Nab Cup: For or Against?

[Mojo]

I saw Jeff kennett talking about his opinion of the Nab Cup against Sydney last week and again against Carlton and didn't actually agree with him!

I want to know everybody's - even Cranny's (not gay, mate) view of the Nab Cup!

 

[Roughie]

Im not really up for a cup situation, but I am happy with just a 3-4 game preseason. Extended benches, regular time, and let the coaches decide how they want to play the games.

 

[Philhawk]

I like it.

Gives kids a chance to play at a competitive level.

Though i'll start hating it if there are injuries.

 

[GoHawkers]

I am for it.

It is a competition that took over from the practice matches before the season started. We would still have the practice matches with or without it being a comp.

This way we can get some coverage of them and see how some of the younger players are going.

 

[Coconut Rough]

I like it.

Gives kids a chance to play at a competitive level.

Though i'll start hating it if there are injuries.

Ditto

 

[lethalselbow]

Good system. Better then when they had the round robbin pre-season crap.

It's good that you get rewarded to play on better grounds and make more $'s if you stay in the comp.

 

[Mervyn Beasley]

Make it meaningful or scrap it.
$360k is only attractive to a few, and those few are already out of the comp and didnt really seem to care anyway.
The $1 mill bonus for winning both is a good idea, but still, that will only attract a few tryers as most clubs are realistic enough in relation to their flag chances. If the bonus was $2 mill you might find last years top 6 having a decent crack.

2 practice games. One home and one away, or one in city and one in country. Then get into it with an extra 2 games in the H&A season.

Good friend attended the press conf in Canberra on Sat. Said it was embarassing trying to talk up how exciting the last 5 mins was. Neither Thompson or Lyon gave a flying feck. Also suggested Thompson was happier to be going to Carrara than the Dome this weekend as the Cats would be away from the limelight and the scrutiny.

Personally it shets me as I know it's not important but I hate losing.

 

[MinerBoy]

I like it.

Gives kids a chance to play at a competitive level.

Though i'll start hating it if there are injuries.

The best thing about it is you can watch the team play, either on TV or at the ground. The team's are playing praccy matches anyway if they don't play NAB, but they are out the back of Burke. Injuries are just as likely to happen in these games as the NAB.

Don't really care if they win the thing or not as it isn't that great a guide to the regular season, but it helps build supporter momentum if the team wins matches and gets to watch a few games that are televised.

 

[Number 24]

I like it better than the clubs being forced to go all over the country to play practice/exhibition matches.

I think a reversion to the round robin system where all clubs get a few games or go back to the ordinary practice games between local clubs or the odd interstate club....yer I know, all interstate clubs are odd.

 

[play2win]

crock a shite. should extend the regular season to improve the shiteness that is the draw.

only good thing about it is you get to see some of the youngsters playing that you may not otherwise see.

 

[FatBoy's Wombats]

I like it gives me a chance to check out new kids across all clubs look at form and also fix my dream team for the year

 

[Juza]

I like it.
You can build your match fitnesss & you get to see the new kids.

 

[Frankston Rover]

crock a shite. should extend the regular season to improve the shiteness that is the draw.

only good thing about it is you get to see some of the youngsters playing that you may not otherwise see.

Agree.

You could scrap this waste of time and extend the season by 2, 3 or 4 rounds and even up the draw a hell of a lot.

Would love to see this poll if Franklin did his knee or something. It's not worth anything, yet Malceski, D!ck and Haselby are out for 12 months because of it. At least if they went down in the regular season, you could justify it....

Get rid of it.

 

[Gene Simmons]

The NAB Cup is needed!

Not only as a chance for the players to have afew competitive hit-outs and a chance for the youngsters to get a run but it is very important for memberships!

Yes it's true NAB Cup has very little to do with the season proper, however a promising performance can definately help boost membership sales, just like strong starts to a season can usually translate to memberships too.

Yes, out of the 25,000+ members we have already a majority would buy a membership regardless, however, I have no doubt that there are alot of '1st year' members in 2008 joining on the back of a promising 2007 and I'm sure there are many more who are on the verge of signing up.

 

[Carn Hawkas]

I'm for it if Browny can serve his suspention in it.

 

[Miss_Hawk_Fan]

Good system. Better then when they had the round robbin pre-season crap.

