The farce that is the AFL - let's make a list...

[Righteo]

Umpires not being full-time professionals and subsequently the shithouse job they do.

 

[the_slurpee_man]

Sydney being viewed as the only city in Australia that is more expensive to live in while every other city is exactly the same.

HA! im loving how this argument is getting bantered around every thread now a days!

 

[Richo83]

The VFL prospered for nigh on 100 years and evolved into the AFL we see today because 12 Victorian clubs shared the wealth and each of them were strong entities. Much wealthier than the richest WA or SA clubs. Six games were played at 2pm on Saturday and everyone played each other twice. But we moved away from that. Live television entered the picture. New teams were added. Games were scheduled over the entire weekend. The AFL started messing with the fixtures. The home got to keep all the gate money. The AFL brought in the salary cap and the draft and it created an illusion of parity, but in actual fact, they've widened the gap between haves and haves nots

I'm hesitant to argue with you chewy because you're a fantastic poster, but I find it hard to believe that the VFL contained 12 strong clubs. If it did, then South Melbourne would not have moved. If it did, then St. Kilda and Footscray would have a better history. If it did, then Fitzroy wouldn't have had to jump (I'm aware they got pushed, I'm also aware they got screwed over, I'm also aware of the fact that not winning a flag for 50 years does things for a club, especially a club which geographically is literally based in between much more successful teams in Carlton and Collingwood). I don't know about other clubs but I know that Richmond was in a bad place in the 80s, and this was well before corporate/prime-time/advertising everywhere/footy is greatness/lets sell games to Dubai. Due to becoming more like a business, the afl is able to save clubs by having more money to save. If the afl operated like it did in the 60s, clubs like North would die because the afl couldn't afford saving them. If you want proof of a league which is unable to save clubs due to lack of funds, just look at the a-league.

I agree that the afl is mitigating all their good work with salary caps and drafts by basing their draw around the strong clubs. But lets not pretend that somehow, the vfl was even and every club was strong. And lets not pretend that a modern professional sporting competition is capable of refusing the money known as prime time broadcasting without a) millions of fans consistently asking why (they ask the same question for the grand final) and b) millions of dollars not being taken because the league wants to stick with tradition. The only league which still plays all it's matches on 2pm on a Saturday is the epl and it only does it because it's good for business in that it's prime time for Asia. If the epl could make more money out of showing games in prime time, they would. Every other major league uses night-time fixtures.

 

[Slax]

The fact that we have a 4 week preseason competition no-one gives a crap about, rather than trying to find a way to extended the normal season by two weeks to make it fairer.

Constantly bowing to tv in the allocation of time slots for matches.

granting certain clubs guaranteed block-buster games every year regardless of where they finish on the ladder.

 

[Ktrain]

Not forcing Melbourne to use their next available pick after the lowest bid to make their father son selection.

 

[The_Answer3]

Just not a fan how everyone in media has some connection to the AFL and thus can't say anything against them.

KB is rediculous.

AD takes any sort of criticism on the game as a personal insult and whips out his legal jargon and self defense faster than he whips out a fork at dinner. Seriously, this guy can't take any level of constructive criticism and is NEVER wrong, has never made a mistake. This ges for the whole band of merry men.

Just say, 'we trialed it, it didn't work and we'll continue to find ways to improve the game'.

w***ers.

 

[Morris Major]

Their are a lot of problems but so does every sporting league.

The problems with the AFL seem quite minor in comparison don't they?

I wonder when a Sheikh will want to buy an AFL side lol

 

[Blackas87]

Victorian teams getting all the prime time matches, and limited interstate travel

Bit hard to travel when half your opponents are in the same city as you, what do you want? Collingwood vs St Kilda on a Sunday arvo @ the Gabba?

 

[SJ]

The AFL isn't a sport, champ. It's a league.

Add that point to the list. The AFL has become the defacto governing body and now kids "play AFL".

 

[SJ]

I wonder whether the AFL HQ realise the odds of a breakaway league have never been higher.

Players walk away from uneconomic power structures, play in obscure ovals with new implemented Media coverage streamed online . Very possible as overheads reduced and players could easily get double the money funded from replacement, productive , targeted, substitute media vehicles . The only problem is the conventional media outlets and whether AFL could block it and the cost of any restriction of trade agreements. Such a monopoly would have to be signed off by the government regulators as well and or seek court approval

To counteract the threat AFL HQ might have to streamline and eliminate some of the parasites to provide a superior value product for spectators and players

Really? Doubt it.

 

[West123]

The problems with the AFL seem quite minor in comparison don't they?

I wonder when a Sheikh will want to buy an AFL side lol

A Sheikh will want to buy in if the AFL keeps doing what it's doing and getting more dollars.

I love that everyone bags out the things that are actually driving the AFL's success.

 

[tazhawk]

The way Vlad does not even attempt to hide his love of Sydney.

 

[legend166]

The VFL prospered for nigh on 100 years and evolved into the AFL we see today because 12 Victorian clubs shared the wealth and each of them were strong entities. Much wealthier than the richest WA or SA clubs. Six games were played at 2pm on Saturday and everyone played each other twice. But we moved away from that. Live television entered the picture. New teams were added. Games were scheduled over the entire weekend. The AFL started messing with the fixtures. The home got to keep all the gate money. The AFL brought in the salary cap and the draft and it created an illusion of parity, but in actual fact, they've widened the gap between haves and haves nots

A little bit of revisionist history here I think.

The VFL was certainly not full of 'strong entities' when it evolved into the AFL. My club had to move cities to survive, and several others would have died without the money brought in by expansion.

