AFL is on the decline - the younger generation is just not that into you

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Even last year, when the dogs were mostly at the top, I didn’t enjoy the game like in the past. This year has been a new level of shit though. Steve Hocking, Brad Scott and even KB a decade ago have really done a number on this game.
 
terrybull said:
While the over sensitive no dissent rule and no criticizing of umpires is protecting their welfare….

But what about the players? Not being allowed to show any emotion on decisions will lead to more retirements due to mental health. Plus the scrutiny of the media watching their every move.

Dusty Martin is looking frustrated by the game. He is oddly protected and back chats umps without getting 50 against him. I think this year will be the last with the Tigers. But won’t go to Sydney , but retire.

The game is frustrating to watch, and I’m in the position of explaining the game to people who hardly seen it. About 40% of decisions I say have not got a clue.

The last one, they asked is ‘common sense” a rule? Well I guess it is now.
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The irony.
 

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PetterdHoisted said:
post season 2017 666 came in, first of a raft of spatial control measures bought in over successie seasons since then. correct me if i'm wrong?
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No rule changes have been happening forever to try and fix things in the game people didn't seem to like.

As much as Richmond supporters like to think that recent rule changes were brought in to stop there so called dominance it could not be further from the truth. The fact is a lot of these rules had been discussed for years before being implemented.

Never mind the fact the AFL had been making other drastic changes long before 2017.
 
deck said:
No rule changes have been happening forever to try and fix things in the game people didn't seem to like.

As much as Richmond supporters like to think that recent rule changes were brought in to stop there so called dominance it could not be further from the truth. The fact is a lot of these rules had been discussed for years before being implemented.

Never mind the fact the AFL had been making other drastic changes long before 2017.
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sorry, what major structural changes to the game, after 1970 when the centre square exclusion zone was brought in?

I'll look forward to your answer, but allowing players to be on any part of the field used to be lauded as a strength of our game, and the 'offside' style exclusion rules of other codes laughed at.

In the last 5 years we have exclusion zones going off all over the place.
 
BigPond101 said:
What blows my mind is most years the umpiring in the grand final is universally praised (some exceptions like the 2016 Bulldogs vs Swans debacle). The umpires let play go and the game is better

That should be a clue but instead we get these regular season games averaging almost a free kick a minute
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I think this points to the lack of quality umpires. The GF is well officiated because the 3 best umpires in the game are selected. Unfortunately, we have a situation in the regular season where there are too many incompetent spuds who want to make a name for themselves out there in the middle and as a result, we end up with 60 free kicks in a game. It all comes back to the AFL’s approach to umpire development and rule interpretations. The only way to fix this mess is for them to conduct a review, which will hopefully lead to the sackings within the umpiring department that are needed to enact real change.
 
PetterdHoisted said:
What was the kb one? Interchange bench?
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It was when the game was really first starting to be mucked around with consistently, rather than a bit piece here and there. Stuff like increasing the amount of umpires. Chopping the arms and hands in the back are still to this day not very well applied or let go at any given moment. I can't remember when which interchange changes came when, because there were a few. Same with how they viewed HTB and bumping, which kept changing so often
 
The_JHF_Clinic said:
I think this points to the lack of quality umpires. The GF is well officiated because the 3 best umpires in the game are selected. Unfortunately, we have a situation in the regular season where there are too many incompetent spuds who want to make a name for themselves out there in the middle and as a result, we end up with 60 free kicks in a game. It all comes back to the AFL’s approach to umpire development and rule interpretations. The only way to fix this mess is for them to conduct a review, which will hopefully lead to the sackings within the umpiring department that are needed to enact real change.
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Is there a lack of quality umpires or too many umpires wanting to over umpire? Just put the whistles away. Honestly half the frees could just be waved on and no one would complain...

We shouldnt even know their names if theyre doing a good job, hint there "Razor"
 
PetterdHoisted said:
sorry, what major structural changes to the game, after 1970 when the centre square exclusion zone was brought in?

I'll look forward to your answer, but allowing players to be on any part of the field used to be lauded as a strength of our game, and the 'offside' style exclusion rules of other codes laughed at.

In the last 5 years we have exclusion zones going off all over the place.
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The 6-6-6 isn't even that drastic as it is only for centre bounces. It has only been the last 20 years or so that teams have played a extra behind the ball. The fact is you can still play this and teams still do but just can't at the centre bounce.