It's good that you get rewarded to play on better grounds and make more $'s if you stay in the comp.

I am with Jeff Kennet on this one, id rather each team play twice in a season and take away the AFL control of the draw.

I'd like the season too be broken into two, one half; March to may then a break in june, return July to september. It would make a much fairer competition and id like to see the players be more physical (hip & shoulders) between the the thigh and shoulder. Totally agree head and grion areas are tottally of limits.

yeah and i might win 1 million dollars, Oh well one can dream!

 

[RustyHawk]

Against.

We have had 2 weeks of NAB Cup. Still 4 weeks to go before Round 1.

As Leigh Matthews said of the last years NAB Cup effect on his team (They played off for the GF against Carlton) He said by Round 3 of the AFL season his boys felt they had already played 2 months of football..[or equal to round 8]. Simply too long.

My suggestion is:

2 Weeks of NAB Challenge. Teams do a half a game of footy Olympics such as handball comps, longest kick, goal kicking etc with points going to each team and then play a half of practice match footy with the winner decided by points.

Then

3 weeks of NAB Cup - games of 4 quarters of football.

Current set up is way too long

 

[ricta]

Bring on the 30 game format, play everyone twice! it would be a true competion then!

no hidden treasures! a fair competition it would be 4 all!!!!

 

[FatBoy's Wombats]

Bring on the 30 game format, play everyone twice! it would be a true competion then!

no hidden treasures! a fair competition it would be 4 all!!!!

Or we could cut the dead weights like the kanga's, wb and the tigers and play a 24 match season with two bye's in there somewhere.

Meh doesn't really bother me as long as they play footy.

 

[Hawkers Hero]

Agree.

You could scrap this waste of time and extend the season by 2, 3 or 4 rounds and even up the draw a hell of a lot.

Would love to see this poll if Franklin did his knee or something. It's not worth anything, yet Malceski, D!ck and Haselby are out for 12 months because of it. At least if they went down in the regular season, you could justify it....

Get rid of it.

So if they extended the season by 4 rounds to eliminate the cup and Franklin did his knee in Round 2 it would be ok?

The threat of injuries are not a valid excuse for dropping the competition as players are just as liekly to be injured in training or exhibition games (more-so if games arent played on the normal grounds).

Personally I like the competition as it gives the young players a chance to push for selection, it allows the older players to ease into the season and gives coaches a chance to trial new tactics against real opposition to see how they work.

Admittedly the fact that the better teams very rarely take it seriously can make it a bit farsical but on the other hand that does give some of the lesser teams - those staring into the face of a very long season - a chance to play for something and opportunity to acheive something in the year (even if it is JUST the NAB cup).

Thats my rant done

 

[chaddles]

I like the current format, and I see nothing wrong with having a cup for the winner. What I do object to is the amount of the prize money, to me it is simply a large waste of cash for just winning 4 practice games.

I believe that cash would be better off going towards the premiership prize money, or even towards the development of the game. The AFL seems to think that the game is going to be indefinitely profitable (2 new teams) - which could very well be there downfall. We are possibly at the beginning of a downturn in the economy which means less sponsorship and less people attending games. Eventually they will look back and realise how many millions they have wasted on a preseason comp that no one really takes seriously (except Carlton).

 

[KingRich]

Personally I would prefer to see 2 maybe 3 max pre-season games. I just hate seeing the injuries in the pre-season and the fact that 75% of clubs dont take the NAB cup seriously. IMO... 4 is too many.

 

[hawks a plenty]

i love it!!! you see all the younger players have a go and you can see the development from year to year if they are not in the senior team.

plus i cant wait for round 1 so the pre season is perfect for footy fanatics like me.

The biggest reason is that we have won more premierships in the pre season than anyone else including ESSENDON!!!!

 

[Gary Shadforth]

.

I'd rather the AFL energy be put into a main season where every club plays each other twice. I know that means players become tired and more injury prone but if a list is managed in a way where we use more players in a season all the better. Will create a situation where depth can be used and assist convincing worthy fringe players to stay with the club.

I dislike some of the rules in the NAB. The worst is the nine-pointer. And why shouldn't the boundary umpires use it as practice to throw the ball in like they would in the main season? Are they going soft too?