Opinion What unpopular AFL opinions do you have? - Part 2

[Billy ray]

This 1230 start is great.

 

[MC Extra Dollop]

You're carrying on as if players genuinely find it difficult to play at an outdoor stadium with a red ball during the day.

Fortunately the players may have sneaked in the odd game among the hundreds that they played before making an AFL list where they didn't play under lights or in a dome. It's really clutching at straws, you'd think they were expecting them to play it in Antarctica.

Perhaps my unpopular opinion is I really don't care what time they play the grand final.

 

[Soggy2112]

Or completely remove the goal square, it serves no purpose.

It still does have purposes.

The player on the mark has to wait until the player taking the kick in exits the square to move forward.

It decides whether you take your shot from straight in front or on an angle.

 

[Soggy2112]

This 1230 start is great.

It’s great for people like me when I’m home on a Saturday arvo doing different jobs around the house. I love being able to chuck the footy on from 12:00 and walk in and out.

I hate it when it’s the Crows playing in that time slot though.

 

[Corkintheocean]

Very Unpopular : The 'SHERRIN' football is a crap ball, it's too hard to control, deviates to much in the air and on the ground, creates too many fumbles/mistakes and should be ditched for something else

Burley >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Sherrin

 

[Corkintheocean]

The drive for national expansion in the game in the last 15 years, (curiously limited to the geographical region in the north west of the country) is because the ExCo at AFL House prefer their jaunts and holidays in Queensland.

 

[mchal4]

The Tasmania AFL team is a bad idea, Building a billion dollar roofed stadium for a tiny city like Hobart is ridiculous, and it will be very difficult to get players to go and stay down there

 

[MC Extra Dollop]

Remember when Ron Barassi died midway through the finals series two years ago and media commentators were practically falling over themselves to suggest that the premiership cup get his name added to it? Well how about adding his name to something that doesn't really exist, but absolutely should: give the Barassi Cup to the ladder leader at the end of the home & away season.

Calling it the minor premiership is a slap in the face. The McLelland Trophy has been changed to include the AFLW teams. Have the Barassi Cup on hand to present to the Crows if they take care of business, or hop on a train to Jolimont to have it at the MCG if the Crows choke. It would never take any gloss off the premiership cup as the ultimate prize, but it would instantly become the second biggest prize in the game and something that teams would genuinely feel is worth playing for.

 

[Lunchtime]

To be fair, Judd also won the Norm Smith. Although I will acknowledge that Cousins was a better player than Embley and Shuey (but both those two were better than Priddis).

Personally I rank players on the ability to perform when it matters.

For me though I rank Dusty as the best player I've ever seen, not because of 2017, but because of his performance in the 2020 grand final where he single handedly won it for Richmond. That was the game he went from just a champion player to the GOAT. As much as I love Lachie Neale, I can't see him single handledly winning a GF like that.

Luke Hodge and Cyril Rioli have both never won a Brownlow, but they're both better players than Ollie Wines or Tom Mitchell who have. Hodge and Cyril Rioli have both won Norm Smiths and have proven they can perform when it matters.

In the case of Hodge - 2 time Norm Smith medal winner.

 

[Lunchtime]

Correct, but by default it does punish players before 2016 who could never win such an award.

Wouldn't it be something (no, not sad...okay maybe) if a panel of experts went back and retrospectively allocated coaches votes for all finals in the televised era? Watching the games and then coming up with (unofficial) Ayres medallists from yesteryear.

That would take a lot of time to do.

 

[Soggy2112]

I got two more.

A Norm Smith medal is a better measure of a players greatness than a Brownlow. Brownlow measures regular season performance but doesn't measure performance in finals. A Norm Smith medal is proof that a player can perform when it matters. For example as a Lions supporter I love Lachie Neale and he's a great player, but he's not a better player than what Michael Voss (who should have won the NS in 2002) and Dustin Martin were in their primes even though he has twice the brownlows.

