What unpopular AFL opinions do you have? (Part 1 - cont in Part 2)

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The_Steadier

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Good call on the underlying racism on this site. It's reflective of Australian society.
yeah, nah.
Don't get me wrong- I agree there is certainly plenty of subversive racism in Australian culture...
But for every flog hanging it on Buddy or Nic Nat... there's another hanging it on Jack Watts or Dane Swan.

Maybe it's you being racist everytime you see a "Nic Nat sucks" post and think it has something to do with skin colour? o_O
 

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The_Steadier

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From the current NicNat thread:
Like any dark skinned 'exotic' people, he is liked because he is 'different'. See Daw, Majak.
There's a much higher proportion of non-whites who are begrudged by BigFooty posters for receiving praise.
That's hardly "underlying racism". That's straight up racism.
 

Run n Spread

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This rolling maul is a bit of a myth drummed up by the media. What really generates it is a lack of coaching prowess and crap players. The best sides this year i Port, Geelong, Hawthorn and Collingwood don't get suckered in.

What happens is now players are fitter they cover more ground. So rather then a full foward/full back just standing at the opposite end getting cold they are encouraged to push foward a kick behind the play and do something useful. (Makes sense imo). Where problems arise is where numbers aren't converted to advantage. Say you want numbers round the ball a 2-1 or 3-2 will give you a huge advantage. But a 12-10 advantage? What the fu*& are the 11th and 12th players really going to do? They are better off going to a more advantageous position. (Clarkson understands this perfectly and Hawthorn don't get sucked into having too many at the contest they are organised like a Pretorian guard. May not have the flashiest midfielders but everyone is organised into their best positions where they do the most damage). Reckon Freo try and do something similar (although ultra ultra defensive) and what has fu&* them is having Barlow out, as there is no one to win the ball consistently and allow players to sit off the contest and set up a structure as per round 1 against Collingwood. Collingwood set up a bit different as they are hard runners and consistent ball winners but have crap skills so Buckley organises them to be set up attacking but to cover the skill inefficiencies. (A press with outliers like Sidebottom and Swan to generate momentum). A rolling maul happens because players don't have the skills to punch through it or players to win the ball so everyone panics and just surrounds it.
 
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Run n Spread

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- Shane Crawford = not funny
- I don't hate Nick Maxwell
- I still enjoy Bruce's commentary the most no matter how homoerotic it's become
- Despite the expansion sides pillaging the draft (at expense of clubs like mine) I admire the AFL's boldness in this move
- I respect Ross Lyon's coaching even if it doesn't produce footy I like to see
- Furthermore, the by-product of flood tactics is even more exceptional skills
- Luke Darcy is harmless despite adding nothing - Tom Harley too
- Leigh Matthews - for being the greatest player/perhaps coach of all time - has possibly the most forgettable voice and opinions, I hardly ever listen to a word he says
Agree strongly with 1, 2, 5 and 6. Disagree strongly with 4. Neutral on the rest, Bruce is good but becoming a parody of himself on low impact and/or boring games, Matthews like most special commentators comes up with gems but waffles on too much to fill airtime.
 

Run n Spread

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Unpopular and will get accused of massive bias but I reckon Collingwood are underrated by the footy world and a good show for the flag (and are my tip). Port as well.

On the flip side swans are on the decline and will battle to make the 8 let alone win a flag.
 

10Dulkar

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In contrast to what many seem to think on here, not everything in the Premier League is wonderful and perfect and 100 times better than the AFL. The AFL is rather good in its own right! Just because something eminates from the UK or the United States/Canada does not automatically make it superior.

Not sure if it is unpopular but I think it is ridiculous that fans are less likely to go to a game simply because the opponents are "interstate" teams. Maybe I am underestimating just how different Australia is to the UK but it is a national competition. Something a lot of commentators and pundits (Gerard Healy aside) would do well to remember.

And finally, I actually quite like having the underdog clubs such as the Western Bulldogs and North Melbourne in the AFL. Not every team can be a Collingwood, Hawthorn or West Coast.
 

