First of all let me say that I love football. I am (usually) a happy man during winter especially when the Hawks are playing well. I love the skill and the passion in the game. I love to hate opposition teams but know that they are as important as my club because without them we would have nothing. Because of this the health of those clubs and the fairness of our competition is important to me.
Tonight I read that the AFL, courtesy of Adrian Anderson, was considering changing the rules to stop players sliding. There was no mention of the controversy over players ducking into the tackle to milk a free kick. I admit, I saw red, and thought, here we go again, another AFL smoke and mirrors trick.
I own to having been unhappy with the current AFL administration for some time. I have been unhappy with rule changes that have been poorly thought through and that then require further rule changes. I am unhappy with the operation of the MRP star chamber and the absence of any real clarity about when something is an offence and when it is not, and comparability between decisions on like incidents. I am unhappy about the uneven treatment clubs get from the AFL and how some of those clubs, having been disadvantaged are then held up as being badly run. I look at the marque games which guarantee some of the bigger clubs $$$$ while some of the smaller clubs are forced to tout their wares interstate (and I am NOT referring to Hawthorn and Tasmania). And on that same note, I am unhappy about the lack of transparency and equity in the AFL draw and how it appears to be tied to maximising attendance numbers at the cost of fairness (is attendance and club membership indexed to AFL administration salaries/bonuses?).
I am unhappy about the expansion of the AFL administration at the expense of the clubs. How many divisions and general managers are there?
I always thought that football was OUR game but increasingly I feel that it has been hijacked by other interests. To my knowledge there has never been a proper, comprehensive, independent survey conducted to allow SUPPORTERS to express themselves about the state of OUR game and what could/should be done to make the running of it more transparent, responsive and fairer. The AFL commissioners seem to be faceless men rubber stamping Demetriou and Anderson decisions. Is it time for the AFL commission, independently of the AFL administration, to seek supporter's views about the state of the game?
Tonight I read that the AFL, courtesy of Adrian Anderson, was considering changing the rules to stop players sliding. There was no mention of the controversy over players ducking into the tackle to milk a free kick. I admit, I saw red, and thought, here we go again, another AFL smoke and mirrors trick.
I own to having been unhappy with the current AFL administration for some time. I have been unhappy with rule changes that have been poorly thought through and that then require further rule changes. I am unhappy with the operation of the MRP star chamber and the absence of any real clarity about when something is an offence and when it is not, and comparability between decisions on like incidents. I am unhappy about the uneven treatment clubs get from the AFL and how some of those clubs, having been disadvantaged are then held up as being badly run. I look at the marque games which guarantee some of the bigger clubs $$$$ while some of the smaller clubs are forced to tout their wares interstate (and I am NOT referring to Hawthorn and Tasmania). And on that same note, I am unhappy about the lack of transparency and equity in the AFL draw and how it appears to be tied to maximising attendance numbers at the cost of fairness (is attendance and club membership indexed to AFL administration salaries/bonuses?).
I am unhappy about the expansion of the AFL administration at the expense of the clubs. How many divisions and general managers are there?
I always thought that football was OUR game but increasingly I feel that it has been hijacked by other interests. To my knowledge there has never been a proper, comprehensive, independent survey conducted to allow SUPPORTERS to express themselves about the state of OUR game and what could/should be done to make the running of it more transparent, responsive and fairer. The AFL commissioners seem to be faceless men rubber stamping Demetriou and Anderson decisions. Is it time for the AFL commission, independently of the AFL administration, to seek supporter's views about the state of the game?