Also Gold Coast's new home jumper is a big improvement on their old home jumper.

Depends on the Norm Smith though I think.

Will Ashcroft for example was a deserving winner, however he could’ve been knocked out in the first quarter and the Lions still would have won, the way that game went. It was a genuine “all played well” type game and there were 4 or 5 guys who probably would’ve been deserving winners.

But I agree with you, when you talk about McLeod’s performance in the 1998 grand final, or Martin’s in 2020, those are moments where those players were pretty much single-handedly the difference. That’s worth more than a Brownlow.

It’s why I argue McLeod is our goat over Ricciuto, even though Roo might just sneak ahead on his overall career output.

 

[Mr Meow]

Depends on the Norm Smith though I think.

Will Ashcroft for example was a deserving winner, however he could’ve been knocked out in the first quarter and the Lions still would have won, the way that game went. It was a genuine “all played well” type game and there were 4 or 5 guys who probably would’ve been deserving winners.

But I agree with you, when you talk about McLeod’s performance in the 1998 grand final, or Martin’s in 2020, those are moments where those players were pretty much single-handedly the difference. That’s worth more than a Brownlow.

It’s why I argue McLeod is our goat over Ricciuto, even though Roo might just sneak ahead on his overall career output.

Exactly.

Any clear BOG performance in a knockout final, especially as part of a premiership run, is legacy building. It's why Ablett's BOG effort in the 2007 prelim meant more than Johnson's Norm Smith in the 119 point romp a week later. Whereas Chappie's NS in 2009 was arguably the clutch Geelong player performance of the entire era. Hawkins, Johnson, Bartel and Selwood split the points in terms of taking the 2011 GF away from Collingwood.

McLeod massively swung those two grand finals, although Jarman certainly had his say too. No Roo or Saint could go with them when they lifted the tempo those games.

 

[Soggy2112]

McLeod massively swung those two grand finals, although Jarman certainly had his say too. No Roo or Saint could go with them when they lifted the tempo those games.

Jarman was brilliant, and again is an example of a player who’s overall record does not do him justice, as he consistently rose to the occasion and found another gear when needed.

However, when you watch those games back, it’s obvious that McLeod’s performance is what kept the Crows in it in both games. He was instrumental in both saving and setting up goals across the whole four quarters.

In the second halves, the Crows grabbed momentum (in large part because of McLeod), and then Jarman turned it on and put both Saints and North away. However, you could argue that we still win those games without him, just not by the same margin.

However, without McLeod we would not have gotten anywhere near winning either game.

 

[GhostofJimJess]

AFL TV commentators talk way way too much in the calling of a match.

In contrast, EPL TV commentators allow the vision to tell the story more often. It sounds so much more professional and accurate, often only dropping in player names as they take possession and move the ball on. Saving their excitement for genuinely interesting passages of play.

Fair enough radio commentary needing to explicitly describe every moment of the action to provide a picture for listeners, but it's just so unnecessary and cluttered when we can see exactly what's happening.

More often than not it's just waffle, as if they speak purely to fill the silence and are enamoured with the sound of their own voices. Very little of what they say is of any real value. Sometimes less is more.

I've just listened to Dwayne Russell and his team remind us seven times this quarter alone (so far) that the Giants are playing for a home final against the Saints. Do they think we've already forgotten from four minutes ago, or is just their typical stream of consciousness prattling?

 

[FreddyTwoShoes]

AFL TV commentators talk way way too much in the calling of a match.

In contrast, EPL TV commentators allow the vision to tell the story more often. It sounds so much more professional and accurate, often only dropping in player names as they take possession and move the ball on. Saving their excitement for genuinely interesting passages of play.

Fair enough radio commentary needing to explicitly describe every moment of the action to provide a picture for listeners, but it's just so unnecessary and cluttered when we can see exactly what's happening.

More often than not it's just waffle, as if they speak purely to fill the silence and are enamoured with the sound of their own voices. Very little of what they say is of any real value. Sometimes less is more.

