condone fighting I did say if occasionally a melee or two blokes are involved in a scuffle I don't think it should be the end of the world! I also didn't say Rugby was the same as AFL I was talking about the physicality of the came and contests. As far as bumping goes I don't remember seeing a player flattened from a bump without a sspension for months. just out of curiosity do you feel there is to much physicality, not enough or just right?

You never mentioned melees.

The blokes playing in the AFL today take a lot more legal physical abuse than their predecessors in the '80's and '90's.

BTW: Paragraphs are your friend.

 

[finders]

There are still many heavy clashes in the AFL and as the game is now faster these can be more letha and there are just as many injuries as before.

If you want a more thuggish and voilent game then certainly go for Thugby!
Why do you think very women few follow RL eh? yet up to half the crowds at Australian Football are women and thats one of the reasons that our game is more popular than RL.

 

[Damon_3388]

Personally I think the game is better off without the "niggle", as well as without players "punching on" and so forth. If people really want to see blokes fight, go watch boxing or MMA. And if you're a footy player who thinks he's "tough" because you dish out a few hits in a ball sport where the object isn't to hit your opponent, go get in a boxing ring or organised MMA fight and prove how "tough" you really are.

Players go in harder than ever now, and the collisions and hits that do occur are as strong as ever too. It's just that the unskilled aspects of the game are slowly being eliminated, and for me, the game is better for that. There's no real skill in "niggling" or whacking a bloke on the footy field, and it's not an essential part of our game. If that means that blokes like Steven Baker can't get a game in the future, so be it. I'm not saying the "tagger" role should be killed off, far from it. If players possess genuine defensive ability, they don't need to resort to the cheap "niggle" tactics, and if they really have anything to offer skill-wise (in either attack or defense), they'll find their way onto an AFL list somehow.

 

[mxett]

If senseless violence, bone crunching (3v1) clashes, monotonous and slow game play are your thing then RL will probably appeal to you. But it really seems like a sport for bogan rednecks who live at the pub. No wonder female interest in the game is scarce.

Looks like the GC residents are voting with their feet.

 

[Eddie Dingle]

A bloke will have his jaw broken or get brain damage from a punch in RL and let's see how the caretakers of that game deal with a class action law suit as a result of an action they have condoned.

May never happen as the boofheads haymakers rarely land.

 

[SELGA]

I cannot believe this is what the footballing public want! I will shut my mouth

 

[Pino]

There is only one professional sport that condones fighting. That sport is ice-hockey and it has been part of the game forever.

Canadian Lacrosse is another.

So is boxing, UFC, Mixed Martial Arts, etc

 

[Aucklander]

A bloke will have his jaw broken or get brain damage from a punch in RL and let's see how the caretakers of that game deal with a class action law suit as a result of an action they have condoned.

Good lord. Do you have a link for this or did you just make it up?

 

[Capt_Concussion]

I never said I condone fighting I did say if occasionally a melee or two blokes are involved in a scuffle I don't think it should be the end of the world! I also didn't say Rugby was the same as AFL I was talking about the physicality of the came and contests. As far as bumping goes I don't remember seeing a player flattened from a bump without a sspension for months. just out of curiosity do you feel there is to much physicality, not enough or just right?

Frawley vs Riewoldt yesterday

 

[mxett]

Good lord. Do you have a link for this or did you just make it up?

Have the NRL changed their stance on fighting? Last I knew they were turning a blind eye to punch-ons. If both players were equally involved in the fight neither were suspended.

Has this changed?

 

[sherb]

Good lord. Do you have a link for this or did you just make it up?

It wasn't that long ago that it was the case though.

That classic RL neanderthal Gorden Tallis laid a series of punches on Ben Ross in 2003 and the game of Rugby League (in particular the clown running the judiciary at the time) saw a 10 minute sin-binning as sufficient punishment.

That really summed up the game's attitude to on-field violence at the time.

I think it might have actually been that very incident that finally caused a change in RL's attitude and policy towards that sort of stuff.

 

[Eddie Dingle]

Good lord. Do you have a link for this or did you just make it up?

Yeah I made it up

They condone it by not punishing blokes that punch each other. Not hard to work it out champ.

 

[Blue and Silver]

Canadian Lacrosse is another.

So is boxing, UFC, Mixed Martial Arts, etc

Facepalm.gif



To the point of the OP:

If you think the truly interesting aspect of this sport is seeing blokes get hurt then you are probably better off watching another sport

 

[Aucklander]

It wasn't that long ago that it was the case though.

That classic RL neanderthal Gorden Tallis laid a series of punches on Ben Ross in 2003 and the game of Rugby League (in particular the clown running the judiciary at the time) saw a 10 minute sin-binning as sufficient punishment.

That really summed up the game's attitude to on-field violence at the time.

I think it might have actually been that very incident that finally caused a change in RL's attitude and policy towards that sort of stuff.

The Tallis incident was a blight on the game and I think you'd be right in that it caused a major attitude adjustment by the NRL in the punishment for those type of incidents and rightly so.

Condoning violence though, would mean no penalties or suspensions for on field violence. This is clearly not the case.

 

[stupidlikeafox]

Have the NRL changed their stance on fighting? Last I knew they were turning a blind eye to punch-ons. If both players were equally involved in the fight neither were suspended.

Has this changed?

As long as the fighting is "square" with 2 partys ready with no king hits, no 3rd man in, no kicking while down etc. Basically what a fight used to be not the shit you see on the street now. Otherwise the match review panel get involved.

The referee at the time will make a decision as in send both players off, that seems sufficient under the right circumstances had none of those previous conditions been broken.