 

[Richo83]

- The lack of venues in Melbourne. It may be a good thing for the corporate suit brigade to go to every game at the big grounds, but if people honestly think it's a good look for the code to have 20K in a 55K or 100K stadium for Melbourne or the Dogs vs GWS for example then they're surely delusional. The NRL I believe have an advantage in this area, have the big games at the big venues, but have smaller games at the suburban grounds.

The nrl's suburban grounds are a nightmare. They're poorly serviced for corporates, have poor facilities for fans and the food is terrible. If the afl want a boutique stadium of 20-40k that's fine but the nrl don't have an advantage in using suburban grounds. Truth be told, they only use them because the nrl are too poor to build new grounds.

 

[Morris Major]

A Sheikh will want to buy in if the AFL keeps doing what it's doing and getting more dollars.

Don't think they buy into sports clubs to make money...

 

[Richo83]

OP should consider following another sport given that footy has so much wrong with it.

So people aren't allowed to critique something in the hope of improving it? It's like this stupid "if you don't like it, leave" mentality which, for some reason, has crept into Australian culture. Australia didn't become the place it is by sitting on its hands and shouting down anyone who wants to critique it or possibly hopes to improve it. Nor did the afl for that matter. Why should fairdinkum have to follow another sport simply because he's capable of realising that the afl is not a perfect league?

"if you don't want amateur referees refereeing games, follow another sport given that nfl has so much wrong with it."

See how stupid it is? Stop it, all of you. If you don't like something, provide a fair critique. And if you want to, find a solution and argue for it convincingly. If it's an actual problem, and maybe you offer a solution as well, we'll listen to you. Australians are smart enough to see a good idea when they see one.

 

[tigers_of_old_08]

I'll get the ball rolling:

*22 matches per season even though we have 18 teams. Those five double-ups can and do decide placings on the ladder.
.

I unlike the FIXture too.

 

[THRILLHO]

AFL executives rig the fixture to maximise attendance and ratings figures and then pay themselves performance bonuses for hitting the targets.

 

[manicmagpie]

-
- The lack of venues in Melbourne. It may be a good thing for the corporate suit brigade to go to every game at the big grounds, but if people honestly think it's a good look for the code to have 20K in a 55K or 100K stadium for Melbourne or the Dogs vs GWS for example then they're surely delusional. The NRL I believe have an advantage in this area, have the big games at the big venues, but have smaller games at the suburban grounds.

If you think 20K in a 55K stadium is bad, then what do you think of 5-8K in an 80K stadium as occurs regularly in the NRL?

I'm glad that the AFL don't limit the crowds at games in Melbourne by having a 'boutique' venue. At the end of the 90s when Collingwood decided to move out of Victoria Park there were a lot of fans who thought we should keep playing the interstate sides there as those games couldn't possibly draw much more than the 25K capacity.

Fast forward a decade and we regularly get crowds of over 50K to these same teams.

A boutique venue is only required because of the ridiculous costs involved with Docklands stadium. Fix those and a boutique venue is redundant.

 

[Wallaby]

A little bit of revisionist history here I think.

The VFL was certainly not full of 'strong entities' when it evolved into the AFL. My club had to move cities to survive, and several others would have died without the money brought in by expansion.

The problem was the lack of the salary cap.

Sides like Carlton, Collingwood Richmond had far more money to spend on players than the likes of South Melbourne or St Kilda - the top clubs got the pick of the best interstaters, and you never saw a leading player transfer to one of the smaller clubs (unless they were going for the retirement/coaching role). The smaller clubs had two choices - either spend beyond their means, or remain uncompetitive. That's what got Fitzroy, South et al into trouble. And when the really big money started flowing (80s), even sides like Richmond couldn't keep up.

I'll add my voice to the fixture - it's just completely laughable. The NFL has an unequal fixture also, but it has two features that make it far more equitable than AFL:

1. The formula for working out the fixture is fixed and is based upon your finishing position the previous season (lower-finishing sides get the slightly easier draw).
2. The clubs are split into divisions, and at the very least you play everyone in your division home and away - and if you are best in your division, you make the playoffs.

I favor the 25-round 2-division fixture for the AFL.

 

[Mr Magic]

Really? Doubt it.

Anyone got figures on profit margins of AFL revenue sources ??

 

[Masto]

The media refusing to talk about any of the issues in this thread is the biggest blight. Vlad has them completely under his thumb. If these things were allowed to be discussed in the media they would naturally sort themselves out.

 

[MrNatural]

Not sure if its been mentioned earlier.
But the whole rule of clubs having to pay no less than 95% of the salary cap (or whatever the figure is) is a joke.

 

[Mr Magic]

Not sure if its been mentioned earlier.
But the whole rule of clubs having to pay no less than 95% of the salary cap (or whatever the figure is) is a joke.

Completely agree, this rule is an utter shocker, total communism in its finest and nothing to do with true and fair competition or free markets or even free choice for clubs to be independent

This is the number one BS rule for mine!!!


At the end of the day this rule signifies the clubs are merely bitches to the higher powers at be

 

[Testekill]

From when GWS was originally announced:

'7. Incentive to other clubs trading with GWS Giants in the 2011 and 2012 post-season:
GWS Giants to be given access to four 17-year-olds born in the January to April 1994 window, with all players to be traded to other clubs. Selections will be allocated to GWS Giants so the club can trade for established players, but the club will not have access to these 17-year-olds. If the four trades are not completed in the 2011 post-season, the balance of up to four trades may be used in the 2012 trading period.'
Source: http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/86738/default.aspx

No one expected GWS would trade these picks for even more draft picks, let alone GWS and GC trading between themselves.

Not to mention GWS trying to arrange a trade so that they'd get a mini-draft pick back. Absolute farce that.