Breakaway League Urgently required!!!

[greatwhiteshark]

The Clubs memorandums say that the clubs own their identify not the AFL and that is the truth.

Breakaway Super League. Collingwood, Essendon, Carlton, Richmond, Hawthorn, Tasmanian team, St Marys from Northern Territory, Glenelg, Norwood, West Perth and South Fremantle.

Play each other twice. Then have a top 5 finals series (everyone gets to play finals).

Whenever I write or say something like "I’m getting sick of the direction footy is heading....if it keeps up, I’m done"...there’s always a voice in the back of my head that says "no you wont...you’ll keep turning up or tuning in to whatever shit they serve you up because you love the game itself."

the Culture is what is dying in our game, well dying might not be the best word for it, maybe being snuffed out is a better description, fans are no longer seen as part of the picture by the afl other than a commodity, numbers and figures to prop up the perception that they are doing the game good, as you rightly put it Culprit it's just a matter of scheduling the right games and numbers are up, they have got it right, but how can they have it right when die hard fans such as yourself and many others are turning off on the game?


We all love the game for our own reasons, I love it for the hardness of contest, the brutal physical force of it, the way players keep their head over the ball, you know what I mean, men playing a mans game, but most of that has been taken out of our game, for crying out loud you can be reported for being reckless! I want to see players being reckless, I want to see them hit packs at 100% not half assed because they might hurt someone, I want our boys to hurt them.


they say that they do this because they want mums to get their sons involved in the game, mums for well over a hundred years have been getting their sons involved, have a look around at any footy match anywhere in the country and you'll find mums everywhere and you always have, what they are doing tho is turning dads and blokes off the game,.

Culture in sport is a delicate thing and often given last thought by those that are in control of the sport/football code, a simple seeming rule change can and does have far reaching effects on any game and especially one that is based on a culture as Aussie rules footy is, so when the governing body brings in rule changes like latest round of ruck rule changes, rules I might add to fix the previous rule changes, they overnight relegated hundreds of blokes around the country useless to their teams, do you really think the lads playing up country care if some media legend thinks ruck contests are ugly? or the game should have less stoppages or it should be a faster game? no they just wanna get a kick.
do the afl in their wisdom take the country leagues into account when they change a rule? doubt it. do they have a think tank on rule changes involving all stake holders or just some select clique to change the game for all Aussie football clubs/teams/players around the nation based on what is better for tv viewing?


it's not just the AFL that will suffer in this, every league in the land are tied to this, so go and watch your local league this Saturday, enjoy it while you can because just as the AFL is going to crap every league in the land will eventually go the same way, as it is the very game itself that is changing from a game we all grew up loving into a hybrid basketball/rugby union/soccer fairy girls game, a game that is getting harder and harder to recognize as the game I grew up loving.

The fact is that what used to be "Aussie Rules" is now "AFL". There is only one AFL league and they control the rules, ideas, people involved etc, like any monopoly anywhere in the world.

So many people are pointing out that they won’t even go watch their clubs anymore just because they are fed up with all this bullshyte rules the rules are shyte no one knows anything about the interpretations


Can someone please name me one other sport in the world where they have this much trouble with the interpretations and with the umpires in general?

The games becoming a non contact sport and they keep frigging around with knee jerk reactions.

They put in all these rules to make the game quicker, less stop-start and more constant motion. This of course has a direct impact on the kind of player that is drafted.

Gone are the days of the natural footballer when any kid with ability could expect to be able to work hard and aspire to getting a game. Nowadays you have to be over 6 foot and run like the wind to get looked at.

And the game has gone soft to a point where players from the 70s and 80s shudder.


Then you throw in three umpires with three different interpretations in the same game and you get the most inconsistent umpiring we have ever had. Umpire decisions have always been controversial but when you had two umpires it was better as you had a balance as there were two interpretations. Now you have three the players are stopping looking around and wondering if they got the free kick or not. Throw in the chopping the forwards arm and penalising a defender and no wonder more people are going back to local football. Kevin Bartlett and his fellow rules committee of merry men in tights have a lot to answer for.

Now we have the AFL who boasts that crowds are up and people love Telstra Dome as they are voting with their feet. If you play the big games there you will get the bigger crowds and inflate your figures. A good accountant will tell you that.[/FONT]
we'd all still love the game as much as we used to if the game itself hadn't been changed, even at the local level the game has changed with state and local leagues adopting the "new" rules that the afl sees fit to bring in every year, we end up with junior and local players expected to play a game that is now designed for TV, Aussie rules football is fast becoming a reality tv show rather than an expression of Australian culture and life.



