Ah the good ol' days

[Bedi]

I always hear people whinge about how shit footy is these days, and after watching this I'm inclined to agree with them.

It was just an all round better game. More skilled, players could hit targets, take a mark, more desperate, tackle harder and pretty much more entertaining across the board.

 

[Buzz Hawk]

It was a much simpler game, less tactical. None of this switching play, going sideways, waiting for options etc.
Get the ball, move it fast straight, down the middle. Give the forwards a chance one out. More physical game too, every possession earnt.
That said it helped that we had superstars on every line.
How good was Tony Hall btw.

 

[Flukey!]

It was definitely less complicated.
It was a true competition then too - one game at home, one away.

The switch to a national competition erased much of the fairness associated with the state leagues.

 

[Manila_Hawk]

I agree Bedi ... They were the good old days.

Thanks for reminding us.

 

[Bedi]

I agree Bedi ... They were the good old days.

Thanks for reminding us.

Tonight's dribble of a game really shat me and was the impetus for posting this. Sure I'm biased, as this was the brand of footy i grew up with (and was indeed at Waverly that day), but with the risk of sounding like Dunstall, it's evident that the very most basic of skills have really declined.

 

[Mercy Seat]

I have some fond memories of this period of football when I was a kid, however, I also remember vividly my Dad and his brothers lamenting about “the good old days” back then.

For them, it was “much better game”, ~25 years prior to the late 80s. This is just the cyclical nature of things.

 

[Mitchell Madness]

The good old days were 2004-2008
Yes, there were some dour games, but the rules allowed for multiple gameplans, and the best team winning.

Now it's been manipulated for TV

 

[Brucie Buffer]

Would there be another professional sport in the world where an umpire often blows his whistle, and nobody at the ground knows why or who he is paying the infringement against? This includes players, commentators and spectators at the ground?
I used to be able to watch every game no matter who was playing, now I love my club more so than the game itself.

 

[Dewnior]

The good old days were 2004-2008
Yes, there were some dour games, but the rules allowed for multiple gameplans, and the best team winning.

The good ol days for me were the 80s when we regularly smacked teams by 100+ and always played on the last Saturday in September.

 

[Mitchell Madness]

The good ol days for me were the 80s when we regularly smacked teams by 100+ and always played on the last Saturday in September.

For hawks fans, yes.

The game as a spectacle wasn't all that good though

 

[Blackhawk42]

I always hear people whinge about how s**t footy is these days, and after watching this I'm inclined to agree with them.

It was just an all round better game. More skilled, players could hit targets, take a mark, more desperate, tackle harder and pretty much more entertaining across the board.

It's usually the mid to late 90's people reference with Rose coloured glasses.

I do implore everybody with that opinion to seek out full games from that period on YouTube.

The skills and defensive efforts are absolutely amateur compared to modern footy. Although, due to the free flowing nature of the game play it's arguably far more entertaining to watch.

 

[Manila_Hawk]

At least there were no drawn-out, mind-numbing score reviews back then.

What a blight on the game.

 

[Middle Pocket]

Would there be another professional sport in the world where an umpire often blows his whistle, and nobody at the ground knows why or who he is paying the infringement against? This includes players, commentators and spectators at the ground?
I used to be able to watch every game no matter who was playing, now I love my club more so than the game itself.

rugger

 

[Flamin Joe]

It's usually the mid to late 90's people reference with Rose coloured glasses.

I do implore everybody with that opinion to seek out full games from that period on YouTube.

The skills and defensive efforts are absolutely amateur compared to modern footy. Although, due to the free flowing nature of the game play it's arguably far more entertaining to watch.

I think you're probably seeing it as usually the mid to late 90's simply because of the current demographics. I have no idea of the stats in this forum but I wouldn't be surprised if there is quite a large portion of users in here (myself included) who grew up in that era so it's the time you often look back to with fond memories. With time that rose coloured glasses era will shift.

But you are right, I've gone back and looked at footage from games I remember fondly back then and one of the first things you notice is some of the skills and generally scrappy play. You just don't realise how far we come as a sport which is only natural considering how much more professional it is these days. Makes you wonder how well a current day VFL team would go if they were transported back to the AFL competition back then.

 

[humid hawk]

I grew up with footy in the 80s so I definitely have a rosy tinge of nostalgia for that era. When i was a small toddler / kid I used to run around calling everyone a "Buckenara" since I'd heard Dennis Commetti saying it so often

I agree with a lot of the posters here re skills comparison. If you check out some of the bottom of the table scraps from the 80s they were pretty putrid in terms of skills, but certainly not aggression. The ability for mids to dish off a perfectly weighted handball from within a pack of bodies is definitely a modern skill.

You also had players in the 80s who were renowned for having a decent tank (Michael Tuck, for example) but not everyone needed to run as much.