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TheHoneyBadger

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In contrast to what many seem to think on here, not everything in the Premier League is wonderful and perfect and 100 times better than the AFL. The AFL is rather good in its own right! Just because something eminates from the UK or the United States/Canada does not automatically make it superior.

Not sure if it is unpopular but I think it is ridiculous that fans are less likely to go to a game simply because the opponents are "interstate" teams. Maybe I am underestimating just how different Australia is to the UK but it is a national competition. Something a lot of commentators and pundits (Gerard Healy aside) would do well to remember.

And finally, I actually quite like having the underdog clubs such as the Western Bulldogs and North Melbourne in the AFL. Not every team can be a Collingwood, Hawthorn or West Coast.
One thing I do love about the EPL compared to the AFL is the fact so many clubs exist in their traditional states and there's no representative entities, even though there's clubs like Manchester City that buy their way to the top.
Imagine having a few 20,000 seat stadiums around town - Whitten Oval, Brunswick St Oval, Lakeside Oval, where the clubs play in their original state and draw big suburban crowds, even with bigger clubs playing at the MCG and Docklands.
Instead of playing Adelaide, or West Coast, we could be playing Subiaco, or Norwood or Glenelg.

I love our game but as it becomes more of a business I guess the nostalgia develops for when clubs were clubs, not franchises, if you could call them that.
 

10Dulkar

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One thing I do love about the EPL compared to the AFL is the fact so many clubs exist in their traditional states and there's no representative entities, even though there's clubs like Manchester City that buy their way to the top.
Imagine having a few 20,000 seat stadiums around town - Whitten Oval, Brunswick St Oval, Lakeside Oval, where the clubs play in their original state and draw big suburban crowds, even with bigger clubs playing at the MCG and Docklands.
Instead of playing Adelaide, or West Coast, we could be playing Subiaco, or Norwood or Glenelg.

I love our game but as it becomes more of a business I guess the nostalgia develops for when clubs were clubs, not franchises, if you could call them that.
The first point you make is a very good one. I'm sure the football fans on here are well aware of the uproar when Wimbledon upped sticks and moved to Milton Keynes to become MK Dons. People in the USA wouldn't bat an eyelid at that happening.

From 10,000 miles away, I think the ground rationalisation works quite well in the AFL due to the way Melbourne is set out and the fact that the two main stadia are both superb (put that down for an unpopular opinion!). That then makes Geelong special and unique as the only "regional" team in Victoria and one with its own ground (if you don't count Melbourne) but were all the teams still like that, I'm not sure I'd feel that way about the Cats. Sydney is different but this isn't the right forum to discuss that. The whole story behind Waverley Park fascinates me and I would love to read more about it but it equally puzzles me that the AFL still do not own its replacement outright.

There's nothing wrong with looking at overseas leagues and learning lessons (both good and bad) but to me that's slightly different to people who place the Premier League or any other league on a pedestal.

-------------------------------------------------------

On unpopular opinions: am I allowed to say I like Caroline Wilson?
 

BIRDBRAIN

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3. Should allow a small zone selection for each teams first pick in the draft. So WA,clubs get the first pick from WA talent, same goes with SA and Vic etc.
This should be mandatory, I'm more than happy for The GWS first pick to come from Paramatta/Penrith/Merrylands haha
 

weirdtim

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Some on here seem to disagree, but my unpopular opinion was that the bump on Dangerfield today by Giansiracusa was dodgy as hell and deserves to sideline him for weeks. The siren had already well and truly gone, it was off the ball, he raised his elbow, and Danger was looking away. Gian came in and flattened him when play had already stopped. Such a shitty thing to do. But the MRP is inconsistent as hell and has a terrible record of punishing players who assault Adelaide players. But I really think he deserves at least 2 weeks for that.
 

basashi

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If you let the play go it gets bogged down into stalemates and scrums. That is the natural course of things. Free flowing fast football comes from umpires blowing the whistle to reward tacklers, blowing the whistle to penalize holding and blowing the whistle very quickly to bounce or throw up
the ball when a pack forms.

The idea that there was ever an era of fast free flowing footy with low whistle use is just pure BS.

The current tendency for rolling mauls and congestion is the inevitable result of telling umpires to put the whistle away. And we will have to put up with it until they get the whistle going again.
 
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