The worst part about it is that 4/5 of the umpiring decisions are crap because of the interpretations put in place by the AFL, the other 1/5 is simple umpiring mistakes which i can live with because, hey, the players make mistakes, coaches make mistakes so do the umpires.

The interpretations are absolute rubbish, soft and not Australian Football Rules. Its disheartening to watch a game and see the whistle being blow every 10 seconds.

The best games of football you see are the free flowing, hard, highflying, fluent games that aren’t constantly interrupted because someone’s shoulder being touched 30 meters out from goal while two men 6'4" that weigh 90kg's contest a mark.

I think the voice is right...but a breakaway league, under the right circumstances, that would be something i would wholeheartedly support. There is not much you can REALLY do as a supporter to change the AFLs direction...but supporting a breakaway league....that’s something fans can do.

Riding the corporate tidal wave of cheap cash, with everyone patting each other on the back for doing such a great job feathering their own nests, when in fact a Drover's dog could of lead us through what has been essentially an off-shore boom. It will be interesting to see what sort of leadership we have in this country when real decisions need to be made. Wiser heads? Remains to be seen.


I would ultimately rather a coup within the AFL to wrest control away from those morons who have it now.

Geez , wouldn't a breakaway league more in tune with the traditions of the game ( as opposed to this boardroom dictatorship ) scare the shit out of Andrew and his loyal asslickers.

They don't get it Alcopop, most of the posters on BF are kids who have never seen Australian footy played. They love what Demetriou dishes up to them, they don't know any different. When Demetriou says jump they jump.

 

[Alcopop]

They don't get it Alcopop, most of the posters on BF are kids who have never seen Australian footy played. They love what Demetriou dishes up to them, they don't know any different. When Demetriou says jump they jump.

Agreed, they is a whole generation who are brain washed and don't know how to have an independent thought for themselves....

they don't remember the halcyon days of the VFA, Frosty Miller, Fred Cook...

Or Suburban footy.

Or when the WAFL and SANFL had all Australians running around on a weekly basis.

When there were other leagues and other options.

We can have that again.

Life is about competition in any industry.

 

[Books]

I would support a rebel league. This one is becoming boring. But I will always support Hawthorn wherever they go.

By the way, terrific post up there Alcopop. Long, but with a lot of excellent points.

 

[FootyJunkie]

Would be good if NTFL got some money pumped into it and marketed themselves as a rival league that takes place in the summer. Got national coverage, etc.

 

[Adrian Shelton]

Dead right by Alcopop, all those grounds, history and champions and in more than one state too, build it and they will come, tipping out the admin rubbish and compliant media of now is the hard bit

 

[JoondalupJ]

This just has to happen at some stage to save our game from ruin, quote all the dollar making crap you want but the AFL is now rigged competition.

Almost at a point where one could argue that some Premiership winning teams could be regarded as not earning their spot in history over rigged draws and money making escapades.

Stokes, Packer anyone, take the game back to the people and give the game some equality and respect.

Most importantly take the game away from these mugs who are running it into the ground and destroying the fabric the game was built on.

The rules, the fixture, the whole system is a ****ing joke, something has to happen to change it because if it doesn't then the game will eventually become not recognisable.

I happen to agree to some extent on this subject. I've said myself that self destruction is on the cards for the AFL executives at the moment, hunting TV dollars and at the same time risking the game of Australian rules football. West Sydney and the Gold Coast
are going to cost a heap of money and has a hell of a good chance of total failure, its not a chance but an absolute fact that it will dilute the standard of the game.
Worse still some already established clubs could suffer terribly financialy and on the feild
Freo could be one, maybe North Melbourne maybe Port, who knows?
We can't support 18 teams and keep the clubs viable, and keep the game standard very very high as it should be. Then!!! you will see our game become unrecognisable.
I am a staunch beleiver in the fact that Dimetriou and Anderson and co have had their day. Its time to remove them and return to some sanity or ruination of the greatest
feild sport on the Earth will become a fact. AUSSIE RULES IS THE BEST KEPT SECRET ON THE PLANET.