But there are very few fights that turn into punches these days, mainly just pushing and a "melee" or scuffle. Probably averaged out 1-2 every 2-4rounds of footy, which considering the physicality and niggle that goes on tackle after tackle with testosteron filled men you would expect that.

 

[Eddie Dingle]

The Tallis incident was a blight on the game and I think you'd be right in that it caused a major attitude adjustment by the NRL in the punishment for those type of incidents and rightly so.

Condoning violence though, would mean no penalties or suspensions for on field violence. This is clearly not the case.

So 5 years after the Tallis incident Brett White knocked out Steve Price in SOO and was punished how?

That's right he wasn't in fact they wanted to use footage of that fight to promote the following years SOO. (I cant link because I am on an iPad and dont know how to copy paste but it is on the Fox Website if you want to check up on me) If that is not condoning on field violence I don't know what is.

I am not a Rugby League hater, although I much prefer Rugby, I am trying to illustrate a point that someday the NRL will find itself exposed in a court of law because they have condoned blokes being punched in the head.

 

[stupidlikeafox]

So 5 years after the Tallis incident Brett White knocked out Steve Price in SOO and was punished how?

That's right he wasn't in fact they wanted to use footage of that fight to promote the following years SOO. (I cant link because I am on an iPad and dont know how to copy paste but it is on the Fox Website if you want to check up on me) If that is not condoning on field violence I don't know what is.

I am not a Rugby League hater, although I much prefer Rugby, I am trying to illustrate a point that someday the NRL will find itself exposed in a court of law because they have condoned blokes being punched in the head.

Show me where that fight is not fair from both parties. The Tallis incident was a punch from nowhere, that continued.

[YOUTUBE]z2HlTJT7igU[/YOUTUBE]

Waterhouse got suspended for his part at the end. That was what a fight is, nothing bad about it.

I come from a Rugby League background and have jumped on the AFL bandwagon but don't walk around like the AFL shit doesn't stink. Fights are a part of human nature and just nature for that matter. In the heat of a sporting contest sometimes it happens with blokes, egos and pressure, end of story.

[YOUTUBE]w5d8qE-BbFg[/YOUTUBE]
1:50 it starts.

Gary Lyon calls it "gamesmanship"....

Both codes have their violence, pitting them off against each other it not objective as each side barracks for their own. Pointless waste of time.

 

[Aucklander]

So 5 years after the Tallis incident Brett White knocked out Steve Price in SOO and was punished how?

Was the incident penalised on the field?

I am not a Rugby League hater, although I much prefer Rugby, I am trying to illustrate a point that someday the NRL will find itself exposed in a court of law because they have condoned blokes being punched in the head.

They do not condone blokes being punched in the head. If that was the case there would be no penalties for those types of incidents.

 

[R00StaR]

I cannot believe this is what the footballing public want! I will shut my mouth

I think its more a matter of the FP being realistic. Who wants to see their players rubbed out for 2-3 week or more because they cant keep their fists to themselves? Toughness at the ball and enormous gut running is where its at now a days. I cant see how anyone could or would question the toughness or courage of todays AFL players.

I dont follow the NRL much, but how often do they fracture faces from bumps? I suspect AFL bumps are generally at higher speed or it possible i just dont hear about the NRL ones.

Anyway while we may not like every change, people mostly understand why. There obviously the legal ramifications but also the mum factor. Mum sees players punching on, getting knocked into next year from a violent bump - does she take little Johnny to play it? Participation is important for the games growth.

 

[Snoochems]

Don't the see the need or attraction of punch ups, brawls in the AFL.

Protecting the head is required. You have to think of the players. News is that there is significant concern for a lot of RL players and brain injuries. For me, and probably most here, the fact that most Rugby players are brain damaged does not come as a surprise. As a spectator, you may get wood over a massive tackle where someone nearly lost their head. But would you still get wood if you knew that that player would struggle to remember anything in 10 years time?

 

[Baz_hawk]

I do feel the AFL is going soft in a bid to protect themselves from legal action. The bump was something I loved seeing growing up and it did often hit head high but it was part of the game, and players were aware of it. The game has definitely sped up a lot since then though, Comparing AFL bumps to NRL ones is very hard to do. Often the hits in the NRL are performed with one player charging forward and the other at a somewhat jogging pace. The AFL sees 2 players running full tilt and if they collide it'd be a very bruising hit. That said, the game is losing some of its physicallity. I loved the days when games would get heated and players would get in each others faces. 2004 line in the sand match was something you'd see in the 80's and prehaps it was over the line but it showed the passion and the hatred of the 2 teams. If that occured today, more than half of the players would have missed the following week.

Also, the MRP is a joke which doesn't help since they are so inconsistant and one week something is deemed a 2 week offense then the next week the same contact is ignored.

 

[Woodson]

Incorrect thread title. No need to compare the sports. Just enjoy 'em for what they are.
I think that the SOO games are a breath of fresh for AFL/VFL raised fans who know the game we enjoyed is a new different style nowadays. Some good, some bad and some ugly. Embrace it all.
My favorite league is the NFL for a number of reasons.
Overall, it hasn't changed too much but hard core fans know the NFL is heading down the AFL direction with 'safety measures' which is still debatable on how they go about it.

Getting back to the thread topic, thought it was just another 'kick in disgust' passing comment to the AFL we all have said has hit the skids with 'technical interpretations' which even radio footy media criticize so it's nothing new.

Just treat the AFL more passively cause getting serious will do your head in.
The AFL head honchos have treated the game with contempt for a while now so didn't feel to precious about them. Just laugh.