Why the AFL is destroying the fabric of the game...

[princem007]

I was watching Stan the man clean up Jezza in '79 on youtube. All he got was a free kick against him.

Based on the MRP of today he would never have played footy again.

And the AFL wonders why crowds are down, they are destroying the fabric of the game.

If i want to watch netball i will go to a Vixens game. ( no offence to netballers - i think it is a great game ).

But aussie rules is supposed to be a contact sport, and yes, contact happens in a contact sport.

Fair enough on the king hits and incidents behind play, we don't need them, but 2 players going for the ball, its game on, it been that way for 150 years.

Its all part of the theatre of the sport, the hits, the bumps, the high marks.

Its the thrill of the contest that dates back to the colosseum when lions were sent in against the christians.

Its the fear of the unknown , the climatic finish to a movie that has different twists and turns.

What we have now is a B grade movie that is bland and sterile. It is like watching a british soap on the ABC.

Every bump, every tackle is scrutinised that players no longer know how to approach the contest.

The don't know if they can bump, if they can put head over ball , if they can dive on a ball without taking out a players legs. They are not allowed to jump off the ground, if they make contact it can't be to any part of head and so it goes on and on.

Not only are the rules so confusing the umpires also now have no idea how to adjudicate that they let obvious free kicks go missing and pay ones that are not there.

And don't get me started on the video goal review system that started due to a goal line mistake but now seems to scrutinise if a ball was touched 50 metres away from the goal line.

The irony is that they still haven't worked out that none of the camera angles actually help with the goal line reviews that its almost farcical.

The game is so sterile it would make a hospital ward look like the old change rooms at victoria park.

Im not saying bring back the biff, but take out the confusion.

Lets them play the game as it was designed back in the paddock that is now the MCG over 120 years ago.

Where men would and could go in at all costs, when courage meant attacking the ball, putting your head over the ball , not avoiding a contest by pirouetting out of the way.

Oh how I wish the AFL would realise that they have changed the rules enough that it is now turning off people from the game.

I can honestly say that if Collingwood isn't playing I don't have an interest in watching any other AFL games.

It just does not interest me like it did because I know its going to be the same crap being served up every week, with equally crap commentating by Channel 7 that seems to be so bias i actually turn the volume down.

Then the AFL talks about a level playing field and equalisation yet they put out a draw that is so far from being equal that makes one cringe when a side plays finals because they only played the top 8 sides once.

And to top it off they want to take money from the wealthier clubs to prop up the clubs getting the softer draw so they can play finals and draw crowds of 17,000 people.

My only worry is the world game might one day become the A Grade show in town because the AFL tampered with the greatest game of all.

And us the stakeholders, the supporters, the members, have no say in the final product that is now the shadow of the great game it once was.

Wake up AFL before the game is back on the ABC.

[Dave The Man]

Because to make it more Markable to Families

[courtza]

Nice work, couldnt agree more.

In Perth tonight John Worsfold was on the news talking about implementing a rule where there would be a line across the centre of the ground, a certain number of players would have to stay on that side of the line.

Each week I go watch my sons play Auskick and when you see the ball roll towards this line and stop short of it and there is a pack of kids standing on the edge of this line in the other zone just wanting to grab it but they cant.....

If they did this to the AFL it would be freakin hilarious. Can you imagine say Elliot standing on his own a metre away from the ball but he cant get it because its on the other side of the line. Geezus!!!!!!!

There should be NO RULES COMMITEE!!!!!!!

The rules were made back when the game was created and they are the bloody rules. If you want to change the rules each week go piss off and make a different game.

Theres alot of things that are different about footy these days, it has evolved, changing the rules aint gonna bring back the good old days.

Maybe make it so the players have to have mutton chops and wear skin tight little shorts and play in a muddy cow paddock, and we all have beers and a smoke in the changerroms after the game.

[MattyD]

Couldn't agree more!

The Rules Committee - biggest WANK fest ever.

And ruining the game.

I get angry at the umpires because it looks like they are manipulating the game every week. Which is scandelous because there are huge amounts of money being gambled on every game.

And they are dodgy.

But it is not completely their fault.

The rules are stuffed. Just try and explain the rules to an overseas visitor! I have tried and failed many times.

Strip it back to what it is. A simple contact sport.

But then how would the twits at AFL House substantiate their million-dollar salaries??

[Dave The Man]

Footy is not footy anymore

[Wokko]

The AFL was always scared that mums were going to drag little Johnny out of Auskick and take him down to play soccer because footy is 'too rough' and their poor little darlings would get hurt. There has been a big backlash against this bubble wrap parenting but the AFL is still catering to it.

[Albert Parker]

- Agree withe the observations on junior football. It is my son's well drilled team that freezes like they've hit a force field while the other team swoops in and gets the ball and their umpire lets them do so. Makes for frustrating viewing

- back on topic, the game has been over-engineered. On the Couch showing an example last night where 4 players in the Brisbane/Carlton game on the weekend almost all stopped with a ball in dispute, not wanting to slide in or bend over and get the ball at the risk of bumping heads. When one player did, he was immediately tackled and pinged for holding the ball. yet he was the only one making the play and not afraid to pursue the ball. It was a disgraceful decision. The umpires have no feel for the game and administer it with perverse outcomes at times.

[King Monkey]

[Brenny]

There is also the other side of it, the NFL have court cases coming out of their arse, for big money, from ex players who have developed brain injuries.

I personally think the bulk of the rule changes are to try and reduce the toll on the brain of players.

In other words, they want to lessen the potential impact of court cases in the future.

[King Monkey]