 

[JoondalupJ]

Agreed, they is a whole generation who are brain washed and don't know how to have an independent thought for themselves....

they don't remember the halcyon days of the VFA, Frosty Miller, Fred Cook...

Or Suburban footy.

Or when the WAFL and SANFL had all Australians running around on a weekly basis.

When there were other leagues and other options.

We can have that again.

Life is about competition in any industry.

GREAT WHITE SHARK AND ALCHOPOP You are both spot on, those old days when there were senior comps all over the country and there were champions in all of them , they played real football not "super running, athlete mad speed game where if your fast your in " can't kick straight? Who gives a stuff we'll play you cause you can run very very fast, don't handball that well ,don't worry we don't need champion centre men who can win a game with handball a fellow named Williams comes to mind, BUT NO!!! we don't need the "deisals" of this world in our game now. Gee are you ever right, the kids getting fed the new game, have no idea how real footy is played. And skills were the ultimate thing , not any more, and you don't have to man up unless your in the GF. If you haven't manned up much during the season a hard bunch will crush you.

 

[Consolaçao]

Stokes, Packer anyone, take the game back to the people and give the game some equality and respect.

You lost me with this.

Do you think these mother****ers have an altruistic bone in their bodies? They're businessmen, and they'd destroy the game for a few bucks. Thank your lucky stars we have who we have cos if these guys got hold of the game it would truly be ****ed. Stop believing the media line that these guys are anything other than ruthless, greedy arseholes of the worst variety.

 

[Consolaçao]

Spot on. Agree 100% with you. Scary thing is it seems a lot of the Vic club supporters have been brainwashed by all the $ making quotes from liars like Demitrou and Maguire that they let the draw be rigged because they think the crowd sizes and $'s are the main thing! The integrity of the comp is gone. Quality of matches is often very poor.

A lot of people here want a break away league to form. I know the SANFL is getting bigger again each year as the AFL is sterile and the style of game is close to water polo. The more traditional rules in the SANFL and the umpiring is light years ahead of the AFL.

Would love for WA, SA and NT to form a comp. Couldn't give a f*** if the AFL is bigger and has more money etc. Get back to real tough hard Aussie Rules. A 'Premier' league meritocracy style comp has been talked about here to have the top SA and WA clubs in it with Tas, NT and I think Port Melbourne even inquired about joining the SANFL they are that shafted by the AFL NAZI's.

Yes we need a Jamie Packer or one of the WA mining magnates to give the nod and watch what happens. The WACA, Bellrieve and Adelaide Oval are AFL free too which is a good start.

The Vic-centric AFL has ignored its heartland states at its peril in its quest to keep non-viable clubs afloat, transplant the game just for dollars, and dilute and bastardise the game to satisfy the PC screamers.

The AFL is a socialist competition - a race to mediocrity.

I'm so glad I don't know you on a personal level.

 

[Consolaçao]

When looking back on the 2000s, it seems the AFL were fairly blatent with the rigging.

They needed to be seen as running a good level ship by sharing flags around.

Ok, so lets get a flag for :
2001 - Brisbane
2002 - Collingwood
2003 - Freo
2004 - Port
2005 - Sydney
2006 - West Coast
2007 - Geelong
2008 - Hawthorn
2009 - St Kilda
2010 - Western Kangaroos

2001 went off a treat. Unfortunately, they forgot that you have to win a Grand Final to win a flag, and, as Collingwood struggle in that arena, in 2002 the opportunity was missed and Brisbane got a 2nd one when it was supposed to be Collingwood's.

*shrug* ah well, we'll use Freo's slot for Collingwood, Freo can jump in sometime in the twenty-teens, no-one but themselves care that much and will notice if they remain about 10th to 12th for another decade. So we'll get the Pies up in '03 instead, and then continue on from there. Unfortunately, they forgot that to win a premiership, you have to win a Grand Final, etc et al and so on.

By 2004 the AFL were fed up with Collingwood buggerising their plans for conquering the universe, and decided to revert to the list. It was Port's turn, and duly, as a good 90,000 years or whatever it is of history would ensure, they delivered.

Okay who's next? Sydney haven't had a flag for aaaaaaaaaggggggggggggggggg *deep breath* ggggggggges ... well *thump* here have a flag. 2005 is year of the Swan.

2006 and just to keep it looking on the up and up, lets still rotate through the clubs, but here in the middle of the decade lets use one that haven't been too bad over recent times, and so its the Eagles. Freo were considered for this slot but it would have looked to obvious if Freo won a flag, so it reverted to the other WA team.