 

[TazHawk15]

The good old days were 2004-2008
Yes, there were some dour games, but the rules allowed for multiple gameplans, and the best team winning.

Now it's been manipulated for TV

What are you on about?

The good old days were 1961-2015.

 

[AlwaysHawks15]

It's usually the mid to late 90's people reference with Rose coloured glasses.

I do implore everybody with that opinion to seek out full games from that period on YouTube.

The skills and defensive efforts are absolutely amateur compared to modern footy. Although, due to the free flowing nature of the game play it's arguably far more entertaining to watch.

Disagree. It's when the focus to more defense orientated styles started to kick in IMO. They were much better games of footy to watch. Wasn't just all out attack more a balance between the two. Bombers of 2000 blew teams away all year because they were brutal offensively AND defensively. Umps let alot of stuff go that made the game flow and didn't affect the aesthetics of the match.

 

[The Spirit of Cricket]

Footy players are "better" in almost every way in the modern age. Skill levels, tactics, athleticism, defensive efforts, running power, flexibility etc.

However that absolutely does not mean modern footy is better to watch. There's something really cool about the simplicity of the older style of footy where it was mostly 1v1 and just talent/power going at it. I do prefer watching the modern game but you can get a taste of the old school watching local games which is always really fun too.

I think where the game has fallen off is the experience as fan, which has become even worse post-COVID. Expensive tickets, terrible seats, shutting off half the ground, putrid atmosphere at certain venues. Broadcasting is where most of the AFL's budget and attention seems to go and it's had an impact on the experience attending a game IMO

 

[HedgeFund]

Would there be another professional sport in the world where an umpire often blows his whistle, and nobody at the ground knows why or who he is paying the infringement against? This includes players, commentators and spectators at the ground?
I used to be able to watch every game no matter who was playing, now I love my club more so than the game itself.

NFL - flags go down regularly from sideline refs and no one has any idea what for until the replay is shown 5 times on the screen.

 

[Brishawk]

Early 90s were the peak of the sport. Multiple full forwards kicking tons. Skills had improved across the league with some genius players like Pritchard and jarman at hawthorn feeding dunstall. Just a great era to watch footy.

 

[lyger]

I grew up with footy in the 80s so I definitely have a rosy tinge of nostalgia for that era. When i was a small toddler / kid I used to run around calling everyone a "Buckenara" since I'd heard Dennis Commetti saying it so often

I agree with a lot of the posters here re skills comparison. If you check out some of the bottom of the table scraps from the 80s they were pretty putrid in terms of skills, but certainly not aggression. The ability for mids to dish off a perfectly weighted handball from within a pack of bodies is definitely a modern skill.

You also had players in the 80s who were renowned for having a decent tank (Michael Tuck, for example) but not everyone needed to run as much.

I am the same, grew up watching the Hawks in the 80s, used to catch the bus from Nunawading station to Waverley back in the day.

The three-peat teams were obviously great, but the 80s teams were full of superstars as well!

So fortunate to be a Hawk.

Incidentally, some of the ads made me smile.

“This Nissan Pulsar is full of luxury features usually reserved for big luxury cars - power steering, power mirrors, central locking, power windows”

Ah the good ol’ days.

 

[Hawk Vision]

Have to agree with this. I couldn’t watch last nights game for more than a couple mins. I even struggle to watch our games. It’s pretty much at the point to reduce congestion go to 15 players a side. It will solve the dilution of talent too, with so many teams. Rewarding holding the ball again would also help, they barely pay this now as they want the ball moving at all costs.

 

[RobHawk]

I would love to go back to the days when there was a seemingly level playing field. Not the current one where afl executives manipulate the draft, the fixture and the rules with the end goal of forever boosting their annual bonuses.
And banning betting advertising .

 

[FB19]

The games were far better to watch and you had much greater desire to actually go, albeit the lack of tv coverage a large factor in that.
The things I miss about the 80s and 90s when I grew up are
1. Suburban grounds - amazing atmosphere when princes park fully packed
2. Kicking both sides of the body - players were far more skilled in kicking especially both sides how many modern day players could you say are competent?
3. Characters - far more room for flair and individuality that has been squashed in modern day
4. Cheap food and full strength beer
5. Marking the scores in the footy record
6. Sitting with my late mum…

 

[Buzz Hawk]

I am the same, grew up watching the Hawks in the 80s, used to catch the bus from Nunawading station to Waverley back in the day.

The three-peat teams were obviously great, but the 80s teams were full of superstars as well!

So fortunate to be a Hawk.

Incidentally, some of the ads made me smile.

“This Nissan Pulsar is full of luxury features usually reserved for big luxury cars - power steering, power mirrors, central locking, power windows”

Ah the good ol’ days.

Yeah that guy flogging the garlic that doesn’t smell!
I’m thinking, how cool is that, I’d buy that. Should have been a best seller