I've just listened to Dwayne Russell and his team remind us seven times this quarter alone (so far) that the Giants are playing for a home final against the Saints. Do they think we've already forgotten from four minutes ago, or is just their typical stream of consciousness prattling?

Spot on.

And taking it a little further, it seems like at least 50% of what they say is presumptive second guessing of umpiring and misinterpreting of rules.

I watched a couple of epl games last night. The commentary was minimalist and brilliant.

 

[____]

Depends on the Norm Smith though I think.

Will Ashcroft for example was a deserving winner, however he could’ve been knocked out in the first quarter and the Lions still would have won, the way that game went. It was a genuine “all played well” type game and there were 4 or 5 guys who probably would’ve been deserving winners.

But I agree with you, when you talk about McLeod’s performance in the 1998 grand final, or Martin’s in 2020, those are moments where those players were pretty much single-handedly the difference. That’s worth more than a Brownlow.

It’s why I argue McLeod is our goat over Ricciuto, even though Roo might just sneak ahead on his overall career output.

That's a fair point and fwiw I think either Lohmann or Ah Chee should have won Norm last year.

Dustin Martin's 2020 grand final is why I rate him as the GOAT. I'm too young to pass judgement on McLeod in 1997 or 1998.

 

[Soggy2112]

That's a fair point and fwiw I think either Lohmann or Ah Chee should have won Norm last year.

Dustin Martin's 2020 grand final is why I rate him as the GOAT. I'm too young to pass judgement on McLeod in 1997 or 1998.

I wasn’t born when we won flags but watched the replays about 50 times each when I was a kid.

 

[Lavender Bushranger]

Giving off some real ‘every one gets a ribbon’ energy.

It's a handout currently though anyway.

 

[Tbonefreo]

Free agency rules

 

[sparklig]

AFL TV commentators talk way way too much in the calling of a match.

In contrast, EPL TV commentators allow the vision to tell the story more often. It sounds so much more professional and accurate, often only dropping in player names as they take possession and move the ball on. Saving their excitement for genuinely interesting passages of play.

Fair enough radio commentary needing to explicitly describe every moment of the action to provide a picture for listeners, but it's just so unnecessary and cluttered when we can see exactly what's happening.

More often than not it's just waffle, as if they speak purely to fill the silence and are enamoured with the sound of their own voices. Very little of what they say is of any real value. Sometimes less is more.

I've just listened to Dwayne Russell and his team remind us seven times this quarter alone (so far) that the Giants are playing for a home final against the Saints. Do they think we've already forgotten from four minutes ago, or is just their typical stream of consciousness prattling?

I totally agree with this, to the extent that I wish we could turn the commentary off and just have crowd noise. Maybe a special comments guy after a goal, if we had to have commentary?

Basically, **** off commentators, you campaigners.

 

[Whats a Battle]

Dan Gorringe is not funny

Agree completely. To me it seems like his recent rise in popularity has been completely astroturfed, perhaps with Sportsbet blood money.

 

[jannissary]

Agree completely. To me it seems like his recent rise in popularity has been completely astroturfed, perhaps with Sportsbet blood money.

epitome of like, the epic sauce "funny" vine stuff from like 2012. funny facial expression + loud = funny

 

[FreddyTwoShoes]

A player responding to an umpiring decision with expressions of shock and disbelief is not proof the umpire was wrong. Nor is any amount of carry-on by commentators (many of whom who struggle to understand the rules).

 

[GhostofJimJess]

The Brownlow should be this weekend.

We all know the reason(s).

 

[matty lloyd the champ]

Not sure if this is unpopular but every team should run a tagger. Maybe not necessarily at the centre bounce if it ruins your clearance work but have the tagger roll in from half forward to tag at post center bounce stoppages and around the ground.

If you know that going into a game against Bontempelli, Daicos etc that they have a very real chance of being the difference between a win or a loss and you do nothing about it, you deserve to lose.