2007 and mebloodyow its finally time to give the Pivotonians a pennant. Looks perfect cause they had some failed attempts in earlier years so its not so ludicrous-looking for them to win one here.

2008 - The hawks, well yes they'd won heaps 20 or so years back, but they'd been in out of the money for quite a while, and anyways one of their coaches a few years back let slip that he knew about the scheme, so it was probably a good idea that he and/or they be appeased.

2009 - This year was designated specifically for St Kilda. Unfortunately, we found out that it wasn't just Preliminary finals that they had some jitters about. Grand Finals seem to go down sideways with insufficient lubrication as well! So instead of the Sainters getting one, Geelong gets a second.

2010 - This is why, in 2010, the Scraggers are to be pencilled in for the flag. You can see its been orchestrated to slowly elevate them up the ladder over a period of years, so no foul play can be suspected if they snag a trophy. Well, the AFL have done all they can, now its up to the Bullies. Of course, by this point, there was hope in AFL circles that they'd have merged/absorbed North Melbourne by this time. But good old North Melbourne, oooooh how the brass hate that song ... even those who've played for them in the past!

And that's it. Yes, that's it. Wait, I hear you wailing about a couple more clubs? Ahhh yes, Melbourne, North Melbourne and Richmond.

Well, I think you'll find they didn't count on Melbourne still being in the comp by 2011, either. I think they were hoping they'd do a Fitzroy. And North, considering North is their biggest bugbear, winning premierships while gushing blood all over the canvas, well North has won flags recently enough that the AFL don't care if they do or don't win more for now. So North, and Melbourne, the league's just annoyed that both are still around, because if they both disappeared, we'd be back to 16 clubs in a few years time.

Oh, Richmond? Yep, they hadn't forgotten Richmond. The concept, I am guessing, is that soon enough they'll split the league into a Premier and Second division, 8 clubs in each. That would solve the Richmond issue, because from then on they'd win a flag every alternate year.

Does that sound about right to you?

This is hilarious. You. Are. Mental.

 

[estibador]

Worse still some already established clubs could suffer terribly financialy and on the feild
Freo could be one, maybe North Melbourne maybe Port, who knows?

Why single out Freo as one that may suffer because of the addition of these expansion teams? We're one of the most financial clubs in the comp and we certainly don't rely on AFL handouts in any shape or form.

(And we could hardly suffer any worse on the field than we already have for 15 years).

 

[Hondo]

I think some of you need/want a time machine marked "1977" rather than a breakaway league

 

[Alcopop]

I think some of you need/want a time machine marked "1977" rather than a breakaway league

well Terminator, you should know better than anyone.

Demetriou = Skynet.

The future is Bleak.

Lets change the future now, while we still can!

 

[Hondo]

That's a good, funny comeback!

 

[Wonaeamirri33]

This is hilarious. You. Are. Mental.

Mate, Mobbs is obviously taking the piss with at least some of that

 

[FootyJunkie]

well Terminator, you should know better than anyone.

Demetriou = Skynet.

The future is Bleak.

Lets change the future now, while we still can!

This reminds me of something I read online a few years back.

Someone took the dialogue from Terminator 2 where Arnie is talking about how Skynet took over... about it being "becoming self ware on August 27th 1997, 2:14am"... but he changed it around so it was in the context of how Telstra Bigpond (Skynet) took over the afl.com.au website.

Not sure if I saw it here on Big Footy or on usenet/Google groups, but it was a laugh and a half. Anyone know what I'm on about, or where I can read this? Did a search but came up with nothing.

 

[demon48]

The VFL/AFL is already a Breakaway League. 8 teams broke away from the VFA in 1897 and formed the VFL.

 

[Dawson]

This just has to happen at some stage to save our game from ruin, quote all the dollar making crap you want but the AFL is now rigged competition.

Almost at a point where one could argue that some Premiership winning teams could be regarded as not earning their spot in history over rigged draws and money making escapades.

Stokes, Packer anyone, take the game back to the people and give the game some equality and respect.

Most importantly take the game away from these mugs who are running it into the ground and destroying the fabric the game was built on.

The rules, the fixture, the whole system is a ****ing joke, something has to happen to change it because if it doesn't then the game will eventually become not recognisable.

If this is such a great idea, why do you suppose there is no rush to do it?