Some of the rules such as the circle at the centre bounce and the line across it have pretty much ended the careers of talls that couldn't leap at the ball.
 
deck said:
The 6-6-6 isn't even that drastic as it is only for centre bounces. It has only been the last 20 years or so that teams have played a extra behind the ball. The fact is you can still play this and teams still do but just can't at the centre bounce.

Some of the rules such as the circle at the centre bounce and the line across it have pretty much ended the careers of talls that couldn't leap at the ball.
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6-6-6 was huge, as I keep saying, it was the beginning of 'off-side' style rules into our game that any true AFL person just reviles.

The result of 6-6-6 is tactical uniformity and has added to the blandness of the modern game. But it has serious direct consequences too, coaches like Noble/Simmo will lose their job this year because they have poor playing groups, but are forbidden from playing a defensive setup, and just get whacked by 50+ points every. single. week. They are conceding 15-20 goals on a good week, so try telling them '6-6-6 doesn't effect the game much'.

Pales in comparison though to the actual STAND rule though which is so bad in conception, so impossible to officiate, it is comical.
 

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PetterdHoisted said:
Young kids have distractions forever, they didn’t invent the internet in 2017

Crowds have been in decline since 2017, when the rules started to change
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The difference between the distractions of the past and the current ones is that kids became board of them. That's not the case anymore, it's endless distraction that they can control and change up, very different beast.

Kids are not playing sport like they did and nor are they taking interest in it.

The same is happening for all sport. Look at Cricket for example. 15+ years ago we would play a heap of one dayers and get 20-60K people to most matched, we don't even play ODI cricket anymore. T20 blew up as a hugely popular game, the Big Bash League was getting AFL crowds and viewership, nothing has changed much in those sports and attendance and interest has plummeted. Explain that?

What is happening in footy is happening to all sport. It's a credit to the game that it's not going as bad as cricket.

Some little minor rule changes have very little to do with it. Australia is quickly going from a sporting nation to just average interest.

Kids don't grow up watching sports with mum and dad. Parents don't make kids play sport. Adults are working more and being less involved in sport because of the changing economy and cost of living pressures. There is a lot to it that is killing sport in Australian. The psycological impacts left from covid lock downs have changed people's habits and interests. There's more to it than a few rule changes driving people away.
 
gbatman said:
The difference between the distractions of the past and the current ones is that kids became board of them. That's not the case anymore, it's endless distraction that they can control and change up, very different beast.

Kids are not playing sport like they did and nor are they taking interest in it.

The same is happening for all sport. Look at Cricket for example. 15+ years ago we would play a heap of one dayers and get 20-60K people to most matched, we don't even play ODI cricket anymore. T20 blew up as a hugely popular game, the Big Bash League was getting AFL crowds and viewership, nothing has changed much in those sports and attendance and interest has plummeted. Explain that?

What is happening in footy is happening to all sport. It's a credit to the game that it's not going as bad as cricket.

Some little minor rule changes have very little to do with it. Australia is quickly going from a sporting nation to just average interest.

Kids don't grow up watching sports with mum and dad. Parents don't make kids play sport. Adults are working more and being less involved in sport because of the changing economy and cost of living pressures. There is a lot to it that is killing sport in Australian. The psycological impacts left from covid lock downs have changed people's habits and interests. There's more to it than a few rule changes driving people away.
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The funny one about cricket is that it’s probably more attacking and spectacular now then ever before
 
gbatman said:
Some little minor rule changes have very little to do with it. Australia is quickly going from a sporting nation to just average interest.
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I will just never agree to the above.

The rule changes since post-season 2017 have changed the game completely and are in no universe, or even multiverse, 'minor'.

Major changes in the structure of the game have been made in the last 5 years, if you haven't noticed that, I'm not sure you watched footy previous to 2018.
 
WCErevival said:
Sport isn't the big draw it used to be. Its now competing with a lot more over the last 20 years. I used to be a die hard. Now its just a game of football.
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Yeah same as cricket.

Although as I get older test cricket is the only cricket I really want Australia to win.

Even though Eagles are doing poopy lately I havent had the same involvement (travelling interstate etc) with them since Ive bought my house and reality of life kicked in.

Arrgh Im busting my butt all week to make a tiny percentage of what these guys earn and they cant hit a target from 5m away... why would I bother type thoughts...

On SM-G925I using BigFooty.com mobile app
 
This thread is dumb.

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I reckon it started going to shit when we stopped recruiting footballers, and started recruiting athletes.

