Biggest problem inthe AFL ?

[Demonoid]

The problem of the AFL that outside victoria it's still perceived as a victorian comp.

Yep - and the best place to start si to begin thinkign about making it more national. More teams are a start. Draft camps have been moved interstate and the Brownlow may son follow. Eventually - the big daddy of them all - the Grand FInal will need to move. Presently, it can only be moved to Sydney....soon Perth will have a stadium available to do it justice.

The current MCG agreement still has a couple of decades to run...but that is the final frontier....

 

[El_Scorcho]

The inequitable fixture. Teams like Collingwood, Carlton and Essendon playing each other twice, increased attendances, greater gate receipts, and as such, Demetriou gets a bigger bonus at the end of the year. How can that be allowed to continue?

Yes I'm an Essendon supporter but I want a fair system for all. Surely it will happen eventually. Other glaring problems have been eventually fixed. Drawn finals (1990), flawed final system (1994-1999), non-Vic teams "earning" a home final in Melbourne, delayed telecasts, etc etc.

You know it makes sense.

Nail on the head. It's a big reason why the gap between the rich and poor continues to grow.

Excellent post

 

[Demonic Ascent]

The inequitable fixture. Teams like Collingwood, Carlton and Essendon playing each other twice, increased attendances, greater gate receipts, and as such, Demetriou gets a bigger bonus at the end of the year. How can that be allowed to continue?

Yes I'm an Essendon supporter but I want a fair system for all. Surely it will happen eventually. Other glaring problems have been eventually fixed. Drawn finals (1990), flawed final system (1994-1999), non-Vic teams "earning" a home final in Melbourne, delayed telecasts, etc etc.

You know it makes sense.

Exactly right. There's no reason that seasons can't now be reduced to 17 games per club so that every team plays every other team once. Add in a couple of split rounds for players to get a rest during the year or just stagger some byes throughout the season and add in a State of Origin round and you have a 20 week season. Yes there will be less games but surely broadcasters would rather quality over quantity? Why would they care about airing a dead rubber round 21 game between say Melbourne & Port or Hawthorn & Gold Coast that no neutrals will want to watch. Dead rubbers may occur earlier in the season however with less rounds it is likely that each game will have greater importance to whether a team gains a home final or makes the finals at all.

I don't get the call for an additional "rivalry round" either. Surely with teams only meeting once a year the rivalry games will take on even greater significance, even moreso if the return game occurs in a final like happened with Essendon/Carlton this year. This wouldn't have to effect fixtured games such as the ANZAC day game although as a MFC member I would be happy for the Queens Birthday game and other public holiday games to be rotated if it meant a fair draw.

 

[BigKahunaBlue]

I think the biggest issue is at board level. Where the hell have Andy D and co been given the right to award themselves half a mil raise each year?

IMHO thats the biggest issue. Fancy having Andy D on 2.5 mil a year like the rest of the yes men he has surrounded himself with, yet the players who are the product only entitled 1/4 of what the big fat seppo earns.

When did the AFL start being run by greedy bankers and traders?

 

[Buddy Magic]

The thing that irks me most is that there are too many lopsided games. 2 divisions would help harness this with teams being relegated from first div and promoted from second.

It would also give weaker teams more success and the chance to win a premiership, be it minor. Plus it would make the end of year more exciting as teams from 2nd div try and make it to 1st and teams at the bottom of first div try and avoid going down.

 

[Dr Awkward]

Biggest problem imo is the umpiring and the rule change committee.

 

[basashi]

The biggest problem is the ease with which the Commission seems to accept unfairness.

• Fixtures are unfair.
• Every club seems to be on a different deal.
• Guaranteed games.
• Disparity of travel burden BETWEEN Vic clubs.
• Lack of travel management of non Vic clubs.
• Contracts with grounds that limit one clubs travel away from Melbourne...

What we need is a rule in the Constitution of the AFL that is common in most sporting bodies around the world but absent in ours:

"The Commission may not make a rule, contract or arrangement that has the effect of advantaging one club over another without fairly compensating the disadvantaged clubs or fairly penalising the advantaged club."

This means that if you want a particular game reserved for you... pay for it with draft picks, cash and salary cap.

If you want to routinely travel less than other clubs in your city... pay for the privilege with draft picks, cash and salary cap.


Too many times the AFL gives a reason (usually bums on seats) as to why they are being unfair between clubs.... but they never explain why they do not take equalising action. And without equalising action, gaps between sides are magnified every time you acknowledge them.

 

[XFactor1979]

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[Demonoid]

With the 2 new clubs coming in, I would reduce the number of tickets that go to non competign clubs from 1000 to 500. That way, if there are 16 teams not in the grand final, that is another 8,000 tickets. I think every player also gets a at least a couple or maybe more. I think they cna easily find away to inncrease the total by at least 10,000.

Even this year, they reckoned they didn't sell all the corporate packages - but they still got over 99,500, which is more than went to the 2009 edition - from memory that day was pissing down with rain as well.

Its a no brainer - yeah the afl (or clubs rather) might take a bit of a hit, but they can just jack up the price of their corporate tickets since there will be less of them to give around.

 

[caitsith01]

Biggest problem imo is the umpiring and the rule change committee.

This, this, 100 times this.

E.g. this year, suddenly they are letting incorrect disposal go almost 100% of the time because they want to "keep the game moving".

And now a player who intentionally headbutts another player in the knee is rewarded with a free kick for high contact.

And the awful, awful "diving on the ball" rule.

Or remember the farce that was the first year of the revised "hands in the back rule".

All of which made worse by capricious, attention-seeking umpires.

A great challenge for the AFL would be to lock in a new arrangement where rule changes are only permitted every, say, five years, after a thorough review by a genuinely independent working group whose #1 priority is the preservation of the unique strengths and qualities of the game.

However, step 1 is simple. Un-mike the ****ing umpires.

 

[iDon]

THe inconsistency of rule interpretations and the tribunal. Puts me on edge each week with the crap that will be served up to us on MOnday morning.