Less drinks, smokos, true footy nous and skill… and more fumbly mistakes on field and easy missed shots on goal because it wasn’t old school footballers playing the game anymore.
 
BIRDBRAIN said:
If you played a game of aussie rules in the school yard these days how would the kids even be able to decide on a set of rules to play it by? The AFL players, coaches, commentators and umpires can't even agree on what the rules are and how to interpret them, how will a bunch of kids?
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Well they won't , and I bet there is confusion in the schoolyards , the AFL has mangled the feel the rules the over umpiring ,, the 50 metre penalty made simply for over kill from hard players, I remember when odd years ago a ble barely could take a mark without being reminded by his opponent with a heavy knock and sniping I mean real sniping, not a Buddy Franklin tap, snipers I have witnessed in amateur footy many years ago, I was coached once by a fellow who would target certain payers from clubs he knew about and use oe of his sons, to carry out a pack snap and he was hard and successful , that should never happen in footy, but in higher level football that was taken out by what I always thought was a once every few weeks 15 metre when I played in the 70's then became 50 later on in VFL/AFL. NEVER IN MY WILDEST DREAMS COULD i IMAGINE THE CARETAKERS OF OUR GAME, FOLLOWING UP TO NOW 2022 OVER THE LAST 10 TO 20 YEARS would eventually have the audacity to create penalties for emotion shown by players for a gesture? Then for running over a freed up area, what crap 50 m when half the players don't understand what they've done then the sycophants in the call box say they should be aware, well when its bullsh*t being aware in the heat of battle sometimes never enters a head, where in any sport does such a massive change in a situation, that gets a change so massive to the advantage of the kicker. Blatant foolishness from the rules people.
The worst thing about many of the rules developed over years and interpreted differently every week in every game is the fact that so many are so unfair, small insignificant incidental touching of opponents becomes a major penalty, then last week ot week beforwe Hawthorn v Brissy and the umps called 63 free kicks, 63 and no one can tell me free kicks create more scores than they ever did, and umpires have the game as their own , and can interprete to the grey rule as they see fit in every occasion. They call the camera for goal umpires to be certain, they are not accurate, we know what photography is those films every week have a couple that are determined not given to the umpire choice I find wrong at least a couple a round? Free kicks to ruckmen , they should be banned ruck is the start of play in any situation the game start at throw ins and goal centre bounces, but umps pick tiggy touchwood frees from nothing even the reciver of the free sometimes doesn't know why!!!
You are correct BIRDBRAIN, HOW IN GODS NAME DO THE KIDS WORK OUT THE RULES WHEN LOTS OF US LOCKED ON AND LOCKED IN TO THIS GAME CAN'T DECIPHER WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON, THE ARM TOUCH IN FAVOR OF FORWARDS WHEN BLOKES DEFEND.
Life time follower of this game Iam, and sometimes I will turn a match off, when it makes me furious when I should be enjoying it, even when I watch non Hawk matches , I watch a bit, for the Sandgropers on here, I live in the west but I'm a Victorian, you WA folk will know and remember, as all of us do, Dennis Cometti, one of the greats of football callers going around. Known all over Australia retired from TV broadcasting but in a n article maybe three years ago said much the same thing , that the game frustrates him more sometimes than enjoyment. Well I agree and the adminiostration with the rules are to blame totally, because the spectacle is still great but the nonsensical is slowly killing it, and I am close to guiving things away, I won't of course give everything but I've contemplated leaving my membership , and I know that is why I have whinged about it for so long everywhere, its these words that explain, "WHEN I WATCH OUR AUSSIE RULES NOW , I HAVE A CLEAR VIEW OF WHAT WE HAVE.... LOST.... IN THE GAME. A castrated less contact therefore less contest too many frees and too much political correct nonsense turning this sport into what it was never meant to be.
So BIRDBRAIN you got me off the bench again with this, the game needs to be given back to us and the players.
Umpires should be seen and not heard!
And the rules....= SHOULD BE BLACK AND WHITE SO WE KNOW WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON.

There is not a person who knows footy that can't describe unfair scoring because of rules and over the top dedicated(yes!!) umpires, with way too much control of games
And also another point no one wants to discuss.
How long before spot bets and gambling crooks get into some one who can change a game??? Think about it!
Gambling is a poisonous disease in sport these days. It'll come, and AFL is ripe for it.
 

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AFL is on the decline - the younger generation is just not that into you

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